This is what I don't get. Unless they received the money much later, why aren't you paying your people ?
-
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.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
[VGC] The former lead designer of Kena: Bridge of Spirits claims he was ‘maliciously forced out’
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
The same reason why profits and productivity went up for 50 years in the US, yet the average wage remained stagnant compared with inflation, and mininmum wage actually decreased. Not to mention executive pay increased astronomically...Greed
User threadbanned: thread derailment. This is not the thread to discuss moderation policy.
We probably shouldn't promote the game on ERA TBH. Companies need to realise there are consequences to behaving like dicks.
Last edited:
I always want to be the glass half-full person and always say all companies can't be shit to their employees, right? Turns out they all just might be. :( You got Sony money and Epic money and still don't pay people that are responsible for the existence of your game. Despicable.
Retail theft is in the tens of billions a year, I wonder why that isn't compared? I used to work loss prevention, just curious.
User warned: antagonizing another member, tag shaming
We've got a mod driving the hype train while 100% ignoring the issue. Wouldn't surprise me if it ends up a GOTY contender on here.
OP
OP
User threadbanned: thread derailment. This is not the thread to discuss moderation policy.
Lol nothing was done regarding Insomiac games, Acti-Blizz or Ubisoft ones and you expect that something will be done for this?
Only game that got some kind of response here on Era was CP2077. And I still stand by my opinion that Era should decide if they will treat all developers/games the same or not bother at all. These random decisions serve no purpose.
It just rings so fake when the helm of the company has a heart of stone but yet their game tries to show love. So at odds. This is a small operation, not a mega corporation, so it s even more jarring, because they acted inhumane at human-scale.
You can make a masterpiece on a tower of blood and tears... but the stench here is too much for me to even approach.
You can make a masterpiece on a tower of blood and tears... but the stench here is too much for me to even approach.
I don't think there should be any pressure on gamers for avoiding a game. Just make people aware, and then let them decide based on what they are comfortable with. I will give this a pass till there is some clarification, and hope Sony stay away from acquiring it if thats what they are thinking.
I will say this, though - since it won't show up in trending threads lots of people will miss it.
I will say this, though - since it won't show up in trending threads lots of people will miss it.
I already asked if this could be added to the OT as an update, hopefully they do eventually update the OT with this crucial information (but somehow I have the feeling it won't to a small degree)
Well, Activision Blizzard threads usually have the lawsuit message, and a lot of the posts are just "Fuck Activision ".
And every THQ related thread has a "shoutout to Mark" response.
I guess it's easier to hate the companies that are already "cool" to hate. Like it was amusing comparing the same users across THQ and Activision threads; versus Insomniac ones.
In my experience, "dev doing questionable thing but it's been a while ago without new news" has not warranted a banner in a new release's OT nor a response as to why not, but I'd like to be surprised.
Last edited:
It's a contractor dispute from like 5 years ago. There's not much there.
I mean, if you read the threadmarked post it seems to be a bit of a pattern for the studio.
The threadmarked posts are from the same person at the center of the original story. None of which was corroborated by reputable journalists or outlets, nor have there been any subsequent reports of bad behavior. Said person never posted on this forum before or after this thread.
Would you really want to do this for every game and product talked about on this website?
if we're aware of such information being shared publically yes, don't see any issues with that. Do you ?
Why not? More information about the company you're potentially financially supporting can only be a good thing, no?
Holy shit, I had seen this topic in passing but not read it before now. This is so deceptive and deceitful. I was looking forward to the game but I will hold off for now. Best wishes to you mavWolf, hope you're doing okay buddy.
OP
OP
It is all or nothing. There is no pick and chose, if you pick and choose than there is bias. And that is currently how things are on Era unfortunately.
I think it would be awesome to have a rundown of what shitty practices a publisher/developer has engaged in at the top of every game's OT (and hype threads).
