Some developers on the space horror blockbuster Callisto Protocol say they were omitted from the end credits sequence despite extensive work on the game and key contributions to the finished product. The claims come amid a renewed push throughout the video game industry to fix a broken crediting system that often punishes lower-ranking employees and those who leave prior to the final release date.
In a new report by GamesIndustry.biz, former employees at Striking Distance Studios say they believe around 20 developers were left off Callisto Protocol’s long end-of-game credits roll. Many were surprised by the omission, and say the studio never formally communicated a policy of leaving developers off the credits if they left before the game shipped. A few regard it as punishment for taking a job somewhere else.
“[The credits omission] felt like an obvious F-U to those who were left out,” one source tells GamesIndustry.biz. “Somebody wanted to send a message, and the message was, ‘Next time have a bit more loyalty to us.’”
Striking Distance was formed by former Dead Space director Glen Schofield in 2019 after leaving Call of Duty studio Sledgehammer Games. Late last year as its debut game was finishing development, Schofield was criticized for a tweet that endorsed crunch culture, celebrating sacrifice and long overtime hours.
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While he later deleted the tweet and apologized, Bloomberg subsequently confirmed that at least some developers at the studio had crunched during production. Schofield told Bloomberg that some staff were “working hard for a few weeks” but that no overtime was mandatory.
Some former developers now tell GamesIndustry.biz that studio management would make promises to address crunch culture in the very same meetings where it would praise the long hours people had put in. “My issue is those of us who took part in that culture, who put in that time, and worked intensely to help craft this product, were punished with a credit omission for not going the extra mile…to stay until it shipped.”
The International Game Developers Association announced a plan last August to try and standardize how developers are credited for their work, and foster the spread of tools that can make it easier to update end credits scrolls when they are missing someone or contain other inaccuracies. “Game credits are hard, particularly in AAA,” former Naughty Dog communications manager, Scott Lowe, tweeted in reaction to today’s GamesIndustry.biz report. “But the answer is easy: credit everyone. Gating by time and subjective assessments of value/impact is messy and cruel.”
Striking Distance Studios did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2015 mega-publisher Electronic Soft released the blockbuster game BloodDeath: DeathBlood, a sequel to 2009’s wildly successful BloodDeath. It would mark the end of both the series and its development studio, but it is not the end of their story.
* Note: If you never caught the original, this is a sequel to a fictional story called “How A Video Game Is Released In 2015″.
Some things in this industry are too big to fail, and so while the key figures responsible for the BloodDeath games would soon leave Electronic Soft, it wouldn’t be long until they were back in the headlines for all the right (and wrong) reasons. What follows is their story.
2016
APRIL: A number of senior developers responsible for the BloodDeath series announce that they have formed a new studio, The Establishment. They claim to have learned a number of valuable lessons from their time with Electronic Soft, with an expensive launch documentary proclaiming “we’re not here to make the same mistakes”. The team say their studio will be focused on quality, pride themselves on a lack of interference from an outside publisher, and most importantly will have a strong focus on positive working conditions, with a promise of “no crunch”.
The “About” page on The Establishment’s website shows the studio is initially comprised of 13 white men, all in their 40s.
“We’re not here to make the same mistakes”, says The Establishment’s Director in a screenshot from the developer’s announcement documentary (that has since been deleted).Photo: Morsa Images (Getty Images)
AUGUST: The Establishment’s first game, KillBood, is announced on Kickstarter, with an initial goal of raising $2 million. Billed by the team as a spiritual successor to BloodDeath, within 23 minutes it has raised over $14 million. Promising an outrageously ambitious set of features, and an “evolving experience we alone are free to tell”, it looks to its millions of backers like the perfect video game.
NOVEMBER: Despite going on to raise over $30 million from fans, The Establishment announce they have signed a major publishing deal with AAAA Games, Electronic Soft’s main rival. It is not made clear what will happen to the crowd-funded money now that they have a partnership with a major global publisher, or what this means for a project that had been sold initially as an experiment free from publisher interference.
2017
MARCH: KillBlood’s Kickstarter page has been updated only once since the campaign’s launch almost a year ago, mentioning that “things are progressing well”, that the team is “actively hiring” for extra positions and that while it’s too early to show anything from the game, fans should rest assured that the project is “looking incredible”.
2018
FEBRUARY: KillBlood is cancelled, with all backers refunded their money. The Establishment simultaneously announce that they have begun work on a major new project with AAAA Games.
2019
JANUARY: Despite promising they had learned their lessons from Electronic Soft’s large and cumbersome studio model, The Establishment—initially based in Montreal—announce the opening of a second studio in Austin to assist in the development of their mystery, unannounced game. They also open a third, in Singapore, mostly for outsourcing work made under horrendous working conditions for rock-bottom prices, but don’t publicise that one as much.
DECEMBER: At The Game Awards, The Establishment steal the show with the announcement of Iron Steel, an action RPG billed as a “true spiritual successor” to BloodDeath, which will be published by AAAA Games. “We want to give fans of BloodDeath what they want”, a representative says on-stage, “and what they want is more BloodDeath”. After an explosive trailer, the crowd erupts. It instantly becomes the most-anticipated release of 2020.
