Moon Studios devs accuse founders of poor management, bullying, unprofessional behavior
Brendan Sinclair
Managing Editor
Monday 21st March 2022
Moon Studios founders Thomas Mahler and Gennadiy Korol are the main subjects of a VentureBeat report in which former employees detail an aggressive studio culture full of bullying, crunch, and inappropriate jokes.
The outlet spoke with a number of current and former employees at the studio behind Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and they collectively described an abusive work environment led by two founders who did not hesitate to bully and demean their employees.
Moon developers recounted how Mahler would criticize them in front of the rest of the team, saying their work looked like shit, made him want to vomit, or was the product of "failed abortions."
Beyond being abusive with his criticism, Mahler was said to be unable to provide helpful feedback on how something was lacking, or how he wanted to see it improved.
"Were the founders both belligerent? Yes, in my opinion," one source said. "Was it limited to those two? Yes. Unprofessional on an hourly basis? Yes. Harassing? Yes."
Additionally, Mahler was said to make a habit of hiring talented people to work at the studio and then introducing them to the team by tearing down their previous work on "shit games."
Mahler and Korol also had a frequently antagonistic relationship, trading pointed barbs in group chat or having shouting matches in front of the team.
"I remember there's one meeting where they argued for a full hour," one developer said. "It was a particular call to get to the bottom of some problems. The whole team was there, just listening. And then eventually, everyone was like, we're tired and you're wasting our time. We are leaving. Nothing got accomplished. It affected everybody's
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