After a year into a sexual harassment investigation and interviewing around 50 current and former Ubisoft employees, five former executives from Ubisoft have been arrested by French police.

Among those arrested are former chief creative officer Serge Hascoët and ex-VP of editorial and creative services Tommy François, two of several employees pushed out of Ubisoft in 2020 after several former employees came forward with sexual abuse and harassment allegations.

The French video game publisher may have axed several key players that encouraged a work environment rife with abuse and harassment, but the behaviour was widespread, which is what a 2020 internal Ubisoft survey found with 25% of their workforce saying they suffered workplace misconduct.

The arrests made by the Bobigny public prosecutor’s office occurred after two complaints were made in 2021 to the Solidaires Informatique union.

According to the French Libération report, the plaintiff’s lawyer, Maude Beckers said, “the case is very particular because [its] beyond simple individual behaviour, it reveals systemic sexual violence.”

In the Ubisoft camp, a spokesperson said: “Ubisoft has no knowledge of what has been shared and therefore can’t comment.”