Current and former Quantic Dream employees denounce working conditions, toxic atmosphere

Eumi · Jan 14, 2018

"Judge my work"

David, you really don't want people doing that.

These allegations don't surprise me at all. Their games have always been very racially insensitive and weirdly uncomfortable with their depictions of women. I don't at all doubt Cage is the kind of person who would be making inappropriate jokes in the workplace.

And that defense is laughable. It's 'I have a black friend' levels of bad.

Dreamboum · Jan 14, 2018

Thomasorus said:
The best part :

In the meeting room where Le Monde met with David Cage two times, he assures that "Quantic is not a rugby cloakroom". Just behind him, on a board, a dick with testicules farting was drawn.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Deleted member 5028 · Jan 14, 2018

Bundy said:
Quantic Dream isn't a Sony studio. Thy're independent.

Yes. But they might as well be given how they exclusively work with Sony AND have a huge tentpole AAA game coming soon.

They will have to address this and the behaviour of their contractor

Eolz · Jan 14, 2018

Birdseye said:
Welp. Sony won't be happy about this.

Sir Guts said:
This is messed up. QD will shut down

I really, really doubt it.

Ruenheid said:
Unless people start filing suits, Quantic Dream will weather this the same way other studios do - a symbolic apology and waiting out the news cycle.

This. In a few months it'll be back to normal sadly.

vereor · Jan 14, 2018

Please, don't buy QD's "games".

DumpsterJuice said:
Man, Sony has some environmental issues that they need to help their studios with.

They are not owned by Sony, QB is a private company. Sony only funds their games.

Deleted member 3700 · Jan 14, 2018

Thomasorus said:
The best part :

:'D

...This image came out vividly.

TooBusyLookinGud · Jan 14, 2018

NovumVeritas said:
After reading this, I really consider skipping Detroid...
This is disgusting.

If this is your stance, do it. Other people will denounce this action with flubber, but you don't have to buy it if what they have done, bothers you.

Deleted member 862 · Jan 14, 2018

Thomasorus said:
The best part :

:'D

It's like an episode of Arrested Development.

ConHaki66 · Jan 14, 2018

UnNamed said:
A studio with 170 employees, it's just impossibile to make everyone happy.
We read this stories from some developers, but unless you are an indie developer, if you work in a big studios with a lot of people, it's quite obvious you'll make some enemies.
So if this stories are true, any medium and big studios will face the same issue, even Nintendo, even Valve, even ND. Everyone. It's just a matter of time.

How are those actions acceptable in any working environment, unless your post is a meme that I don't recognize

Deleted member 15428 · Jan 14, 2018

LewieP said:
Sounds like part of the plot of Elle.

That movie was messed up but I didn't imagine it was that close from reality.

SlipperyFishes said:
Yes. But they might as well be given how they exclusively work with Sony AND have a huge tentpole AAA game coming soon.

They will have to address this and the behaviour of their contractor

QD games don't have the budget nor sales to qualify as AAA.

NovumVeritas · Jan 14, 2018

DumpsterJuice said:
If this is your stance, do it. Other people will denounce this action with flubber, but you don't have to buy it if what they have done, bothers you.

It bothers me, and I know people will buy it anyway, that is the sad part.

TooBusyLookinGud · Jan 14, 2018

vereor said:
Please, don't buy QD's "games".

They are not owned by Sony, QB is a private company. Sony only funds their games.

Correct thanks, I'll edit my post with this.

Bundy · Jan 14, 2018

SlipperyFishes said:
Yes. But they might as well be given how they exclusively work with Sony AND have a huge tentpole AAA game coming soon.

They will have to address this and the behaviour of their contractor

After Detroit: Become Human, their 3 game contract will be over. I pretty much doubt Sony will continue working with them.

Dreamboum · Jan 14, 2018

UnNamed said:
A studio with 170 employees, it's just impossibile to make everyone happy.
We read this stories from some developers, but unless you are an indie developer, if you work in a big studios with a lot of people, it's quite obvious you'll make some enemies.
So if this stories are true, any medium and big studios will face the same issue, even Nintendo, even Valve, even ND. Everyone. It's just a matter of time.

Nah, this is not true. A lot of it has to do with management. It's not about making "everyone happy". Making racist and homophobic jokes goes much deeper than an inability to please everyone.

Eolz · Jan 14, 2018

UnNamed said:
A studio with 170 employees, it's just impossibile to make everyone happy.
We read this stories from some developers, but unless you are an indie developer, if you work in a big studios with a lot of people, it's quite obvious you'll make some enemies.
So if this stories are true, any medium and big studios will face the same issue, even Nintendo, even Valve, even ND. Everyone. It's just a matter of time.

Yeah no. Anyone that worked in a studio of that size can tell you that there's issues, and that this industry has some serious problems, but nothing as consistently bad as this.
ND's main issue is the crunch culture for example, but not this kind of toxic environment.

