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[MYeager]

The under 18 robot quote is just creepy. Good work on the article.

 

[Eusis]

Too bad this sort of thing came out in the run up to E3 with all the DRM console stuff hogging the attention.

On the other hand we're filled with frothing indignation and in the right mindset to go "fuck you, fuck you too, and ESPECIALLY fuck you!"

Anyways I was running low on space without even being aware of it so this is an excuse to dump one game.

 

[Stripper13]

I think I downloaded this on XBLA a while ago. Had a lot of fun with it - now I'm going to avoid the sequel like the plague.

Dat Robot comment - fuck.

 

[faceless007]

one person started off a phone conversation with "I'm sure everything you've heard is true"

LOL, that's really not a good sign.

Good story!

 

[AutumnAve]

He must be a fan of blazblue

Or Persona 3.

 

[Shosai]

The idea of 10-12 hour workdays isn't terribly newsworthy, but everything else? Unnerving.

 

[Roto13]

The idea of 10-12 hour workdays isn't terribly newsworthy, but everything else? Unnerving.

It is when it's every day. Crunch time isn't supposed to be all the time. That's why it's called "crunch time" and not "time."

 

[RoombaDance]

Yes, I have and will continue to pursue stories like this whenever I hear of them. And of course, if anyone reading this knows of something that should be brought to our attention, send me an e-mail: jason@kotaku.com.

I'm sure Kotaku is aware that as with the Silicon Knights article, publishing this article could potentially ruin this studio and many careers.

I'm curious what Kotaku's and your stance on the publishing of this kind of articles is. It's journalism, and I appreciate it, but it seems like there's a lot of tricky issues to deal with in deciding whether or not to publish something like this which could easily be considered a hit piece.

Not that they didn't deserve it.

 

[Zoc]

I'm sure Kotaku is aware that as with the Silicon Knights article, publishing this article could potentially ruin this studio and many careers.

I'm curious what Kotaku's and your stance on the publishing of this kind of articles is. It's journalism, and I appreciate it, but it seems like there's a lot of tricky issues to deal with in deciding whether or not to publish something like this which could easily be considered a hit piece.

Not that they didn't deserve it.

I think the only thing that matters is accuracy. If it's true, and that also means that it contains no lies by omission, then that is precisely what journalism and reporting are all about. Journalists dig up the information. Potential employees, customers, and investors are the ones who deserve a full picture.

 

[jschreier]

I'm sure Kotaku is aware that as with the Silicon Knights article, publishing this article could potentially ruin this studio and many careers.

I'm curious what Kotaku's and your stance on the publishing of this kind of articles is. It's journalism, and I appreciate it, but it seems like there's a lot of tricky issues to deal with in deciding whether or not to publish something like this which could easily be considered a hit piece.

Not that they didn't deserve it.

Well, we published this because we thought it was a story worth telling. We thought that readers deserved to know what's going on at this company. And hopefully publicizing this will lead people not just at Trendy but at many other game development studios to think twice about their work environments.

If you have any specific questions about the ethical issues or what sort of decision-making went on behind this story, I'd be happy to answer them.

 

[artist]

Good lord at this part:

Especially that last line. 0_0

Sounds like sweetbilly's alternate persona.

 

[Tawpgun]

Holy shit. No wonder hitmonchan got out of there. I don't doubt he had a good time there with some great people but clearly the place has issues.

 

[ChazAshley]

Woah this is pretty crazy... I know a good friend who works there... I'm gonna ask them if this is all true.

 

[bigwinnerx]

This will certainly end well.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

Well, we published this because we thought it was a story worth telling. We thought that readers deserved to know what's going on at this company. And hopefully publicizing this will lead people not just at Trendy but at many other game development studios to think twice about their work environments.

If you have any specific questions about the ethical issues or what sort of decision-making went on behind this story, I'd be happy to answer them.

I think it was worth telling. Yes, it's probably damaging to some careers and may negatively impact Trendy, but the people who are talented and blameless will find new work elsewhere while hopefully people like Stieglitz get the ostracizing they deserve.

I do have a question for you, though: how do you decide which of these stories to bring to light and which ones not to? Because as you said, this isn't the only one, and I'm sure you've run into others. Is there a specific criteria a story has to hit before it's postable?

 

[Caerith]

Right to work state. Employees have few rights other than what is mandated through federal law.

There are a lot of companies outside the video game industry that do shit like this, too.

