Ubisoft CEO’s Poor Choice Of Words Has Stirred Up Some Controversy Concerning The Company's Toxic Work Environment.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot’s recent interview with La Presse has received some backlash in response to a question about workplace misconduct and its ever-prevailing presence in the game industry. Guillemot said: “There is a 'challenge,' from time to time a lot of tension. Techniques must be implemented to ensure that everyone succeeds in finding their place. To create, you need a little friction, because everyone has to succeed in getting their idea across. It's a job that brings a lot of rewards when you succeed, but it's difficult."

The issue here is with word choice. While the interview was translated from French into English, the fact remains that Guillemot’s word choice coupled with the long-standing issues Ubisoft has faced with workplace abuses and toxicity has made his comment seem inconsiderate to all the employees that have suffered under Ubisoft.

In July of 2022, the employee group A Better Ubisoft shared an open letter saying “we have seen nothing more than a year of kind words, empty promises, and an inability or unwillingness to remove known offenders.”

Of course, Guillemot has pushed back on this letter, saying that they have “done a lot” and “acted quickly in cutting some people’s jobs”.

In an interview with PC Gamer, Guillemot went on to say “Over the past two and half years, we have made a lot of progress on that front in order to deliver safe and great experiences to all of our teams. Healthy, respectful working environments are our top priority and we're pleased to say that according to our latest surveys, our team members are reassured that we are on the right track."

In the end, perhaps it really was just a poor choice of words. However, if the company wasn't already under scrutiny for how they treated their employees, the overanalyzing may never have happened to begin with.