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Quantic Dreams under investigation by Paris Council for use of public funding

Judge

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Included in the document in the Paris Councils questioning of Quantic Dreams' "extremely questionable" termination procedures, crunch culture, inappropriate photo montages


Some excerpts

Considering that, according to recent revelations from surveys conducted jointly by Médiapart, Le Monde and Duck PC, the head of the IT department has come to seize the Prud'hommes, against a practice that could be described as harassment within this undertaking, through very large numbers of sexist, homophobic, racists and anti-Semites photomontages;

Considering that the termination procedures at Quantic Dream are extremely questionable, contrary to labor law, and that all the elements reported by the press seem to testify to a corporate culture that can not be more toxic;

Considering that the pressure for overtime, the remuneration of which is more than the exception of the standard respected, cannot be acceptable and that in the name of "jobs passions", the creative crunch, a permanent pressuring of low-paid employees tends to impose itself as the "corporate culture" of this sector;
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Considering that these arrangements made with the law and the Labor Code at Quantic Dream have been facilitated by the reversal of the hierarchy of standards desired by the executive and the government, with shameless disregard for the many warnings he received from various opposition groups;

Considering that despite its actions, this company benefits from a 20% tax credit, a 20% development cost and many other benefits but it has the obligation to respect the social laws;

Considering that this same respect for social laws does not seem to be a priority at Quantic Dream in light of recent statements and revelations;
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Full document can be read here (in French) http://www.daniellesimonnet.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Voeu-Quantic-Dream.pdf?x44140

WCCFTech has a translation and story here: https://wccftech.com/troubles-coming-quantic-dream-paris/
 
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ILikeFeet

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it's all fun and games until someone asks what the hell you're doing with their money
 
FireSafetyBear

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Just can't catch a break. Hopefully they can get past this nonsense, I want Detroit. Hand it off to somebody else if you have to. Can't be much else to finish.
 

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Very much in contrast with their defense that all claims were false, basically. Heads gonna roll.
 
Jarod McChicken

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To be clear, there isn't really an investigation, but a member of the Council (Danielle Simmonnet) was not happy about what she read in the press because Quantic Dream is getting subventions from the country so she is asking for companies to have an examplary attitude. She herself (not the council) has submitted a proposition to the council to check the amount of credits the studio is getting and she wants any companies to refund the money if they breaks the rules. But there is no action against Quantic Dream from Paris right now.

Here is the moment where she talks about Quantic Dream in front of the other members of the Council : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Mv7BgExpQ
 
orochi91

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Jarod McChicken said:
To be clear, there isn't really an investigation, but a member of the Council (Danielle Simmonet) was not happy about what she read in the press because Quantic Dream is getting subventions from the country so she asks for companies to have an examplary attitude. So she herself (not the council) has submitted a proposition to the council to check the amount of credits the studio is getting and she wants any company to refund if they breaks the rules. But there is no action against Quantic Dream from Paris right now.

Here is the moment where she talks about Quantic Dream in front of the other members of the Council : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Mv7BgExpQ
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+1

I recall this coming up in the previous thread.
 
Elandyll

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Oct 25, 2017
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To be clear, this is not an actual inspection or judgement or anything like that.

It's a Counselwoman's "wish list" speech based on the same news reporting (from 2 outlets) for Paris to change (strengthen) labor laws and inspections, and includes a "wish" to see the actual sums granted to QD by the government.
 

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FireSafetyBear said:
Not sure what all is going on, fill me in?
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  • Reports emerge of toxic work environments at the studio
  • Reports emerge of harassment, including anti Semitism and sexual harassment, at the studio
  • Reports emerge of persistent crunch and mistreatment of employees at the studio
  • Quantic Dream denies all reports (not going to get into David Cage's hilariously tone deaf response)
  • Now it turns out that the studio is at least partly funded by the Paris Council, meaning that if there is a crunch and harassment culture at the studio, it is being enabled and facilitated by government funds; since the government obviously doesn't endorse any of this, this is misuse and misappropriation of government funds
This shit is going to blow up in Cage's face, if the allegations stick
 
Adamska

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It's probably going to turn out to be nothing, as this "new investigation" is based on stuff that already went through court without QD being found guilty of bad practices.
 
