Life Is Strange developer Deck Nine has released a statement denying reports of racism and harassment at the studio.
Late last week, IGN shared an in-depth report titled “How Hidden Nazi Symbols Were the Tip of a Toxic Iceberg at Life Is Strange Developer Deck Nine”.
The article features contributions from a number of former and current Deck Nine staff who allege management has let a toxic work culture fester at the studio by protecting multiple abusive leaders and encouraging crunch culture, while reports of sexual harassment, bullying and transphobia were seemingly ignored. Racist imagery was also reportedly discovered while developers worked on the next chapter of the Life Is Strange franchise.
Deck Nine claimed it hired Denver-based firm Investigations Law Group to look into the situation with racist imagery but according to IGN, no further information has been given to employees about the investigation or its results. Current employees also say none of Deck Nine’s promised anti-hate speech policies, training, or processes have yet been implemented.
It has also been reported that Life Is Strange owners Square Enix downplayed the diversity that the franchise has been praised for, with several members of staff recounting an incident where Square Enix told developers it didn’t want Life Is Strange to be thought of as the “gay game.”
“All the stuff people have praised in the queer community [about True Colors] was hard fought for,” said former producer Madeline Tate.
Square Enix hasn’t commented on the situation, but did direct IGN to Deck Nine’s response to the article.
“We, as with countless other studios in the games industry, are constantly working to build in better practices throughout development to avoid crunch,” said Deck Nine.
“We place the utmost importance on the welfare of every employee at Deck Nine. We have strict conduct policies in place, and as soon as allegations or issues are reported to HR, they are confidentially investigated, assessed, and addressed with the parties involved as quickly and effectively as possible. It is always our intention to maintain a positive, sustainable, and successful studio by putting our people first,” the statement continued.
Deck Nine developers discovering Nazi symbols hidden in the next Life Is Strange game is only one part of the toxic work culture at the studio, where management has allegedly protected multiple abusive leaders, encouraged crunch, and more. https://t.co/xxqi9tgbu8 pic.twitter.com/UooQgosTY3
— IGN (@IGN) April 5, 2024
“We will soon be integrating new tools into our development pipeline to ensure all terms, imagery, or symbols created in our games – including any and all background content – receive additional vetting for potentially offensive or hateful expressions and are properly flagged and assessed to avoid inadvertent inclusion. We are also rolling out formal anti-hate speech training and processes to better inform and give team members actionable resources to remain vigilant as a collective studio.”
Deck Nine added: “We remain committed to championing diversity and telling stories from historically underrepresented groups in games.”
In other news, Roblox studio boss Stefano Corazza has hit back at claims the gaming platform “exploits” young developers.