That'd be one depressing book.

You should call the book "Be Thankful You Have A Job."

 

[spandexmonkey]

The robot comment is probably the least interesting part of the whole thing. If he wants underage sexy robots, go for it, market will decide whether to pay for it. Treat your employees like shit? Pay women shit compared to men? Thats the real crime.

 

[jschreier]

I think it was worth telling. Yes, it's probably damaging to some careers and may negatively impact Trendy, but the people who are talented and blameless will find new work elsewhere while hopefully people like Stieglitz get the ostracizing they deserve.

I do have a question for you, though: how do you decide which of these stories to bring to light and which ones not to? Because as you said, this isn't the only one, and I'm sure you've run into others. Is there a specific criteria a story has to hit before it's postable?

There's no checklist a story would have to hit, no. It's all a judgement call. If someone told me that their studio was working 6-day weeks and 10-hour days for three months, I would probably sympathize, but point out that as awful as that is, it's become standard practice in the video game industry. (Not that to justify that practice, of course.)

But when crunch time lasts all year, and when a studio has the sort of toxic environment that this article discusses, and when women are apparently being paid less just because of their gender, it's definitely a story.

And I haven't heard of any other stories like this. If I had, I'd be working to report them!

 

[PlanetSmasher]

There's no checklist a story would have to hit, no. It's all a judgement call. If someone told me that their studio was working 6-day weeks and 10-hour days for three months, I would probably sympathize, but point out that as awful as that is, it's become standard practice in the video game industry. (Not that to justify that practice, of course.)

But when crunch time lasts all year, and when a studio has the sort of toxic environment that this article discusses, and when women are apparently being paid less just because of their gender, it's definitely a story.

And I haven't heard of any other stories like this. If I had, I'd be working to report them!

Thanks for answering, Jason. I always figured you were one of the good ones considering you're a Suikoden guy. I may not be a journalist anymore (and thank Odin for that), but I definitely know where you're coming from regarding the judgment call on whether to post a story or not.

Hopefully this story inspires some other employees at beaten-down developers to speak up about their own experiences as well. If all goes well, maybe some meaningful change will hit the industry.

 

[jcm]

You should call the book "Be Thankful You Have A Job."

Do you think a book about battered women should be called "Be Thankful You Have a Husband"?

 

[kylej]

As usual the games industry sounds thrilling to be a part of

 

[dragonbane]

Another great story Jason! Keep it up.

 

[feel]

Terrible stuff. Happy to learn that Hitmonchan left them.

 

[Conan-san]

Do you think a book about battered women should be called "Be Thankful You Have a Husband"?

Only if the goal was irony and you were hell for leather for doing something stupid.

 

[Pikawil]

Another developer added to my personal no-buy blacklist.

meh I watch anime, I've seen worst...

example of a tame design for female robots with 18 or less robot years

Pardon me for going off-topic, but what anime is that? Never mind, reverse image searching identified it as Magical Pokaan.

 

[ComputerMKII]

Well, we published this because we thought it was a story worth telling. We thought that readers deserved to know what's going on at this company. And hopefully publicizing this will lead people not just at Trendy but at many other game development studios to think twice about their work environments.

If you have any specific questions about the ethical issues or what sort of decision-making went on behind this story, I'd be happy to answer them.

I'm siding with you. A journalist's duty is to inform, no matter what, and the reader has a right to know. Writing and publishing this article is the least Kotaku could do.

 

[weevles]

It's interesting to hear about the "other side"...we're so used to hearing about ridiculously flexible and employee-friendly tech companies...

 

[Pikawil]

Late last year, according to four different people, Stieglitz fired the lead designer on Dungeon Defenders II and shifted direction on the game, telling the development team to start taking ideas from the popular arena battle game League of Legends. The motto floating around the company, employees told me, is "if League does it, we do it."

"He threw out design work to copy League of Legends," said one person.

"Interesting, creative ideas [were] thrown by the wayside because 'we don't have time,' or 'Does League do it? No? Then it's a waste of time, we need to do what League does,' said another person.

So not only does this explains why the first screenshots of Dungeon Defenders II outright looked like a Dota 2 mod, but it seems like someone is hellbent on filling Zynga's soon-to-be hole...

 

[Sandy Nipples]

... O.O

You're surprised? It's sick, but there's a definite trend out there. Seen Terra? I don't give a fuck what people tell me about that game, it's got fucking pedophile as a demographic.