AllThingsPurple · Jan 14, 2018

Stupid drive by post, apologies.

Mivey · Jan 14, 2018

Get_crazy said:
That's bad. Really bad. Like end-of-Quantic-Dream bad.

Jawbreaker · Jan 14, 2018

Thomasorus said:
The best part :

:'D

Oh my god.

Deleted member 5028 · Jan 14, 2018

AllThingsPurple said:
Im still planning on getting detroit.

Cute way of saying "so what, this doesn't bother me"

You do you, but you could add more to the conversation than that

Ruenheid · Jan 14, 2018

Maxime said:
There's been several individual suits apparently.

That's good to hear, since it sounds like there may have been some breaches of employment law, or at the very least the EU Working Time Directive.

Deleted member 862 · Jan 14, 2018

AllThingsPurple said:
Im still planning on getting detroit.

That's a brave stance.

Deleted member 15428 · Jan 14, 2018

I wonder how the marketing department for Detroit will deal with this, when the game's about to be released.

Rotobit · Jan 14, 2018

I was on the fence about buying Detroit as a joke and I guess I won't now. Sony needs to get the message not to give them any funding if this continues, I'm sure there are plenty of smaller French studios that could use the love instead.

It also puts some of their games' bizarre racist/homophobic moments in a different light. Before, the Chinese and gay stereotypes in Indigo Prophecy just felt like the result of a studio with poor direction in the early 2000s, but what if they were actually malicious?

zsynqx · Jan 14, 2018

Mivey said:

I'm no fan of Quantic Dream, but that would mean a lot of out of work devs. I feel the better thing would be to get rid of the rotten management and work hard on improving the company culture.

IIFloodyII · Jan 14, 2018

Ah, I was looking forward to Detroit too. Always knew Cage was a bit of an ass from interviews and stuff, but fuck, sounds awful.

DumpsterJuice said:
Man, Sony has some environmental issues that they need to help their studios with.

They aren't a Sony studio.

weblaus · Jan 14, 2018

Birdseye said:
Welp. Sony won't be happy about this.

And rightfully so. Though I doubt Sony didn't know about this already for who knows how long. After all, they're pretty much the only reason Cage is still able to produce his convoluted egotripping "games".

UnNamed · Jan 14, 2018

mos6142 said:
How are those actions acceptable in any working environment, unless your post is a meme that I don't recognize

Where in my post i said this is acceptable?

Xita · Jan 14, 2018

ZhugeEX said:
I just got to the part where they photoshopped their colleagues in sexual positions.

What the actual fuck.

Damn this was way worse than I thought

Humam · Jan 14, 2018

Birdseye said:
That movie was messed up but I didn't imagine it was that close from reality.

QD games don't have the budget nor sales to qualify as AAA.

Heavy Rain and Beyond both are $40 million budget games.

Bundy · Jan 14, 2018

By the way, this explains a bit why they (almost) always need 5 years to release a game.

Maxime · Jan 14, 2018

Extra bits thanks to Oscar Lemaire.

Guillaume Juppin de Fondaumière is described as someone imbued with his power and borderline with women (uncomfortable kisses, inappropriate words). He has been accused of flirting with insistence, asking women to drink to content of his personal bottles. The Co-Founder tells he is "very angry" and is firmly denying the accusations. "Let me be clear: This is absolutely false [..] none of that happened during these evenings".

Other are talking about his demoralizing management and constant pressure on the teams. During a "Solidarity Day" he sent a collective email that Le Monde consulted: "I have received a demand from staff delegates that left me wondering. I am asked If we have to work as an usual day or we can stop working after 7 hours today. For people jealous of civil servants, I inform you 4.000 jobs of jail guards are available."

Guillaume Juppin de Fondaumière defended himself by saying that this mail shouldn't be taken out of context.

Some employees with medical certificate as proof, talk about burn out and depression. In 2015 and 2016, 50 employees left Quantic Dream, including high profiles recruited from foreign countries. One year and an half later, they don't want to hear again about Quantic Dream.

Thomasorus · Jan 14, 2018

In the eyes of many former employees, sexism and lack of consideration are a pair. In october, the domestic violence scene in the Detroid Trailer created indignation. Many employees say they tried to alert David Cage about the misogynistic tone of this sequence and about the sexism tone of the game overall, but he didn't took it in account. "That's a lie" responds Cage.

NameUser · Jan 14, 2018

DumpsterJuice said:
If this is your stance, do it. Other people will denounce this action with flubber, but you don't have to buy it if what they have done, bothers you.

That, and a lot of us don't trust them to tell a compelling, nuanced story. From what we've seen it looks like they're more interested in shock value and cliched robots vs humans tropes.

seiki · Jan 14, 2018

I told you guys David Cage was a bad game producer but you guys locked the thread.

just kidding but you did lock that thread were I mentioned Cage and people defended him :P

ConHaki66 · Jan 14, 2018

UnNamed said:
Where in my post i said this is acceptable?