I mean, it's a small team so you're not going to have people coming out of the woodwork with problems. Brandon reported the poor treatment extended to other contractors. Sure he is just one person, but he did evidently provide emails to VGC corroborating his accusations. Is there any reason to think VGC is lying about what they were shown? Workplace abuse is incredibly common.
Also what does the amount of posts he makes here have to do with the reliability of what he has said?
Last edited:
You replied to a post from a year ago.
How long are we going to sit back and wait, exactly?
I don't have a personal issues with it. Just seems non practical and where is the line drawn on what should be posted in each thread rumors/accusations/law suits/convictions?
Publishers usually have multiple studios around the world does something happening at one studio warrant being posted in a game threads related to a the publisher? Do we distinguish between something happening a personal level versus a systemic issues with the company? I could go on but personally I feel it's simpler have separate threads for the issues and maybe have them stickied for a week or month or have the site automatically show you the message when you navigate to the site.
OMG, sorry. My fault, I didn't pay attention to the dates, I thought it was a new topic
Well that's a giant mark against my hopes for this thing...
Maybe I'd heard it before, but for whatever reason it must've gone in one ear and out the other. This super sucks.
Maybe I'd heard it before, but for whatever reason it must've gone in one ear and out the other. This super sucks.
Items are replaced and often insured, especially at big box retailers. At the end of the day, it truly isn't comparable, because one is removing profits from the worker, and the other is only slightly affecting the bottom line. Items don't matter compared to human beings.
cross-posting from the OT:
Can someone check the credits to see if Brandon Popovich (mavWolf) was credited or not? I tried searching on youtube and came up with this list, but didn't get further down. It seems Brandon wasn't credited as a former lead designer. Does he even get special thanks? I know it's been a hot topic about developers being petty and leaving certain team members out of the credits or relegating them to special thanks section, just because they weren't there for the finish line or tensions such as in this case. But they still deserve credit for the work they did.
[/QUOTE]
Can someone check the credits to see if Brandon Popovich (mavWolf) was credited or not? I tried searching on youtube and came up with this list, but didn't get further down. It seems Brandon wasn't credited as a former lead designer. Does he even get special thanks? I know it's been a hot topic about developers being petty and leaving certain team members out of the credits or relegating them to special thanks section, just because they weren't there for the finish line or tensions such as in this case. But they still deserve credit for the work they did.
[/QUOTE]
Cyperbunk would also have not had any action done if not for all those trans posters and vocal advocates(many of whom ended up being lost in the process) trying to fight to make era admin do the right thing. It wasnt an Era decision so much as the people trying to fight and let their voices be heard and to get the administration to make the choice not to promote the game.
So its not really a comparable situation at all, the messy and ugly lead up to the game eventually not being promoted on Era should not be discounted. If left alone Cyperbunk would have just been another high profile game(disaster) that would have had the usual amount of attention.
I can't begin to imagine how it must feel for Brandon to have the courage to come forward to speak of these issues, knowing full-well how dangerous that would be to his career, how it risks legal repercussions from the studio, only to have the very people who would enjoy and appreciate his work the most question his words, rather than trying to be supportive.
This is a no-win scenario that would be completely nonsensical to fight if Brandon's claims didn't have any truth behind them and I'm so incredibly disappointed by some of the responses here.
I hope Brandon can gain enough support to be properly compensated, and I hope some other studio can hire him and give him proper compensation for his work.
As for the studio behind Kena, unless they can give proper compensation and credit to Brandon and all others who worked hard to make it, I won't be purchasing your product. I am sorry to all others who may have worked on the project and not been as heavily affected, but boycotting a product seems to be one of the very few languages that companies understand.
This is a no-win scenario that would be completely nonsensical to fight if Brandon's claims didn't have any truth behind them and I'm so incredibly disappointed by some of the responses here.
I hope Brandon can gain enough support to be properly compensated, and I hope some other studio can hire him and give him proper compensation for his work.
