Three former Ubisoft bosses found guilty of enabling culture of sexual harassment

Three former executives at the video game company Ubisoft have been given suspended prison sentences for enabling a culture of sexual and psychological harassment in the workplace at the end of the first big trial to stem from the #MeToo movement in the gaming industry.

- Angelique Chrisafis

The court in Bobigny, north of Paris, had heard how the former executives used their position to bully or sexually harass staff, leaving women terrified and feeling like pieces of meat.

Former staff had said that between 2012 and 2020, the company's offices in Montreuil, east of Paris, were run with a toxic culture of bullying and sexism that one worker likened to a "boys' club above the law".

Ubisoft is a French family business that rose to become one of the biggest video game creators in the world. The company has been behind several blockbusters including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and the children's favourite Just Dance.

The state prosecutor, Antoine Haushalter, had told the court the world of video games and its subculture had an element of "systemic" sexism and potential abuse and called the trial a "turning point" for the gaming world.