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Kotaku: Trendy Entertainment - A Video Game Studio From Hell [Up: Stieglitz Demoted]

N

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Update: http://kotaku.com/shake-up-at-studio-from-hell-512135529

Kotaku said:
Following publication of our story yesterday, Stieglitz will change roles in a significant way, both sources said. Although Stieglitz remains with the company, he will no longer supervise staff on their next game, Dungeon Defenders II, according to both sources. One source said Stieglitz may work on a project independently.

...

At some point next week, according to one person close to the situation, representatives from the company's investors at Insight Venture Management will meet with employees to discuss morale and how to move forward.
Click to expand...

---

Here's a few excerpts. The actual article is about 4-5 times as long: http://kotaku.com/investigation-a-video-game-studio-from-hell-511872642

Kotaku said:
Investigation: A Video Game Studio From Hell

Seven-day work weeks. Sexist decisions. An office environment so toxic, employees are terrified to speak up for fear of losing their jobs.

That's the atmosphere at the Florida-based game development studio Trendy Entertainment, according to current and former employees. Trendy is responsible for a popular tower defense game called Dungeon Defenders and is currently working on the sequel. Over the past few weeks, I've talked to nine different people with connections to Trendy, and obtained a number of e-mails and Skype logs that show a studio filled with fear and dysfunction.

Current and former employees describe the company as dismal and unpleasant, painting a picture of Trendy president Jeremy Stieglitz as a dictatorial manager who publicly berates his staff and, according to four of the people I spoke with, who allegedly makes salary decisions based on gender.
Click to expand...
Kotaku said:
Many staff at Trendy don't plan on putting up with the situation much longer: about a half-dozen developers have already left over the past two months, and according to the people I spoke with, an estimated 5-10 more junior and senior Trendy employees plan to leave once the first part of Dungeon Defenders II goes live in July.
Click to expand...
Kotaku said:
But at Trendy, according to people who work and have worked there, crunch lasts all year round. Staff describe an atmosphere where everyone must work 10 to 12 hours a day for six or seven days a week, and some people fear losing their jobs if they question this arrangement.
Click to expand...
Kotaku said:
"Artists have been hired (and very quickly left the studio) on the motto of, 'Hire a woman—we can pay women less than we can men,'" one person connected to Trendy told me.

...


Two different people told me that Trendy president Jeremy Stieglitz treats female employees differently than males. "He won't even look at women," one person said. "He would go [to] the room one was in and stand to the side and yell into the room... without ever going in."
Click to expand...
Kotaku said:
Before 2012, according to two people, the studio had some serious financial difficulties. Staff would go unpaid for long periods of time, and many worked 80-hour weeks because they felt they had no choice. Last summer, when Trendy received an $18.2 million investment from a firm in New York City, some at the company thought conditions would get better. They didn't. Today, employees say the hours are just as excruciating. Worse, people connected to Trendy say, progress on the game is constantly interrupted by Stieglitz's interference.
Click to expand...
 
A

Alienous

Member
Kotaku said:
"Artists have been hired (and very quickly left the studio) on the motto of, 'Hire a woman—we can pay women less than we can men,'" one person connected to Trendy told me.
Click to expand...

Well, that aint right. It's good that this sticks out as much as it does, as these guys are certainly the exception.
 
R

red731

Member
Wow. Would have been outta there right away knowing whats going on.
Fuckin gross and not right in these times.
 
U

ultron87

Member
Good lord at this part:

ku-xlarge.png


Especially that last line. 0_0
 
M

Morthas

Neo Member
A really interesting read.

I'm wondering what the accussed guy in the article will do after reading it. Atmosphere must be toxic there. Maybe one reason it's so hard to get that kind of information.
 
C

corn_fest

Member
And they don't even have a good game to show for it. What a shame.
WTF at the sexualized underage character thing above.
 
B

Barack Lesnar

Banned
Good lord, I LOVED Dungeon Defenders, over 200 hours into it and that's not an exaggeration. This is crazy. Reading the full article now.
 
E

Erasus

Member
Woah. That seems awful. Over 8h six/seven days a week? How is that legal? Going unpaid? What? Who the fuck checks up on this?
 
GraveRobberX

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
So Bizarre Creation get shuttered, yet an asshole like this thrives =/

Also Under Aged Robots, sounds so so wrong, it's almost like WTF are you on?
 
Shai-Tan

Shai-Tan

Banned
I remember when Dungeon Defenders was just a UDK demo. It sounds like they expanded too much when the game became a hit.

I assumed they were very successful when they continued to put out all that content for the original game. Mismanagement I guess.
 
S

SethMode

Neo Member
ROBOKITTYZILLA said:
*uninstalls Dungeon Defenders*

Done with that game and their shitty company. I can't support anyone that would treat people like this.
Click to expand...

A noble gesture, but haven't you already paid for it?

This was genuinely shocking. Particularly the line about underage characters. Yikes.
 
Hale-XF11

Hale-XF11

Member
I worked at a place like this once. It all starts at the top. All it takes is one person to make everyone's lives a living hell. Such a shame.
 
V

Valnen

Member
ROBOKITTYZILLA said:
*uninstalls Dungeon Defenders*

Done with that game and their shitty company. I can't support anyone that would treat people like this.
Click to expand...

You already own the game, playing it doesn't "support" them any more than they've already been supported. I'm glad Dungeon Defenders 2 looks awful, not playing it will be easy.
 
A

alazz

Member
Hah, interesting read. My brother, who used to live and work in Gainesville, had a coworker who knew the owner and said he was a real asshole. This was over a year ago, but I think my brother told me that the owner had almost a personality cult with some of his employees, or at least he tried to make his employees obsequious.

Apparently he would offer to take the office out to lunch, but only pay for his own meal, too.

There were some more stories he told me, but I can't remember them. I'll have to call up my brother to see if he remembers.
 
R

ROBOKITTYZILLA

Member
SethMode said:
A noble gesture, but haven't you already paid for it?
Click to expand...

Valnen said:
You already own the game, playing it doesn't "support" them any more than they've already been supported.
Click to expand...

While this is true, I did pick up the game ridiculously cheap during a Steam sale and I actually enjoyed the game and planned on picking up the DLC at some point along with the second game. I'll be completely avoiding them now.
 
J

Jarek23

Banned
As sad as this is to hear, I'm glad it's getting some coverage. I've been fortunate enough to work for pretty decent employers over the years, but even then there were some questionable business practices going on. I couldn't imagine being forced to keep a job like this because of mortgage payments, children etc.
 
S

SethMode

Neo Member
ROBOKITTYZILLA said:
While this is true, I did pick up the game ridiculously cheap during a Steam sale and I actually enjoyed the game and planned on picking up the DLC at some point along with the second game. I'll be completely avoiding them now.
Click to expand...

In that case, carry on!

Thankfully I read this story before I bought it, because I have kicked around picking it up a number of times. Decision made.
 
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