Ubisoft suspends several employees following misconduct allegations

The suspensions follow multiple sexual assault and harassment accusations made against Ubisoft employees this week.

What you need to know

• Ubisoft said it will be investigating sexual misconduct allegations made against employees.
• The company has reportedly placed several employees on administrative leave while it does, including two high-ranking executives.
• The company is continuing to look into these issues, and has promised to audit its own policies going forward.

Following multiple allegations made over the last week of sexual misconduct by its employees, Ubisoft has placed two executives and several other employees on administrative leave.

Following Ubisoft's statement on Thursday that said the company would be launching investigations into the allegations, a report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier says the company has placed those involved on leave while it conducts the investigations.

According to Schreier, the two high-ranking employees who were placed on leave are Tommy Francois and Maxime Beland, both of whom serve as vice presidents in the company. Both men were the subject of a handful of claims of misconduct throughout the past week, although Bloomberg reports that Ubisoft would not comment on the issues as they are currently under investigation.

The report comes just a day after Ubisoft responded to various claims of sexual misconduct amongst its employees, saying that it would be conducting investigations with the help of "specialized external consultants."

Throughout the week, multiple sexual assault and harassment accusations were made against Ubisoft employees, including Andrien "EscoBlades" Gbinigie, who was a brand marketing manager at the company and the founder of the Black Game Pros Mixer, and Stone Chin, who worked in public relations. Ashraf Ismail, the creative director on Assassin's Creed Valhalla, also stepped down from the project after accusations emerged that he was cheating on his wife.

This has also affected the industry at large, with multiple accusations against other prominent names in games and streamers.