OP
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Judge

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Jarod McChicken said:
To be clear, there isn't really an investigation, but a member of the Council (Danielle Simmonnet) was not happy about what she read in the press because Quantic Dream is getting subventions from the country so she is asking for companies to have an examplary attitude. She herself (not the council) has submitted a proposition to the council to check the amount of credits the studio is getting and she wants any companies to refund the money if they breaks the rules. But there is no action against Quantic Dream from Paris right now.

Here is the moment where she talks about Quantic Dream in front of the other members of the Council : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Mv7BgExpQ
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Soooo they ARE under investigation? The thread never says action has been taken. The whole excerpt reads as an investigation that will/is taking place?

Maybe I'm just not understanding it correctly, but it certainly reads like they want to investigate them. I can change the title if this isn't the case
 
PSqueak

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So is the Paris council going like "they told us they were making a game, but this is like a shitty cgi movie with no gameplay and bad writing!!"?
 

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Jarod McChicken said:
To be clear, there isn't really an investigation, but a member of the Council (Danielle Simmonnet) was not happy about what she read in the press because Quantic Dream is getting subventions from the country so she is asking for companies to have an examplary attitude. She herself (not the council) has submitted a proposition to the council to check the amount of credits the studio is getting and she wants any companies to refund the money if they breaks the rules. But there is no action against Quantic Dream from Paris right now.

Here is the moment where she talks about Quantic Dream in front of the other members of the Council : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Mv7BgExpQ
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That's some pretty poor reporting by WCCFTech then as we all know "90%" of people only read the title headline. If it's currently just a proposal by an individual and not an actual investigation, yet, that should be reported as so.
 
orochi91

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Judge said:
Soooo they ARE under investigation? The thread never says action has been taken. The whole excerpt reads as an investigation that will/is taking place?

Maybe I'm just not understanding it correctly, but it certainly reads like they want to investigate them. I can change the title if this isn't the case
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There's no investigation into the (mis)use of public funds, as the thread title seems to imply~~~
 
FireSafetyBear

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Phantom Thief said:
  • Reports emerge of toxic work environments at the studio
  • Reports emerge of harassment, including anti Semitism and sexual harassment, at the studio
  • Reports emerge of persistent crunch and mistreatment of employees at the studio
  • Quantic Dream denies all reports (not going to get into David Cage's hilariously tone deaf response)
  • Now it turns out that the studio is at least partly funded by the Paris Council, meaning that if there is a crunch and harassment culture at the studio, it is being enabled and facilitated by government funds; since the government obviously doesn't endorse any of this, this is misuse and misappropriation of government funds
This shit is going to blow up in Cage's face, if the allegations stick
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Hm, in a bit of a pickle
 
OrdinaryPrime

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FireSafetyBear said:
Just can't catch a break. Hopefully they can get past this nonsense, I want Detroit. Hand it off to somebody else if you have to. Can't be much else to finish.
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This post reads as if it was an accident that all this toxic culture sprang up. And that the game is more important than the people making it. Makes me sad :(.
 
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I have no problem changing the title to better reflect the situation.
 
FireSafetyBear

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OrdinaryPrime said:
This post reads as if it was an accident that all this toxic culture sprang up. And that the game is more important than the people making it. Makes me sad :(.
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I didn't know much about all the other things at QD before this but I'm aware every company, of any kind, suffers that. From being harassed, to not being paid, to working to death, etc.

You can't really buy a single game and expect it to not have a flawed background.
 
Echo

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Jarod McChicken said:
To be clear, there isn't really an investigation, but a member of the Council (Danielle Simmonnet) was not happy about what she read in the press because Quantic Dream is getting subventions from the country so she is asking for companies to have an examplary attitude. She herself (not the council) has submitted a proposition to the council to check the amount of credits the studio is getting and she wants any companies to refund the money if they breaks the rules. But there is no action against Quantic Dream from Paris right now.

Here is the moment where she talks about Quantic Dream in front of the other members of the Council : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Mv7BgExpQ
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Click to shrink...

Should be in OP. Nobody is "investigating" them from the sounds of it. Although there is an obvious want to do so.

Still if the studio gets the guillotine, it's sad we won't get Detroit, but I won't feel sorry for the management there just the underlings they've abused.
 
Elandyll

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orochi91 said:
There's no investigation into the (mis)use of public funds, as the thread title seems to imply~~~
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I'd go even further.

As seen in the bottom 3 recommendations of the Council, Even IF QD was found guilty by the Prudhommes of harcelement (so far found not guilty in 2 out of 3 cases, 1 still pending) and / or of abusing the labor laws (working hours/ firings...) it could still not ask for any punishment as currently the money given as investment and tax credits do not have binding obligations in that regard.

