Montreal-based indie studio hasn’t paid workers in months, allegedly owing more than $2M in paychecks

polygon.com:

Roughly 20 workers at Montreal-based indie studio Dynasty Loop are looking for answers — and money — after months of missed paychecks, four workers told Polygon. The studio, helmed by CEO Rania Oueslati, apparently owes its workers and external contractors more than $2 million in missed pay, expenses, and bonuses, according to the people impacted by the situation and supported by numerous documents and work chats reviewed by Polygon. These employees, who were granted anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to press, told Polygon they were asked to turn in their work equipment and have been unable to access the Montreal office space. The studio told them they were not laid off, but they’ve gone without an expected timeline for repayment or any work to do in the meantime.

Dynasty Loop was founded in 2020 by Oueslati, with the goal of working on both NFT projects and video games at the Montreal studio. Dynasty Loop hadn’t announced those projects publicly, quietly working through its design projects, workers said. Workers there who spoke with Polygon said that the talented crew worked well together, and that problems only began to arise in early December, after a holiday party. Oueslati and management originally told staff that payments from November would be delayed due to a change in Dynasty Loop’s financial software, workers said. Most employees were not paid until January, and they were expected to work through the financial hardship this caused, which made for an especially difficult holiday season; one worker told Polygon they were unable to buy Christmas presents for their family and friends while they worked through their savings to pay for food and rent. Employees were also periodically locked out of the