I don't like anime/loli stuff or whatever it's called, and I'm not sure if its more acceptable in the Eastern markets, but I'm not comfortable with this trend either.

 

[Caerith]

Do you think a book about battered women should be called "Be Thankful You Have a Husband"?

I think you missed the joke (you lucky bastard). Terrible bosses and, worse, sub-bosses constantly justify the way they treat workers with, "Well, you should be thankful you have a job." It's part threat-- the economy is terrible and unemployment is a death sentence-- and part schizophrenia.

If there are people out there telling battered women to be thankful for their beatings, then yes, sure, go ahead and call your book that, but "He Only Hits Me Because He Loves Me" has much wider recognition.

 

[Mognet]

the team looked so happy in their pictures inside the tavern secret room

 

[jcm]

I think you missed the joke (you lucky bastard). Terrible bosses and, worse, sub-bosses constantly justify the way they treat workers with, "Well, you should be thankful you have a job." It's part threat-- the economy is terrible and unemployment is a death sentence-- and part schizophrenia.

If there are people out there telling battered women to be thankful for their beatings, then yes, sure, go ahead and call your book that, but "He Only Hits Me Because He Loves Me" has much wider recognition.

Yes, I did miss your joke. I thought you were making the argument those nasty bosses use. Glad to know I was mistaken.

 

[charsace]

This thread is way too small. Disgusting behavior, but at this point I'm not surprised anymore that this type of thing is going on. Seems like the norm in the industry.

 

[Kifimbo]

From the comments in the article:

I'll just say this - got info that things are turning around due to this article.

I don't want to say more to get people currently there in trouble, but your article had a good effect, and sounds like things may be in for a very rapid turnaround. Kudos to you and the employees that spoke to you.

 

[jschreier]

From the comments in the article:

I saw that last night. So awesome to hear.

 

[Kifimbo]

I saw that last night. So awesome to hear.

Still too early to celebrate I think. Will have to wait a few months to see if these changes are only temporary in order to make this story go away.

 

[Pinko Marx]

We need more articles like this. Behind the scenes looks at gaming studios.
Nice work Schreier.

 

[Alucrid]

Still too early to celebrate I think. Will have to wait a few months to see if these changes are only temporary in order to make this story go away.

True, plus I don't think that this Jeremy Stieglitz person had a sudden revelation that he shouldn't be an asshat treating employees like shit.

 

[dark_prinny]

Welcome to XXI Century slavery. Utterly disgusting.

 

[TwEE-N-Toast]

To be honest, to me it reads a little tongue-in-cheek. I don't think anyone would seriously demand something be "under 18 robot years", not even this guy.

Yeah thats how I took it too.

 

[Mista Koo]

 

[Barack Lesnar]

...

No comment. :X

 

[jschreier]

http://kotaku.com/i-am-a-current-employee-of-te-the-female-staff-we-have-512092039

Things are currently changing since the release of this article and for the first time, I sat at work yesterday and did not feel the usual hopelessness. I would ask that the community try to not judge all of us on the actions of a few and to not completely abandon our game before it has been released. There are people with families here and people who really want to make a great game and it is looking like we may have a chance to do so now.

 

[GenericBadGuy]

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

Looks like some good news is coming of the exposure, which is good to hear. Good jerb Jason.

 

[Eusis]

My wife went to school with someone who started this company. I'll have to forward her this link, haha.

Was kinda hoping we'd have heard something about this by now! Ah well.

Hopefully they really do improve and STAY improved thanks to that article.

 

[freddy]

Oh Jeremy.... what do you have to say for yourself? Well done, Kotaku.

 

[jschreier]

Most of the credit belongs to the people who were courageous enough to speak out. I'm glad this did some good. Hopefully it sticks.

 

[piratepwnsninja]

Most of the credit belongs to the people who were courageous enough to speak out. I'm glad this did some good. Hopefully it sticks.

Yeah, I think that follow through would be great, and I would likely buy it if this is true.

I've been lucky enough to work at three different studios, all of which have been fantastic.

 

[Hitmonchan107]

Nvm.

 

[Arksy]

Good work in exposing this story Jason, you've affected real change with your investigation.

I think your ad hominem attack on Kamitani was far from your usual standards.

It's one bad mark against what has been in recent terms a pretty stellar record.

You should be proud of the result here.