Report details how emotional abuse at indie studios undermines importance of auteurs
A new investigation into emotional abuse at three indie studios brings gaming auteurs into stark relief.
People Make Games has released a new video on the studios Mountains, Fullbright, and Funomena, each led by a so-called «indie superstar». Interviews with staff past and present has reported emotional abuse suffered under each of their leaderships.
All three studios have had games published by Annapurna Interactive, who it is claimed have been unable to deal with complaints appropriately.
Mountains, led by Ken Wong, is the Australian studio best known for the game Florence. Staff at the studio complained about communication issues as Wong steadily chipped away at staff confidence by questioning all decisions.
One staff member at Mountains described him as «a very cruel person in a position of power who liked to make people feel bad to make himself feel better».
In 2020, the studio created a policy where staff could decline a one-on-one meeting with Wong if they felt he was overstepping.
A number of resignations from the studio caught the attention of publisher Annapurna. All seven remaining members voted unanimously for Wong to step down from leadership.
Yet while Annapurna was unable to remove Wong, their tone in a meeting with Mountains staff was described as «dismissive», with one senior staff member from the publisher saying that without strong personalities, games don't get made.
Wong moved the studio from Melbourne to Adelaide and was reportedly told by Annapurna to hire graduates who would expect less. However, Wong told People Make Games the move was for personal reasons and Annapurna made no such suggestion. Annapurna did not respond for comment.
As Eurogamer previously reported, in 2021 Fullbright
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