Top 10 Video Game Studio Controversies
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#10: Sega’s Infighting
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Se-gaaaaaa! This famous opening may be harmonious, but the company that spawned it wasn’t always so in-sync. Sega’s American branch helped push the company to success in the 1990s with the Genesis, which competed with Nintendo during the early part of the decade. However, Sega’s Japanese branch resented this success, due to the Genesis not selling well on their side of the Pacific. The two Sega headquarters ended up competing with each other, to both of their detriments. This culminated most embarrassingly when Sega of America rolled out the 32X add-on to the Genesis at the same time Sega of Japan was releasing the Sega Saturn system; leading to a bungled launch for the system in America and a short shelf life for the 32X.
#9: The EA Spouse Letter
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Development crunch has become a widespread topic within the game industry that’s garnered recent widespread debate about the necessity of the practice. However one of the earliest know cases of crunch came in 2004, when the spouse of one developer working for EA, alleged in a Livejournal post that employees in the company were forced to work twelve hours a day, seven days a week, with the occasional Saturday evening off for “Good Behavior”. Furthermore, employees were not granted overtime pay they were eligible to under Californian Law. The outrage that snowballed eventually lead to a class action lawsuit, where the plaintiffs were awarded nearly $15 million in unpaid overtime.
#8: “Mass Effect: Andromeda” Rushed
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“Mass Effect: Andromeda” was infamous for how much of a buggy and unpolished mess of a game it was. The cause of this mess was a multitude of things behind the scenes at BioWare Montreal. Although development lasted around 5 years, an investigation by Kotaku’s Jason Schreier revealed that actual production reportedly only occurred during the 18 months prior to the games launch. This production crunch, along with issues like in-fighting, production lead changes, technological limitations with the Frostbite Engine, and understaffing, all but sealed Andromeda’s fate. Yet office politics in Bioware did not change, as these issues and more popped up again at BioWare Austin during Anthem’s development, once again coming to light from Jason Schreier’s investigation.
#7: “Subnautica” Sound Developer Fired
“Subnautica” is an open-world, underwater survival game known for its beautiful visuals and atmosphere. Part of that atmosphere is its sound design, which many have praised. Unfortunately, the sound designer for the game, Simon Chylinski, proved rather controversial. Chylinski has made several inflammatory statements on various social media platforms regarding gender inequality, transgender issues, colonialism, and other hot button topics. Although several of these statements seem to be attempts at trolling, the studio was not laughing and fired Chylinski. This move drew backlash as well, as some saw his firing for expressing political beliefs to be hypocritical; given the game’s directors own outspoken political beliefs that did not result in firing.
#6: Quantic Dream’s Harmful Workplace
Quantic Dream is the studio behind interactive story games like “Heavy Rain” and “Detroit: Become Human.” However, stories of the interactions within the studio have proven somewhat troubling. A joint investigation by three French publications alleged that Quantic Dream cultivated an atmosphere of sexist and racist behavior, as well as subjecting their employees to overwork. Hundreds of shocking photoshopped images apparently created in-house have circulated as well. While Quantic Dream has strenuously denied these allegations and have sued several of the news outlets, at time of writing one of the employees who left due to the scandal won in court against the company.
#5: Claptrap’s Voice Actor
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The mascot of the “Borderlands” franchise is the hilarious robot Claptrap. However, part of what made the character so memorable, his voice, will not return for the series’ 3rd game. David Eddings, the voice actor for Claptrap, has declined to reprise the role, due to a personal conflict with Randy Pitchford, the CEO of Gearbox, the studio that creates the “Borderlands” games. Eddings alleges that Pitchford assaulted him for refusing to divulge his source when an unknown third party told him that Gearbox was being sold. Eddings also claims that he was underpaid for his work. Whatever the truth is, whoever’s at fault is a real meat bag.
#4: Activision Blizzard’s Mass Layoffs Despite “Record Profits”
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Success for a company translates to success for all its employees – in theory. Yet in February 2019 Activision Blizzard announced record sales for the financial quarter during an investors call. Yet during the same call, they also announced that 800 employees, around 8% of their total workforce, would be laid off. The outrage only gained further fuel when coupled by the fact that just a month prior, the company awarded a $15 million bonus to Dennis Durkin just for accepting the job as the new CFO. This disconnect between executives being enriched and its employees losing their jobs, sparked massive backlash and widespread discussion about corporate greed and unionization of the gaming industry.
#3: Riot Games’ Sexist Workplace
Riot Games creates the massively popular MOBA “League of Legends.” Unfortunately, it appears as though the studio is just as toxic as their famous game’s fanbase. An investigation by Kotaku’s Cecilia D'Anastasio uncovered rampant sexism, which lead to several suits against the company by employees. After the aforementioned employees were required to waive their right to sue (otherwise known as forced arbitration) by Riot, a walkout of 150 employees was staged as a measure of solidarity and in protest of the perceived lack of progress to fix the issues raised by Kotaku’s investigation. An update as of August 2019 from anonymous Riot employees has indicated that significant process has been made to address systemic issues, though they’ve still got a way to go.
#2: Telltale’s Abrupt Shutdown
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Telltale Games was a game studio known for producing episodic games with a strong narrative focus. Although, like several of the game studios on our list, Telltale has had its issues with sexism and toxicity in the workplace, the story of Telltale’s collapse is far more sordid. Aside from mismanagement at the top, Telltale’s downfall also came in large part due to the way it relied on investments and recognizable properties, rather than sales and their own original IPs, to stay afloat. This approach to finance left the company scrambling when two major investors pulled out at the last minute; causing the company to abruptly lay off 250 employees, many without severance pay.
#1: Overzealous Konami
2015 might be the year that Konami’s reputation hit rock bottom, with endless allegations of employee mistreatment emerging that year. Japanese publication Nikkei alleged that employees were forced to work under intense surveillance, public shaming of employees for petty reasons, severely restricted Internet access, and many … many more allegations. The most infamous of mistreatment cases however, was with Metal Gear Solid director Hideo Kojima, who’s fallout with the company lead to Konami attempting to remove his name from everything he had worked on under them, and barring him from attending the 2015 Game Awards to accept an award for Metal Gear Solid 5. While Kojima is now better off, having founded his own studio, gamers still lament that Kojima will no longer be attached to “Metal Gear,” as series he spearheaded for decades.