When you reduce this particular problem as " just making enemies" your sure as hell are being dismissive about it

Bundy · Jan 14, 2018

Rotobit said:
I was on the fence about buying Detroit as a joke and I guess I won't now. Sony needs to get the message not to give them any funding if this continues, I'm sure there are plenty of smaller French studios that could use the love instead.

Sony should get Wild Sheep studios (WiLD) or Supermassive Games (Until Dawn sequel).

weblaus · Jan 14, 2018

Birdseye said:
QD games don't have the budget nor sales to qualify as AAA.

I would argue that with they way Sony treats their games (obviously financing/paying for them to be exlusive, giving them lots of presence at presentations, like recently at the PlayStation Experience), you could at least qualify them as close to that status, though.

AllThingsPurple · Jan 14, 2018

SlipperyFishes said:
Cute way of saying "so what, this doesn't bother me"

You do you, but you could add more to the conversation than that

You're right. This is awful shit and in a sad way its not that surprising that David Cage is an asshole.

But you could make the argument that buying this game is standing with all the employees who worked in shite conditions, crunching to get the game done, im sure they want the game to do well and see all their super hard work come to fruition.

Then on a more selfish note i love these style games which are quite few and far between so om going to support a genre I enjoy and want to see do well.

ViewtifulJC · Jan 14, 2018

you telling me not only are david cage's games bad, but so are the work environments

wow

I for one am shocked by this development

Deleted member 15428 · Jan 14, 2018

Thomasorus said:
In the eyes of many former employees, sexism and lack of consideration are a pair. In october, the domestic violence scene in the Detroid Trailer created indignation. Many employees say they tried to alert David Cage about the misogynistic tone of this sequence and about the sexism tone of the game overall, but he didn't took it in account. "That's a lie" responds Cage.

So much for hiring extra writers for Detroit...

Minimo · Jan 14, 2018

Dreamboum said:
I was joking but there was a story where Ellen Page was possibly pursuing legal actions over an unapproved naked 3D model of her

Which was awful for all kind of reasons, including that Page hasn't done any acting in games since (iirc). B2S was her excellent foray in to video game acting, and it's hardly a stretch to assume that that whole experience may well have put her off the medium for good.

Rotobit · Jan 14, 2018

Bundy said:
Sony should get Wild Sheep studios (WiLD) or Supermassive Games (Until Dawn sequel).

I was thinking Dontnod too, I'd love to see what they could make with a Quantic Dream level budget.

Alx · Jan 14, 2018

Dreamboum said:
Nah, this is not true. A lot of it has to do with management. It's not about making "everyone happy". Making racist and homophobic jokes goes much deeper than an inability to please everyone.

Yep, also the most incriminating part is having a huge shared folder on the company network, filled with all kinds of photoshopped images including racist and homophobic ones. You probably can't stop all coworkers from saying the wrong thing from time to time, but you certainly aren't supposed to let the company give them the tools to do so.

kadotsu · Jan 14, 2018

Sony should stop working with QD after current contracts are satisfied.

Deleted member 2791 · Jan 14, 2018

Who could have knew that a studio managed by a douchebag would end up like what you'd expect from a studio managed by a douchebag.
I hope this goes viral and that Sony cuts their ties with them.

Bundy · Jan 14, 2018

Birdseye said:
QD games don't have the budget nor sales to qualify as AAA.

Quantic Dream games sold several million copies, have a budget between 40-60 million each, and the studio has around 170 employees.
Yes, they are developing AAA games.

Sadist · Jan 14, 2018

Yikes.

This is a PR disaster waiting to happen. Sad to hear these kinds of comments.

Humam · Jan 14, 2018

Rotobit said:
I was thinking Dontnod too, I'd love to see what they could make with a Quantic Dream level budget.

Remember Me was originally supposed to be a ps3 exclusive but sony dropped it.

UnNamed · Jan 14, 2018

Eolz said:
Yeah no. Anyone that worked in a studio of that size can tell you that there's issues, and that this industry has some serious problems, but nothing as consistently bad as this.
ND's main issue is the crunch culture for example, but not this kind of toxic environment.

Often, toxic environment hasn't to be real, it exist in the right moment a person complains he didn't like the co-workers, the environment, the company where he work, and instead of finding the real reason behind this,he/she begin to accuse the entire world.

Bundy · Jan 14, 2018

Rotobit said:
I was thinking Dontnod too, I'd love to see what they could make with a Quantic Dream level budget.

Sony already worked with Dontnod on a 1st party game. Remember Me was originally a 1st party Sony game. Sony canceled the game mid-development and sold everything to Capcom :P

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