As for the studio behind Kena, unless they can give proper compensation and credit to Brandon and all others who worked hard to make it, I won't be purchasing your product. I am sorry to all others who may have worked on the project and not been as heavily affected, but boycotting a product seems to be one of the very few languages that companies understand.
Brandon's been listed as prototype development, so at least he's credited.cross-posting from the OT:
Can someone check the credits to see if Brandon Popovich (mavWolf) was credited or not? I tried searching on youtube and came up with this list, but didn't get further down. It seems Brandon wasn't credited as a former lead designer. Does he even get special thanks? I know it's been a hot topic about developers being petty and leaving certain team members out of the credits or relegating them to special thanks section, just because they weren't there for the finish line or tensions such as in this case. But they still deserve credit for the work they did.
Same. When the game was first revealed I thought it looked quite cool but since this thread has been posted I've skipped their trailers and what not.
There should really be a PSA in the OT and that rule should apply to all OTs made by problematic companies.
I hope they sorted this out or at least don't do this again in the future.
This is a tricky thing to do but at least they could put a disclaimer in every thread related to said game/developer/publisher.
This is a tricky thing to do but at least they could put a disclaimer in every thread related to said game/developer/publisher.
They didn't. The person whom this was done to is posting in this thread.
The problem is it's very hard to find out the full story because often times it's just one or two ex-employees. With Activision/Blizzard it's manifested into a huge issue because more and more information has come forward to the point of no return. There have been reports on Insomniac and Naughty Dog working conditions too, so what judgment are you looking for/ to do?
Every one of these threads on Era has produced one result in common: bullying.
A dev manager calling the subject of the thread an asshole wasn't even part of the story - until this thread. Neither was targeting or profiling members on Era as company employees or boosters, just for expressing even a glimmer of interest in the game and this particular developer's work - whether they know it's his work or not, or makes a purchase or not.
So no, none of these threads should be stickied or promoted or take the place of game-focused threads, if the result is people targeting and bullying other members. And that includes setting aside the subject of the thread - who is only telling his story - to insist the conversation be only about a certain arrangement of work organization, or suggest that people cannot discuss the game, or suggest that someone's story shouldn't be acknowledged unless the "full story" comes out.
I've been on the bad side of work situations before. What helps the most moving forward from them is having the support system of other people listening, acknowledging, and looking out for future opportunities for you. Not letting a mob form to go after other people in your community. And people should still talk about the results of the work you did, even when the experience was negative - as they will come to know over time that it was you who made a difference.
A dev manager calling the subject of the thread an asshole wasn't even part of the story - until this thread. Neither was targeting or profiling members on Era as company employees or boosters, just for expressing even a glimmer of interest in the game and this particular developer's work - whether they know it's his work or not, or makes a purchase or not.
So no, none of these threads should be stickied or promoted or take the place of game-focused threads, if the result is people targeting and bullying other members. And that includes setting aside the subject of the thread - who is only telling his story - to insist the conversation be only about a certain arrangement of work organization, or suggest that people cannot discuss the game, or suggest that someone's story shouldn't be acknowledged unless the "full story" comes out.
I've been on the bad side of work situations before. What helps the most moving forward from them is having the support system of other people listening, acknowledging, and looking out for future opportunities for you. Not letting a mob form to go after other people in your community. And people should still talk about the results of the work you did, even when the experience was negative - as they will come to know over time that it was you who made a difference.
I believe that we can discuss these kinds of issues on Era even if it makes people uncomfortable to have to confront negativity over games and companies they might enjoy and be fans of.
Any kinds of 'bullying' or 'mob forming' that might result - well, I trust the moderation team to take any appropriate action as they have already in this thread.
People aren't really doing this though. We don't have nearly enough info or expertise to start making claims about contract legality etc. Its more just out of a desire to keep people aware of a potentially scummy thing that a company did, and most of the last couple pages have been more in the vein of just people expressing polite disappointment and supportive words for Popovich (some banned stuff excluded).