Deck Nine devs describe toxicity at Life is Strange studio
Developers at Life is Strange: True Colors studio Deck Nine have voiced concerns about hate speech, crunch, toxic behavior, and management that was in some cases unresponsive to serious concerns and in other cases protected abusers on staff.
An IGN report today cites more than a dozen current and former employees of the studio – two of them under their own names – with a variety of stories about the studio, accusing it of relying on crunch conditions, low pay, and treating its women employees particularly poorly when it came to doling out raises or promotions.
The studio was also said to tolerate a toxic studio culture. In one concerning instance, employees described a number of references to hate symbols and racist memes being slipped into the next Life is Strange game.
Despite numerous complaints, the developers said management neglected to address the Nazi imagery in the game for more than half a year before Deck Nine CEO Mark Lyons told staff the symbols had been removed, and the studio had determined their inclusion had been unintentional.
IGN's sources also said management was slow to address complaints with specific employees. One senior programmer was accused by multiple employees of sexual harassment, transphobia, and screaming and bullying co-workers. One person "with insight into leadership decisions" told the outlet that management fought to keep him, going so far as to move his team physically further away from other departments. He was reportedly let go, but only after an incident where he directed his screamed at an HR representative.
The piece also named Deck Nine's former narrative director and CCO Zak Garriss as a problem for a number of developers, with several women who worked at the studio expressing concerns about "love bombing" behavior from the developer and feeling unable to tell him no when he crossed personal boundaries. IGN's sources also recalled Garris saying representation in games didn't matter and calling Black Lives Matter a hate group
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