Just a little over a week ago, the video game industry was shaken to learn that a monumental individual would be departing for greener pastures after serving for more than three decades. In a blog post, Ubisoft verified the post on Instagram made by Michel Ancel – then current game director for Ubisoft Montpellier’s Beyond Good and Evil 2 would be leaving the studio to work on new projects elsewhere.
In that, the Rayman creator spared that he would not be pursuing newer endeavors in the video game industry. But instead, he would be taking on an entirely different occupation: wildlife preservation. “My new project takes place in the real world and consists in a wild life open sanctuary dedicated to education , nature lovers and … wild animals,” Ancel pens in the post.
But despite the virtuous new path that Ancel is taking on as he officially departs from Ubisoft, a new report has emerged disclosing more context to his leaving. According to Libération,a France-based publication, Ancel walking out on Ubisoft is sourced to an ongoing investigation on his toxic leadership practices at the firm.
And while Ubisoft has been vocal on disbursing those involved with internal misconduct, Ancel’s behavior is no exception to it. In a separate Instagram post, Ancel denounces the report in regards to his leaving as he touts the claims to be “fake news.” Regardless, Ubisoft when speaking to Kotaku verified the investigations to be active in a statement:
Yves Guillemot committed back in July that any allegation will be investigated and no one will be outside of that process–and this would include Michel Ancel. And as Michel confirmed to the journalist at “Liberation,” he is under investigation. The investigation is still ongoing and we have nothing further to share as we respect the confidentiality of this investigation.
Among other details that was spared from the new report, many employees under Ancel offer their experiences in the workplace. “He is capable of explaining to you that you are a genius, that your idea is wonderful, then to dismantle you in a meeting, saying that you are nothing but shit, that your work is worth nothing, and not speak to you for a month,” one employee told Libération.
Atop of that, those who also ran into similar instances with Ancel also discloses the difficulties of working at Ubisoft Montpellier as development felt halted on the upcoming Beyond Good and Evil 2. Noted, not much has been presented on the anticipated sequel for well over two years since the team shared to be passing on last year’s E3 press conference and its apparent absence during the past couple Ubisoft Forwards.
In other news relevant to the Beyond Good and Evil series, Ubisoft alongside Netflix announced to be collaborating to bring a live-action film. It is told that Detective Pikachu Director Rob letterman will be at the helm of the new production. You can read the report by heading here.
What are your thoughts on more investigations surfacing at Ubisoft’s internal studios?
Source: Kotaku
