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Ubisoft exec Tommy François was fired from company, didn’t resign

Jon Silman
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Tommy François, Ubisoft’s vice president of editorial and creative services, was fired from the company and did not leave of his own volition.

“François was fired following the results of a misconduct investigation,” a source at Ubisoft told Digital Trends.

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He was initially suspended without pay. He received no financial settlement and he forfeited any shares in the company that were “not already granted.” Ubisoft recently hired outside global consulting firm Accenture to conduct an investigation of its employees.

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François’ firing leaves three open positions for vice presidents in the company’s editorial department. One is for previous departure Maxime Béland, and one was previously open.

Ubisoft is “actively recruiting and prioritizing candidates that come from diverse backgrounds or underrepresented groups,” the source said.  “I think we’ve recognized this is going to take time and that we’re at the beginning of the path but we’ve made some good progress.”

It was initially reported that François left last week, following a report by Business Insider outlining complaints from former and current employees about his behavior.

François would allegedly talk about how female employees looked and also send inappropriate messages. During a 2016 business trip to Montreal, he reportedly discussed masturbating. François had a hand in some of the company’s biggest franchises, including Far Cry, Watchdogs, and Assassin’s Creed.

He’s the latest in a string of departures in the company over allegations of misconduct, and a company culture that didn’t hold executives accountable for their actions.

Ubisoft chief creative officer Serge Hascoet recently resigned over allegations of sexual impropriety, and Montreal studio head Yannis Mallat was replaced by longtime executive Christophe Derennes.

“Derennes has immense expertise in production management in his 25 years with Ubisoft and has been a source of daily support for development teams in the creation of our games and helped make them into the great successes of which we are all proud,” Ubisoft said in a statement at the time.

Human resources head Cécile Cornet is also gone.

Employees at the company are welcoming of recent changes and eager to move forward, the source said.

“I think people have a lot of pride working at Ubisoft and they want that to continue.” 

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Ubisoft confirmed in a statement to Polygon that Béland, a former creative director, was leaving the company.
"Maxime Beland, vice president editorial, has resigned from his role at Ubisoft, effective immediately. Despite his resignation, we continue to investigate the allegations made against him. Additionally, effective as of yesterday, Tommy François, vice president editorial & creative services, has been placed on disciplinary leave pending the outcome of an investigation. One other individual in our Toronto studio has been terminated for engaging in behaviors that do not align with what is expected of Ubisoft employees. Other investigations are ongoing and will be conducted rigorously," the statement said.
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