Michel Ancel left Ubisoft while he was investigating his delicate affairs.
The creator of Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil has probably chosen one of the worst moments in the company’s history for the retreat.
The PR scandal surrounding Ubisoft’s management has been going on for some time, and the company’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, promised a few weeks ago that he would launch a thorough investigation into all the allegations that had hit the publisher recently. This, of course, includes looking at feedback from some members of the board, including Michel Ancel, who has been waving goodbye to the gaming industry these days.
Kotaku was the first to translate an article in a French news portal called Libération that writes that Ancel had decided to leave Ubisoft right in the middle of an investigation against him and his leadership style. Ubisoft confirmed at the request of the press that the case is indeed under investigation, but they did not wish to share more details.
According to an article in the French newspaper, plenty of employees talked about how difficult it is to work with the legendary designer and claim that over time, more managers were involved in the development just to keep developers from meeting him as few times as possible.
The developers are also accusing Ancel of slipping so much on the projects he leads, as they say he is constantly making big changes to the games and an unusually many people are burning out on his teams. In addition, the accusations are that not only is the creative process chaotic, but his leadership style is also very ruthless:
“He can explain to you that you’re a genius, praise your ideas, and then take them to pieces during a meeting, telling you that your work is worthless and won’t speak to you for a month.”
Ancel, meanwhile, learned of these allegations and criticized them very harshly in a post posted on her Instagram page:
“Grab some angry people and let them speak on behalf of hundreds. Then publish the news so quickly that people immediately combine it with Ubisoftos harassment allegations. Is this serious? Can this be expected from a national newspaper? I will fight for the truth because these allegations I am ashamed. I have worked hard on every project and I have always respected the teams. “
Ancel added that, contrary to the paper’s claims, his leadership style could not be toxic, as he was not the leader of the teams, nor was he the one who wanted to keep changing the game:
“I bring a vision with me, but producers and managers decide what they do with it and how. They have a lot of influence in a project like this. Why doesn’t the author talk about them? I always change my mind? That’s not true either. I’ve been trying for years to explain that why shouldn’t the whole city have to start all over again from scratch. I explained for hours that the characters are as good as they are. But sometimes there were leaders who varied despite my advice. It’s up to the managers to solve that. “
It seems that Ubisoft will not have an easy task in the least, if he really wants to solve the publisher’s deep-rooted problems, presumably this case will have a follow-up.
