Current and former Quantic Dream employees denounce working conditions, toxic atmosphere

Started by Legend, Jan 14, 2018, 03:59 PM

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Legend

Current and former Quantic Dream employees denounce working conditions, toxic atmosphere | ResetEra

 
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Story published today by three French outlets (paywalls) : - Canard PC - Mediapart - Le MondeEurogamer's covering of the story. Some bits from Le Monde's article translated:
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But behind success, the reality is less glowing. Quantic Dream, a Parisian creative studio specialized in cinematographic adventure games, is described by about 15 current and former employees interviewed by Le Monde as a company characterized by a toxic corporate culture, a management with inappropriate words and behaviors, under-considered employees, overwhelming workload and dubious contractual practices.Click to expand...
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Its President and Founder David de Gruttola (aka David Cage), Legion of Honor in 2014 (French high distinction), and its General Manager, Guillaume Juppin de Fondaumière, Medal of the Order of Merit in 2008 and also Co-Founder and former President of the National Syndicate of Video Games, say they are "very surprised", "shocked" and "outraged" by these accusations. After long interviews in early January inside the company, the two leaders evoke the "rant" of former and "frustrated" employees" who have told them about these issues. Close to management, theStaff representatives describe a well-organized, functional company where employees can thrive.Click to expand...
Extra bits thanks to Oscar Lemaire :
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Some employees denounced racist or homophobic jokes inside the teams or even inside the top management. One of them describes a scene where, after watching a video of a recorded robbery, David Cage jokingly asked an employee from Tunisia "Is this a cousin of yours?". David Cage responded "You want to talk homophobia? We work with Ellen Page who is fighting for LGBT rights. You want to talk racism? We are working with Jesse Williams on civil rights in the USA. Judge my work."Click to expand...
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Guillaume Juppin de Fondaumière is described as someone imbued with his power and borderline with women (uncomfortable kisses, inappropriate words). He has been accused of flirting with insistence, asking women to drink to content of his personal bottles. The Co-Founder tells he is "very angry" and is firmly denying the accusations. "Let me be clear: This is absolutely false (...) none of that happened during these evenings". Other are talking about his demoralizing management and constant pressure on the teams. During a day of National Solidarity (extra day of work for funding the autonomy of old and handicapped people) he sent a collective email that Le Monde consulted: "I have received a demand from staff delegates that left me wondering. I am asked If we have to work as an usual day or we can stop working after 7 hours today. For people jealous of civil servants, I inform you 4.000 jobs of jail guards are available." Guillaume Juppin de Fondaumière defended himself by saying that this mail shouldn't be taken out of context.Click to expand...
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Some employees, with medical certificate as proof, talk about burn out and depression. In 2015 and 2016, 50 employees left Quantic Dream, including high profiles recruited from foreign countries. One year and an half later, they don't want to hear again about Quantic Dream.Click to expand...
************************************************** Birdseye said:  
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Sources: http://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/articl...de-management-contestees_5241506_4408996.htmlhttps://www.mediapart.fr/journal/ec...ents-douteux-titre-les-errements-d-une-pepite Articles are behind a paywall but here's what the free part of Le Monde's article says:
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Insulting photoshopped pictures, 60-hour work weeks, pressing management... multiple former employees denounce the excesses of David Cage's studio. Behind the studio's success, the day-to-day reality is less appealing. Quantic Dream - a parisian studio specialized in cinematic adventures- is described by about 15 current and former employees contacted by Le Monde, as a company characterized by a toxic company culture, a maangement with inappropriate words and bejavior, lack of consideration for the employees, overwhelming workloads and dubious contractual practices. The CEO and founder David de Gruttola, known as David Cage, awarded with the Legion of Honor in 2014, and the co-CEO, Guillaume Juppin de Fondaumière (...), who's also co-founder and former President of the SELL (Syndicat des éditeurs de logiciels de loisirs) said they were 'very surprised', 'shocked' and 'outraged' by those accusations. When questioned at length about those, in the company's premises in early January, the two leaders mentioned 'wild imaginings' from former, 'frustrated' employees who never reported their problems. Employee representatives -close to the management- talked about a well-organized, functional company, where employees thrive. According to Le Monde's info (also obtained by Mediapart and Canard PC), five former employees filed a complaint in spring 2017 against Quantic Dream and one of its employees for insulting photoshopped pictures. The Paris bar explored the constituent elements for 'non-public insults towards an individual'...Click to expand...
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Thomasorus said:  
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"David Cage is nicknamed "Daddy" ironically, "God" or "Sun King". "David does not listen, change plannings and ways to proceed at the last minute." says a former amployee. If his work capacity is respected, everyone despise his affective management, his autarctic way of decisionning, his leadership without vision, making planning unsustainable. A former employee talks about 15 hours days, weekends at work, 90 hours work weeks." "David Cage is described by many witnesses as "not very subtile". Grievous jokes, lack of consideration for female coworkers, gritty allusions in presence of his wife, or misplaced remarks for female actress of his games... "David has his own point of view about how managing a studio, which is from his own words a private place, or semi-private place says a former female employee. He can do whatever he wants, he's at home."Click to expand...
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Thomasorus said:  
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The best part :
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In the meeting room where Le Monde met with David Cage two times, he assures that "Quantic is not a rugby cloakroom". Just behind him, on a board, a sucker with testicules farting was drawn.Click to expand...
:'DClick to expand...
Jawbreaker said:  
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A couple of the images they Photoshopped of employees as a "gag" and passed around the office.(​IMG)/(​IMG)/ There are some NSFW images, too.Click to expand...
Zanasea said:  
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Mediapart draws an interesting portrayal of David Cage, a bit more qualified than you'd expect (depending on who's talking, obviously)https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/ec...tre-les-errements-d-une-pepite?page_article=3 Did a quick translation:
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Indeed, most of the company's life revolves around the game maker (David Cage), who is a majority shareholder (he owns more than 60% of the capital) and who, as the main author, takes the big decisions regarding their games. Many former employees describe David Cage as inhabited by his projects, to the point that he sometimes forgets the human beings working around him. "To him, people are just tools, not individuals, and their talent is not regarded as a benefit. This is exhausting. They (the QD employees) are depressed", says Elise (they changed the names of some speakers). The word "tyrannic" comes up often when describing his professional behavior, and just as often opposed to his open and friendly character whenever the topic is not video game creation. Obviously this portrayal doesn't please the one concerned. "If I wanted to work like that, I could: I'm a majority shareholder in this company, I'm the president, I've directed games for twenty years, the publishers we are working with are there because they are interested in my work. But it's ridiculous. I'm working with a group of people of all origins, and the team takes collegiate decisions. Intellectually speaking, I cannot take hundreds of decisions alone", he insists. He, however, admits taking "strategic decisions, directions" on his own: "If there are things to do or not do in the game, it's my role, my responsibility to say it." Staff representatives agree with their CEO: "We can confirm the fact that the company works according to the direction given by David Cage. But it would be false to say that managers or leads have no decision-making power, if only in terms of recruitment, where David Cage almost never steps in, unless for specific directing or artistic positions. He is not in charge of human management within the services", they explain. It is, however, hard to deny that not everyone can work with him. When development started on the Detroit game, in 2012 and 2013, his company hired several "stars" from the industry, some of them from other countries. It didn't work out. "These people, these major leads... It couldn't work", an employee recalls. "For David, it's impossible to work with people with a strong personality. He absolutely needs to be in control." The memory of the turbulent, short-lived presence of one veteran director left traces: "It ended badly because this director knew what he wanted, and he was experienced in motion capture. And we had the feeling that David had his baby taken away from him. He rejected a lot of things." The director didn't stay, and he wasn't the only one.Click to expand...
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the-pi-guy

