State of Decay Developer Undead Labs Accused Of "Sexism" And Mismanagement

thegamer.com:

Undead Labs, the developer behind the State of Decay series, has apparently been in a "period of crisis" ever since it was acquired by Microsoft back in 2018. According to a new report from Kotaku, current and former employees have blamed several key members of its leadership team for allowing a culture of "sexism" to grow, also blaming Microsoft itself for its incredibly "hands-off" approach after the acquisition.

Nine of the 12 employees interviewed by Kotaku recall cases of discrimination towards female employees and marginalized people. According to one former developer, Undead Labs' reputation as an inclusive and diverse workplace was exaggerated, claiming that women were "consistently ignored, dismissed, interrupted, talked over, and blamed" while studio leadership was "painting a DEI face for Microsoft."

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According to the report, most of the studio's problems came to be after Microsoft's acquisition and after then studio head Jeff Strain was replaced by current head Philip Holt. Soon after he arrived at Undead Labs, Holt was allegedly accused of nepotism by several employees, hiring his friends to head up new satellite offices. Holt was also accused of not supporting women in the workplace, with one current dev claiming that they saw "a pattern where women were uprooted and men were protected and helped."

Holt was also responsible for bringing aboard Anne Schlosser, an HR professional who also had several accusations leveled at her during her time at Undead Labs. The report includes multiple statements about Schlosser siding with controversial individuals, claiming that she didn't do anything about an employee who