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Possibility Space (jeff strain / austin walker studio) abruptly shut down. Owner blames it on employees leaking info to Kotaku.

BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
The stupid thing is that nobody working for any company should even be required to be babysat signing NDAs because logically a grown ass adult shouldnt be spilling confidential info the general public to begin with. But leave it to video game employees to tell the world anything from gaming leaks, company memos, email trails etc... And not even leaks like loose lipping a few sentences here and there on Reddit. Were talking uploading images and videos years in advance.

And gaming employees wonder why management treats them like babies.

Funny how you dont see this kind of stuff from all the employees working at car companies, Nike, consumer good companies etc.... Hey, we got tons of secret info and prototypes in R&D I'm sure everyone who like to read (especially competitors). Yet despite having probably 100x the employee base vs game companies, you never seem to ever hear big secrets revealed.

That is actually a really good point. You never see cars get leaked.
 

Madonis

Member
I'm sad they lost their jobs in this way and without getting to release the game.

I've had my own personal disagreements with Austin Walker in terms of media and game-related opinions over the years, but not to the extent of hatred or whatever.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
video game employees sabotaging their our company with leaks. Who woulda had ever guessed. lol. That's video game employees for ya.
Normally a leak “yay a new game is in production” is nothing.
You certainly don’t close down a studio because a secret has gotten out you make a game lol.

Their game was just terrible and way behind deadline. No way around it
 

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Normally a leak “yay a new game is in production” is nothing.
You certainly don’t close down a studio because a secret has gotten out you make a game lol.

Their game was just terrible and way behind deadline. No way around it
This does sound like a more substantial leak than that, lots of detailed financial stuff and details of agreements and contracts with the publisher.
 
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ReyBrujo

Member
This does sound like a more substantial leak than that, lots of detailed financial stuff and details of agreements and contracts with the publisher.

Mind you, many times the articles don't actually reflect that extra information, it's just thrown to the one being interviewed to let them know the journalist expects answers that match the insider information he got. In a way it's like an blackmailing, reading between lines it could be tell me something juicy or I'll have to post this stuff in the article.
 
It's funny in a very unfunny way that they are begging for jobs over Twitter after the studio allegedly shut down because those same employees leaked private info. Like, who the hell would hire them? Not me, for sure.

This reinforces my notion that the current "video games crisis" is based mostly on bad work ethics and incompetence. So, yeah, good riddance. Who's next?
 

Reallink

Member
With a stated commitment of "creating world-class games within safe and ethical work environments" and looking to hire people from marginalized communities.

With that mission statement and their name being a wordplay on "Safe Space" I can't imagine anyone with half a brain being willing to touch them with a 10 foot pole. You got to respect the hustle and con job they pulled getting some abject retard to pay them all $200k salaries for 3 years to do nothing.
 
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Dude is a massive cunt. Absolutely nothing of value was lost.
I guess I just don't care anymore. People constantly rallying or being against public figures is why I left the other site. Hopefully more and more people here eventually realize the honest truth: Everyone's an asshole.

People are just different types of asshole. The important thing is to pick and choose what you care about.

Of course I don't agree with everything the guy said, but I clearly saw that Austin had a storytelling talent on the few podcasts he was on. He actually sold me on some good games in the past simply based on how he described his experience with them from the moment he picks up the controller. Much like Huber does on EZA he paints an entire picture and can make you picture the game point for point. Not everyone, especially not every podcaster, has such a talent. So from my perspective it's unfortunate that the guy can't catch a break in that regard.
 

ShadowNate

Member
Sadly I don't find this at all hard to believe. You don't leak private info to the press (let alone a dumpster fire outlet like Kotaku) if you're working for a new company, that has yet to publish a game -- unless it's part of a marketing strategy and it's "oops, look how good the game looks, and there's a someone riding a dragon in the background too".

I think I also get the CEO going "screw this shit, I'm leaving the industry and focusing on my family".

If the claim in that letter is true, one irresponsible asshole employee made things terrible for everyone, and has likely put a stain on every other coworker's resume since currently no one knows who was the untrustworthy jerk.
 

Mooreberg

Member
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ManaByte

Member
Normally a leak “yay a new game is in production” is nothing.
You certainly don’t close down a studio because a secret has gotten out you make a game lol.

Their game was just terrible and way behind deadline. No way around it

The rumor is it was Shadowrun.
 
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