Update, May 28, 2025: Ubisoft has reached out to GamesIndustry.biz with a statement denying Guillemot and a member of Ubisoft's HR team were summoned to the court as originally reported.
"Unfounded reports have emerged in recent days alleging that Ubisoft as a legal entity, Yves Guillemot, and a member of Ubisoft's HR team were served with a direct summons to appear before the 15th Criminal Chamber of the Bobigny Court.
"We categorically deny these claims. Neither Ubisoft, Yves, nor anyone from our HR team are parties to these proceedings. We have fully cooperated with the authorities in this case and out of respect for the judicial process will not comment further on the matter."
Original story, May 21, 2025: Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot and human resources director Marie Derain will be summoned to court to testify in the trial of three former Ubisoft executives accused of sexist and racist behaviors.
As reported by the union Solidaires Informatique via VGC, Guillemot and Derain have been called in the trial of Serge Hascoet, Tommy Francois, and Guillaume Patrux, all of whom have been accused of sexual harassment. After delays pertaining to errors by the prosecution, the trial is set to begin on June 2, 2025.
Former chief creative officer Serge Hascoët and ex-VP of editorial and creative services Tommy François both left the publisher in summer 2020, following allegations of widespread abuse, harassment, and discrimination within Ubisoft, including claims against the two executives. In all, five former executives from Ubisoft were arrested by French police in 2023 following a year-long investigation into sexual assault and harassment within the company.
"Beyond the personal responsibility of these three executives, this trial will highlight Ubisoft's responsibility in setting up a system aimed at keeping harassers in place while silencing their victims," the union said (as translated by machine).
"As Mr. Beckers indicated during the March hearing, 'this case is broader and involves many more people, both on the side of the victims and the defendants.' It is not a question of a few individual actions, but of a well-oiled mechanism of insularity, work organization, and management that allowed this violence to continue within the company for years. One of the defendants' lawyers himself said: 'Ubisoft is the ghost of the case.'"
The statement said Guillemot and Derain had been summoned to highlight the "systemic nature of harassment" at Ubisoft.
Last week, Ubisoft released its financial results for the full 2024-25 fiscal year, reporting a "solid balance sheet" and "very strong praise" for Assassin's Creed Shadows - which delivered the second-highest Day One sales in franchise history after Valhalla - despite hefty drops in revenue, net bookings, digital net bookings, and back-catalog net bookings across the year.
