The managing director of Ubisoft's Skull & Bones studio has been ousted
Hugues Ricour was removed following a leadership audit.
Ubisoft has removed the managing director of its Skull & Bones studio in Singapore, Hugues Ricour, following a leadership audit performed over the last few weeks.
That news comes via Kotaku, who managed to obtain a company email circulated by chief studios operating officer Virginie Haas earlier this week. Effective immediately, Ricour is no longer in charge of the Singapore team, which has been leading Skull & Bones development alongside co-production duties on Assassin's Creed and Immortals Fenyx Rising.
Ricour was one of many names outed in a Gamasutra investigation into Ubisoft's culture of abuse and misconduct back in August. The Singapore studio, in particular, was blasted for its openly racist, sexist conduct, with upper management allegedly ignoring reports of abusive behaviour from members of staff. Ricour himself was accused of sexual harassment by multiple sources, with Kotaku's own sources telling of a man whose work behaviour included "bullying, demeaning comments, and retaliatory action".
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot apologised for the publisher's culture of abuse ahead of September's Ubisoft Forward event. At the time, the company had already rid itself of high-profile abusers, including Assassin's Creed Valhalla creative director Ashraf Ismail and former chief creative officer Serge Hascoët.
The email didn't clarify whether Ricour has been dismissed from Ubisoft entirely, or simply removed from the leadership position. Rather, the office will hold a town hall meeting to discuss the director's removal in the coming weeks.
Skull & Bones has been somewhat adrift since its announcement back in 2017. Once pegged for a 2018 release, the open-world ocean warfare game has suffered constant delays. Last we heard, the game had undergone a dramatic rework into a Fortnite-style live service game.