Ubisoft CEO Announces Diversity Initiative, Says ‘Real Change Will Take Time’
Ubisoft has announced that it will be expanding its efforts towards diversity inclusion with two new programs geared toward women and “individuals from underrepresented groups.” Ubisoft made the official announcement in a recent blog post, while elsewhere CEO Yves Guillemot released a video acknowledging the company’s recent concerns regarding the misuse of Black Lives Matter imagery, sexual harassment, and general misconduct.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot took to Twitter to open up about the backlash surrounding the Black Lives Matter imagery that was used in the company’s recently released mobile game, Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad. Guillemot also touched on the claims made earlier this year against several Ubisoft employees, some of which were leveled against company executives like Maxime Béland, Tommy François, and Serge Hascoë.
Ahead of #UbiForward, a message from our CEO Yves Guillemot: pic.twitter.com/NDfOj4tFk7
— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) September 10, 2020
As for the newly announced diversity initiatives, the first is a “new edition” of the Womxn Develop at Ubisoft mentorship, with the program slated to launch on September 14th in San Francisco, Kyiv, and Toronto. Further iterations of the mentorship will open up in January starting with Paris. According to Ubisoft, this is being done in an effort to “attract and develop diverse new talent for our studios around the world.”
The second initiative is the company’s re-doubling of its efforts in the Ubisoft Graduate Program, a two-year international program for recent graduates interested in starting a career in the games industry. “With this increased investment, Ubisoft will focus on creating more opportunities for individuals from underrepresented groups.”
Given that both of these initiatives are focused on attracting new employees to Ubisoft, it’ll be interesting to see how quickly this affects change from within the company.
So, thoughts on the newly announced diversity initiatives? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, stay tuned to Don’t Feed the Gamers for all the latest gaming and entertainment news! Don’t forget to follow DFTG on Twitter for our 24/7 news feed!
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Ryan "Cinna" Carrier3026 Posts
Ryan is the Lead Editor for Don't Feed the Gamers. When he isn't writing, Ryan is likely considering yet another playthrough of Final Fantasy IX. He's also the DFTG cinnamon bun.
