Paris (AFP)

The publisher of video games Ubisoft on Tuesday promoted Igor Manceau to the post of creative director, left vacant since the departure of Serge Hascoët, pushed towards the release in the summer of 2020 like other leaders of the group after the revelation of the case sexual assault and harassment.

Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, who had acted in this strategic position, decided to promote a group executive, rather than recruiting from outside, to fill this role.

After starting his career at Ubisoft in 1998, and notably participating in the launch of the successful Far Cry, Rainbow Six, and Splinter Cell series, Igor Manceau has since 2017 led the creation of the game Riders Republic, an extreme sports title, within the Annecy studio.

"Igor is one of the most experienced, innovative and respected creative directors of Ubisoft and the industry," said Yves Guillemot, quoted in a statement.

"Igor has a deep understanding of player motivations, a strong intuition to create new markets and an exemplary leadership style."

Its mission will notably be to "strengthen Ubisoft franchises and identify creative opportunities in new or emerging genres," the company added.

This appointment is part of a series of restructuring of the management of the editor after the large scandal of harassment targeting several of its executives during the summer of 2020, while its CEO had promised last year a "structural change" of the company.

The company has also launched several internal investigations and initiated the restructuring of its human resources department, accused of having covered certain toxic behaviors.

Several leaders of the group had been pushed to the exit or resigned, including the number two of the group Serge Hascoët, who left in mid-July 2020 the post of head of creation.

The head of the Montreal studio had also left Ubisoft, followed some time later by the vice-president in charge of editorial service Tommy François, cited in several testimonies in the press as responsible for harassment and attempted sexual assault.

The group's human resources director had resigned from her post.

A collective complaint was filed last July at the Bobigny court (Seine-Saint-Denis) for "institutional harassment" by two former employees and the Solidaires Informatique union.

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