A French court just gave three ex-Ubisoft execs—including Tommy François—suspended prison terms and hefty fines (enough to kickstart an indie studio, as some joked) for long-standing harassment that turned Ubisoft HQ into a noob-friendly “toxic workplace.” The charges stem from ignored HR red flags, fear-mongering management, and, frankly, leadership who missed the memo on basic decency—like skipping your game’s tutorial and still expecting a high score. Curious about how all this hits Ubisoft and the industry leaderboard next?
Even in an industry where “crunch” is a household term, Ubisoft’s recent courtroom saga has managed to push workplace drama to a whole new level. The French court’s verdict? Three of Ubisoft’s former top brass—Tommy François, Serge Hascoët, and Guillaume Patrux—got hit with guilty verdicts for moral and sexual harassment, and in François’s case, attempted sexual assault.
Ubisoft’s workplace scandal levels up, as top execs are found guilty of harassment and attempted assault in a landmark French court verdict.
For anyone who has followed the game industry’s “bad boss” stories, this one reads like a worst-case scenario questline.
The scandal kicked off back in 2020, when anonymous social media posts called out Ubisoft’s internal culture. Employees described the place as less “game studio” and more “party gone wrong,” with harassment and bullying by senior execs apparently just part of the daily grind. The court agreed, outlining a work environment where misconduct wasn’t just tolerated—it was enabled. The verdict follows years of revelations about a toxic workplace culture at Ubisoft, which first came to light in 2020.]
François got the harshest sentence: a three-year suspended prison term, straight out of a real-life stealth mission gone off the rails. Hascoët and Patrux weren’t exactly let off easy, though; both received shorter suspended sentences, plus fines that could buy you a small indie game studio (about $35,000).
The catch: as long as they don’t reoffend, nobody’s going to jail, but that sword of Damocles is definitely hanging.
Testimonies painted a grim picture—staff were afraid of their bosses, and stories of bullying and harassment were common. François’s actions, in particular, stood out for their severity. Despite all this, defense lawyers argued the accused never even got a formal HR warning. Apparently, management at Ubisoft missed that particular game tutorial.
This verdict doesn’t just mark a turning point for Ubisoft; it’s a high-score moment for accountability in the gaming industry. Ubisoft, in response, has had to rethink leadership and policies.
The whole fiasco has also amped up calls everywhere for better protection of women and minorities in gaming.
In the end, the court’s decision is seen as a critical checkpoint in the fight against toxic workplaces—one that other studios, hopefully, won’t just speedrun past.