Basically, it's political posturing by using a high profile case to obtain wide ranging changes in how funds/ tax credits are given to companies by the local governement (here the city of Paris) to enforce "ethical standards".
 
OrdinaryPrime

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FireSafetyBear said:
I didn't know much about all the other things at QD before this but I'm aware every company, of any kind, suffers that. From being harassed, to not being paid, to working to death, etc.

You can't really buy a single game and expect it to not have a flawed background.
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I think you're drawing some sort of equivalence where there isn't one. Yes there are probably bad people at every reasonably large development company, but there isn't systemic sexism and toxicity everywhere. I think there are degrees in which we can make educated conclusions and not lump all of these situations together.

Elandyll said:
I'd go even further.

As seen in the bottom 3 recommendations of the Council, Even IF QD was found guilty by the Prudhommes of harcelement (so far found not guilty in 2 out of 3 cases, 1 still pending) and / or of abusing the labor laws (working hours/ firings...) it could still not ask for any punishment as currently the money given as investment and tax credits do not have binding obligations in that regard.

Basically, it's political posturing by using a high profile case to obtain wide ranging changes in how funds/ tax credits are given to companies by the local governement (here the city of Paris) to enforce "ethical standards".
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Is it a bad thing? It causes more people to look at this case and make sure people's tax money isn't being used to write code with genitalia everywhere.
 
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Okay so basically there's really no story here right now as WCCF implies (at least according to QD)? Probably good to lock it up if so(?)

I doubt people have much desire to discuss over arching changes to funding procedures in the future haha
 
pswii60

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Echo said:
Should be in OP. Nobody is "investigating" them from the sounds of it. Although there is an obvious want to do so.

Still if the studio gets the guillotine, it's sad we won't get Detroit, but I won't feel sorry for the management there just the underlings they've abused.
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Detroit is near finished, even if an investigation were to happen, it would take a long time and Detroit would be long out before its conclusion.
 
FireSafetyBear

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OrdinaryPrime said:
I think you're drawing some sort of equivalence where there isn't one. Yes there are probably bad people at every reasonably large development company, but there isn't systemic sexism and toxicity everywhere. I think there are degrees in which we can make educated conclusions and not lump all of these situations together.



Is it a bad thing? It causes more people to look at this case and make sure people's tax money isn't being used to write code with genitalia everywhere.
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I would definitely say a majority of companies have some sort of sexism and toxicity issues.

Just looking at all the reports and accusations coming out recently from everybody else.
 
orochi91

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Judge said:
Okay so basically there's really no story here right now as WCCF implies (at least according to QD)? Probably good to lock it up if so(?)

I doubt people have much desire to discuss over arching changes to funding procedures in the future haha
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lol

As for the topic at hand, it's a continuation from the previous thread, where the outcome (including a possible inquiry into public funds misuse) hinges on a pending court case.

No new info or investigations at this point in time.
 
TheThreadsThatBindUs

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Jarod McChicken said:
To be clear, there isn't really an investigation, but a member of the Council (Danielle Simmonnet) was not happy about what she read in the press because Quantic Dream is getting subventions from the country so she is asking for companies to have an examplary attitude. She herself (not the council) has submitted a proposition to the council to check the amount of credits the studio is getting and she wants any companies to refund the money if they breaks the rules. But there is no action against Quantic Dream from Paris right now.

Here is the moment where she talks about Quantic Dream in front of the other members of the Council : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Mv7BgExpQ
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Thanks for the clarification.
 
Fisty

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Sounds like a review. Hopefully they are above board, the recent allegations probably just put a target on them.
 

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After everything that's been revealed publicly it's safe to call out any publisher that will decide to work with this company from here on out.
 
seiki

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All this is going to negatively affect Detroit: Become Human badly. Quantic Dreams have taken quite a hit and their new game will suffer aswell.
 

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Good. Quebec should take note too. Tax breaks should entail model working conditions. Otherwise it's even more illegal government aid than it already is.
 
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Adamska

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seiki said:
All this is going to negatively affect Detroit: Become Human badly. Quantic Dreams have taken quite a hit and their new game will suffer aswell.
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I don't think any of this will affect QD or their game, as no negative verdict has been reached in the labor disputes they were involved with so far.
 
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