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Nice. Hopefully things get better. Similar to what Ubisoft is doing, they hired a third party and are sacking people. Good.
Congrats, Rocksteady. You're at Square 1. They might think they've addressed the issue, but nothing matters until transparent, open results are shown. They're at the start of a long road to earning public trust back.
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Can somebody explain to me why, of all places, they decide to handle this on their official Rocksteady twitter account the weekend of their reveal of suicide squad. Couldn't you talk to a journalist? Do this literally any other way? It's probably the dumbest way to handle this I've ever seen.
obviously I hope things get better for those employees and all that good stuff. But cmon man, you pay these PR people thousands of dollars. They should be better at this
obviously I hope things get better for those employees and all that good stuff. But cmon man, you pay these PR people thousands of dollars. They should be better at this
Tomorrow is going to be real awkward, but their announcement panel for DCFandome was probably pre-recorded anyways.
Eh? The Guardian is normally a very credible and researched paper. If I remember correctly because it was going to appear in the paper RockSteady actually took action.
I assume this was put out because the FanDome event is going to be big and they don't want headlines not prompting their game.
turning off comments is such a coward move that anything that comes before the comment section is automatically considered bullshit. for me, anyway.
I would do the same. The comments that would invariably come in would detract from the messaging that they are trying to convey. There are plenty of other places for people to voice their opinion without cluttering up the statement page.
At least it's better than whatever the hell they released the other day. It's still really gross to me the current staff were attacking Kim and liking tweets of people doing the same and they couldn't even manage to get all the women who signed the original letter to sign the "anonymous" one the other day.
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And hopefully not just some positive noises being made until this dies down. Cos let's face it, that's what usually happens.
This tweet gives me a lot more confidence in this statement. I really hope it is a better place for the female staff now.
An independent third party that they're paying. This third party will be answering to its paymasters. I'd still be suspicious of all of this.
i would turn off comments too. it's not like there will be a valuable conversation in the replies. it's a bunch of people who want their opinion to be echoed over and over.
These are the appropriate steps to take, and I'm glad an independent third-party is investigating the claims.
And this honestly should have been the first response taken, rather than the unsolicited letter. That was highly unprofessional.
More importantly, this seems to be what the female staff want - both current and former employees. I will continue to attest that remaining impartial during the investigation is going to be important until these things finish, and that I hope WarnerMedia is using a trust third-party (they tend to).
And this honestly should have been the first response taken, rather than the unsolicited letter. That was highly unprofessional.
More importantly, this seems to be what the female staff want - both current and former employees. I will continue to attest that remaining impartial during the investigation is going to be important until these things finish, and that I hope WarnerMedia is using a trust third-party (they tend to).
Independent to the studio and within WB or completely outside of the company?
Is there an alternative where a third party investigates the situation for free?
just my two cents, as someone not following this story in a reporting capacity:
"asking all female staff to provide feedback about the portrayal and behavior of characters in the games we make" is a really lousy version of "expanding the diversity of our leadership teams to make sure portrayals are addressed in the planning and pre-production phases in the first place"
"asking all female staff to provide feedback about the portrayal and behavior of characters in the games we make" is a really lousy version of "expanding the diversity of our leadership teams to make sure portrayals are addressed in the planning and pre-production phases in the first place"
Futter's tweet is interesting. Doesn't seem like this is a Riot Games situation, where multiple women are accusing the developer with a multitude of stories.
Reading The Guardian article, it looks like the entire article uses just one source.
Reading The Guardian article, it looks like the entire article uses just one source.
I just can't wait for the reveal of suicide squad this weekend with Harley wearing a leather corset that breaks 3 ribs while she stripper walks up to Killer Croc to talk about how they are gonna easy-combo punch Superman to death.
and then a non-solicited letter from female employees will show up with them all saying
"that walk was based on my NORMAL everyday walk and i feel empowered that they used my motion capture for free! The exposure my walk will get is amazing! Also that outfit is totally normal and basically what I wear to church every Sunday so i don't understand why everyone is freaking out."
I don't care how legit they are- those letters from the all too happy women at the company are fucking weird and insincere. Their PR team needs some fresh blood cause fuuuuck...
and then a non-solicited letter from female employees will show up with them all saying
"that walk was based on my NORMAL everyday walk and i feel empowered that they used my motion capture for free! The exposure my walk will get is amazing! Also that outfit is totally normal and basically what I wear to church every Sunday so i don't understand why everyone is freaking out."
I don't care how legit they are- those letters from the all too happy women at the company are fucking weird and insincere. Their PR team needs some fresh blood cause fuuuuck...
Well, lets hope they'll keep on improving.
"Free?! How can it be free? They are obviously paid behind closed doors!"
Without the Guardian leak and Kim MacAskill's video telling her truth, nothing of this would happen. Regardless how PR fluff this does sound, I hope the women that work and have worked on Rocksteady feel encouraged and safe to speak their truth.
With that said, this doesn't erase the fact that the last two days have been a shit show with Rocksteady Studios current employees partaking in victim blaming and dog piling Kim MacAskill, even if she claims that she wasn't the whistleblower that shared the 2018 letter to The Guardian.
This is an apparent good step, but I'm not forgetting how Rocksteady's employees reacted and treated a former colleague for speaking her truth.
Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of ways this can lead to nothing.
A very good question.
Yeah, this is a big pet peeve of mine. I know "women employees/staff" doesn't roll off the tongue as smoothly but still.
I'm not going to comment I'm just going to link to current and ex employees, including Kim so that people can get more information and make up their own opinion with more informed decisions at least
Surely business can think of something. What about an independent commission in the industry, with rules that companies within the industry have to adhere to and answer to. If there is wrongdoing, then the independent body makes their own decision as to whether or not it is investigated, not the company in question itself. I appreciate that the independent body will need to be paid somehow - how about an annual fee by all members?
I could see that working but it'll need to be implemented at a parent company level instead of with developers. In this situation it would be a contractual obligation implemented with WB Games and function in the same way a yearly audit would with the company being on retainer and the fee being split but the subsidiary. That's a really good idea
It appears extremely clear that Rocksteady was a real shitty place before 2018, but I don't see a reason to be concerned unless a current employee of Rocksteady says otherwise
I don't think companies should have to deal with HR concerns publicly if they are adequately dealing with the concerns internally
I don't think companies should have to deal with HR concerns publicly if they are adequately dealing with the concerns internally
Almost like they have a game being shown this weekend.
Unfortunately this is a show and prove scenario. If they didn't botch the original response I would be more trustworthy of this.
no comments is also .....poor move. It's just going to make people fill up the Batman trailer with them.
Unfortunately this is a show and prove scenario. If they didn't botch the original response I would be more trustworthy of this.
no comments is also .....poor move. It's just going to make people fill up the Batman trailer with them.
That's leaving pretty big bait for crazy ass "fans" to say derogatory and hateful shit about women posting in the reply section. Especially on Twitter.
Then next thing you know it's "Look at all the Alt-Right fans Rocksteady has!!".