Le Monde journalist who reported the Quantic Dream scandal says he got blacklisted by Sony (read OP) | ResetEra

 
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William Audureau (journalist for Le Monde) just tweeted this: Context: https://kotaku.com/david-cages-quantic-dreams-accused-of-being-a-toxic-wor-1822068440 Edit: I previously said Sony blacklisted Gamekult for giving Beyond: Two Souls a 6/10. That was a mistake on my part, it was actually Heavy Rain (Source: https://beta.arretsurimages.net/articles/sony-fait-pression-sur-un-site-dedie-aux-jeux-video) Reminds me of when Sony blacklisted Gamekult when they gave Heavy Rain a 6/10 score: http://n4g.com/news/470886/gamekult-co-founder-responds-to-sony-blacklistMod Edit: For further clarification. Keep in mind, Le Monde is a reputable newspaper.
"(I've been blacklisted) according to sources close to the case , as we'd say politely" .​
 

Legend

I actually kinda like journalists being blacklisted. Either they did a poor job with their review and it can be the closest thing to a slap on the wrist they'd get, or they're good reviewers and it unshackles them from any pressure they might have felt. Once you've been blacklisted, the publisher has zero "leverage" on your actions. Maybe I completely misremembered this or who said it but I think Jim Sterling once talked about how he didn't regret getting blacklisted.

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