Games industry still a hostile environment for many women

PARIS, Mar 13 (AFP): Five years on from a first wave of harassment scandals that rocked the world of gaming, multiple women working in the industry tell AFP they have seen or experienced sexism in the workplace, fearing economic hardship in the sector will lead to backsliding.

"I have experienced circumstances of harassment, circumstances of disrespect, belittling, and even to the point of... getting shut down," said Elaine Gomez, 34, a freelance developer from New Jersey.

Big names in gaming such as France's Ubisoft (publisher of the "Assassin's Creed" saga) or US-based Activision Blizzard ("Call of Duty") have seen women come forward about sexist behaviour in the workplace in recent years.

Three former senior Ubisoft executives will face trial in France over harassment allegations in June.

Two of them have already been fired for serious misconduct, while the group's onetime number two, former creative director Serge Hascoet, resigned.

Ubisoft told AFP it has "changed our HR organisation and misconduct handling processes".

Among these was "creating a specialised employee relations team dedicated to helping prevent and resolve incidents".

For its part, Activision Blizzard did not respond to AFP's questions about anti-harassment measures by time of publication.