Ubisoft Singapore Under Investigation for Harassment Claims - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 17 August 2021 / 1,252 Views
Skull & Bones developer Ubisoft Singapore is currently being investigated over claims of workplace discrimination and sexual harassment.
Singapore's Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) told The Straits Times on July 23 it had received anonymous feedback with "links to media articles about allegations of workplace harassment and unfair treatment at Ubisoft Singapore."
TAFEP is asking anyone with knowledge of criminal conduct such as workplace discrimination and sexual harassment at Ubisoft Singapore to report incidents to the police.
Ubisoft Singapore managing director Darryl Long who took over in January was asked on August 6 at a press event about the allegations.
"It's very important that we can talk about these things and that we acknowledge what's going on in our industry right now," said Long. "We need to start to change the way we are perceived and the way we act internally as well."
TAFEP might require Ubisoft Singapore to implement new policies to prevent future incidents from occurring. Ministry of Manpower's Fair Consideration Framework could be broken if workplace discrimination is on the basis of age, gender, race, religion, and language.
If this is the case Ministry of Manpower could bar the developer from applying for new work passes for foreign staff or from renewing existing ones, for one to two years.
Long added, "We have taken concrete action to formalize how misconduct is dealt with."
He has also pledged to the Singapore Women In Tech government initiative to increase gender diversity and provide more management opportunities to women, who are now around of the half of the studio's leadership.
"These are done to create a safe workspace," said Long. "I understand that Ubisoft Singapore has been mentioned in the news lately. I acknowledge that the studio has seen some challenges over the past decade and there is still work to be done about our studio culture."
Ubisoft is not the only video game company to be under fire recently for workplace discrimination and sexual harassment. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard over what is described as a "frat boy" culture at the video game giant. Female employees are subjected to constant sexual harassment, unequal pay, and retaliation, according to the lawsuit.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Remember, these are unproven allegations at this point. I worry that were at a point now where most people seem to presume guilt until innocence is proven. That's not good, as it is impossible to undo the reputational damaged caused even if a person or company is ultimately found to have done nothing wrong.
We should assume innocence until guilt is proven, as it is the only way not to screw over innocent people.
good lawd this is getting out of hand!
The trouble is harassment has never been about perception , but here we have Darryl Long trotting out that nonsense but just in case it turns out that people being abused is seen as a bigger problem than changing peoples perception, he's got an out in it happened in the past and has been fixed were all good now.
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