everything you need is in the op. i understand there is a lot, but that's kind of the point.
also his "personal issues" are part of the problem and cannot be separated.
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
Dangen Entertainment Robbing Indie Devs? (Updates Threadmarked)
- Thread starter Theswweet
- Start date
also his "personal issues" are part of the problem and cannot be separated.
I seriously doubt other publishers have people who go play videogames and stream from bars to their 7 followers instead of promoting the games from their devs.
So yeah, I agree with Ben Judd there: it will be very educational to find out how actual publishers work.
I tried tucking into it but there is a lot of content. It would be good if the OP could be updated with a summary as at the moment it quotes only a reply from what seems like an employee of the accused company. It's a little one-sided.
Are there alternative sources with summaries? News articles etc.
I would like to see each allegation highlighted if possible.
Fair enough, your first comment made it sound like you were dismissing such claims as if they were irrelevant.
The second of the three links at the bottom of the OP is a reply from the company. Just search for Judd's name if you really want to find only the complaints/response about him.
This is pretty much the first thing I did but it would be handy if somebody who knows both sides of the story could chime in with a summary. It sounds like the story has developed quite a lot.
Last edited:
The CEO is reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllly skeeeevy. Just for that alone anything that comes out from his mouth or his representatives deserve high scrutiny.
The game in question--Devil Engine, is ace-looking though, first time I ever heard about it. If I buy it on Switch, will my money go to Dangen? I think I saw something about how the dev handles the switch version on his own but I'm just making sure.
From what I can find it doesn't seem like they're in the clear yet, but it's hard to find information about it, it might be better to just reach out and ask them in a DM or something
Dangen still gets that money, no matter which version you buy.
The dev ported the game to Switch on his own but it's still published by Dangen.
I want to buy Devil-Engine and I want to make sure the devs get the money due to them from said purchase. What resources do I have to facilitate this?
Pardon my ignorance, but don't most indie devs self publish their games on the various storefronts? Or is Dangen a partner for physical releases?
The second medium post is pretty damning. Shame on Dangen and anyone who keeps defending them.
Not necessarily. It can be tough for very small developers to acquire devkits, market your game, translate and localize your game, and deal with legal obligations without a publisher handling all of that. In this case however it would appear that Dangen are incapable of handling their own publishing duties.
Not necessarily. It can be tough for very small developers to acquire devkits, market your game, translate and localize your game, and deal with legal obligations without a publisher handling all of that. In this case however it would appear that Dangen are incapable of handling their own publishing duties.
I couldn't read the whole thing, but I would say that it gives a Dangen an awful, almost distasteful, reputation.
Nope a lot of Indies, specifically indie devs consisted of small teams, looks for publishers to handle things like marketing, PR, ports, QA and localization.
Nope a lot of Indies, specifically indie devs consisted of small teams, looks for publishers to handle things like marketing, PR, ports, QA and localization.
Wow.
I legit was actually buying some of the bullshit they were saying in their rebuttal. I feel horrible after reading the second article posted. What fucking assholes, trying to paint her like a scheming manipulator to change the narrative and shift the blame to her for their fuck ups.
And to know some people like Kaga and Matt K. came from Nicalis' bullshit to this crap...I hope they get out while and if they still can, like the Renaine dev did. Hell, I hope everybody can. There are a lot of games still under them I want to support but I sure af don't wanna support Dangen in the process.
I legit was actually buying some of the bullshit they were saying in their rebuttal. I feel horrible after reading the second article posted. What fucking assholes, trying to paint her like a scheming manipulator to change the narrative and shift the blame to her for their fuck ups.
And to know some people like Kaga and Matt K. came from Nicalis' bullshit to this crap...I hope they get out while and if they still can, like the Renaine dev did. Hell, I hope everybody can. There are a lot of games still under them I want to support but I sure af don't wanna support Dangen in the process.
Yeah that's pretty fucked up I'll make sure to never set foot and steer people far away from them.
It's time to admit your buddy fucked up at his job. There's no need to coddle and defend him this desperately. Let this hopefully be a learning experience for him instead.
Sweet Jesus. I have no hope for that game's English release now. He really did catch an awful break and it sucks to think of how Dangen might be screwing over a guy that just wanted to revisit a genre that's been his career-long passion.
And that's a blip next to literally everything else Dangen has done.
Having a publisher makes it a lot easier to do ports because they can handle the console cert process (which can be notoriously difficult if your don't know what they look for) and can contract porting studios to help. Also from what I've read it sounds like a big part of Dangen's appeal is that they had a reputation for high quality localizations so they were very appealing to western indie devs who wanted their game localized for Japanese audiences or Japanese indie devs who wanted their game localized for western audiences.
what's so frustrating to me reading this is that apparently, again, a large percentage of the people in this particular section of the industry knew ben judd was a creep, and no one said anything? and we're having to rely on a woman, again, with her own set of challenges (specifically at the end of her second article where she goes into more detail about her health) to do the heavy lifting. i really hope the writer has a good support group around her and she can get the rest and yes, the money, she deserves at the end of all this.
Seriously fuck anyone still employed at Dangen at this point (excluding the devs they worked with obviously). This second article is stomach-churning to read.
Welp, spoke too soon. They're back on the attack.
Here is an archived link someone posted earlier
Here is an archived link someone posted earlier
The second article was taken down by medium, but Dangen's response remains untouched. I can't believe it.
Yep, they just deleted the article again. Had the page opened so was able to read it but as soon as I refreshed it was gone.
Fucking Dangen.
Fucking Dangen.
Do we have a mirror of this up anywhere? Of course it would be taken down.
Not surprised the 2nd article was taken down.
Clearly the actions of an innocent company. What assholes.
Clearly the actions of an innocent company. What assholes.
OP
OP
Thanks. The fact these keep getting taken down with no response is sad. Someone needs to signal boost this.
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm gonna guess the basis of a strongly worded letter from a lawyer. Zero backbone.
We really gonna do this? They're listed as anonymous for a reason and are victims of circumstance. maybe consider deleting?
Sorry for the hard call out, I just think this is right. FWIW I think you're doing the right thing.