Conceived and developed as a next-gen release (though also coming to PC), AAAA Games executives have insisted on a last-gen console release as well.
2020
March: With Iron Steel still early in development, a global pandemic hits. The Establishment’s offices in Montreal, Austin and Singapore are all closed, with developers sent home to spend the next 18 months working remotely. Having already failed to meet every internal milestone set by AAAA Games, it is estimated these fresh challenges will almost double the time required to finish the game, and result in years of disjointed development, culminating in repeated cycles of brutal crunch. The Establishment’s studio launch video, which proudly claimed “we’re not going to make the same mistakes”, is quietly removed from the company’s site.
May: AAAA Games executives, worried that the game doesn’t have a long-term plan to generate revenue beyond “selling copies”, meet with The Establishment’s management to ensure Iron Steel includes both a multiplayer battle royale mode (for which they can sell skins) and a loot box system (for legal and unregulated gambling).
June: With new, next-gen consoles only a few months away, Iron Steel is the star of a PlayStation 5 pre-release media event, and is surprisingly announced as a launch title by the AAAA Games marketing team. The game’s actual developers, meanwhile, know it is at least another 2-3 years away from being even remotely ready.
A screenshot from Iron Steel’s ill-fated 2021 release date trailer
OCTOBER: Just weeks before the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X’s planned releases, it is unsurprisingly announced that Iron Steel has been delayed into 2021. After posting about the delay, The Establishment’s social media team is flooded with death threats, forcing them to temporarily lock their accounts.
2021
JANUARY: Two separate investigations by video game news websites accuse several senior employees of The Establishment of misconduct during their time at Electronic Soft. One resigns and a second is fired, the latter almost immediately launching a YouTube channel called “Tread On Me”, which covers everything from men’s rights to anti-vaccine tirades to 37-minute long critiques of women in superhero films.
MAY: An online showcase designed to give fans and media their first look at Iron Steel’s gameplay is impressive, but also raises a few questions, with concerns that new additions to the game—like only being able to get new helmets from “Loote Chests” and a bizarrely ill-fitting battle royale multiplayer mode—are diluting the DeathBlood experience. In a staged interview with an overly-enthusiastic content creator, a representative from The Establishment says Iron Steel will be out in time for the holiday season.
JULY: A short presentation of Iron Steel’s character creation suite is shown as part of a larger Xbox presentation, and immediately hits the headlines. It shows that of the 17 skin tones available to players 15 are white, with the other two being “black” and “green”. The single black character skin is locked to a poorly- modelled afro haircut.
NOVEMBER: Four weeks before the game’s planned launch, AAAA Games drop a press release at 11:59pm on a Friday night saying that the game has been delayed into “Early 2022″. No reason is publicly given for the delay. Privately, The Establishment know that despite working around the clock, the game is still years away from being ready. To placate fans, a multiplayer beta is announced for January 2022.
DECEMBER: A surprise cinematic trailer for the game reveals a carefully guarded secret: unlike previous Blood games, which only featured a lone male protagonist (in this case Sir Henry Goreston), Iron Steel features a second playable character with her own unique storyline: Lady Rose. After posting some concept art of the new character to the company’s social media accounts, and mentioning how proud the team are to be able to expand the series like this, The Establishment’s community manager is subsequently harassed on Twitter by gamers, right-wing talk show hosts and two Republican congressmen who have never played a Blood game, but have nevertheless been briefed that this move is “woke”.
A week later, both Iron Steel characters are released as downloadable skins for Fortnite. Fans are starting to get excited.
2022
JANUARY: The battle royale multiplayer beta is a disaster. The game’s performance borders on unplayable. Maps are empty, weapons are unbalanced and new characters introduced for the mode prove wildly unpopular. Fans are vocal with their displeasure through official beta feedback channels, but also in wider online communities. The Establishment thank all players for their input, and promise to make necessary changes, knowing full well there isn’t any time or money left to change a thing.
MARCH: The first specific details of the game’s Loote Chest economy are released. AAAA Games has partnered with a blockchain marketplace to sell weapons and armour as NFTs, which the publisher says they’re doing after “listening to our fans”. They are met with an immediate firestorm of protest before backing out of the deal 24 hours later, saying their reversal was a result of “listening to our fans”.
APRIL: Iron Steel’s social media accounts joke that the game is “destined” for a final release date. It will be out in September. No more delays.
Investigating the game’s numerous delays, a report from a major news website accuses The Establishment’s management of cultivating a “culture of neglect”, with rampant crunch and staff turnover. Senior leadership deny these allegations strenuously, even when dozens more employees come forward throughout the month to support the claims in subsequent stories.
AUGUST: By every internal metric Iron Steel is nowhere near being ready, but it doesn’t matter. AAAA Games leadership, desperate for a boost to their annual profits, have by now decided that the game is finally “finished”. The world’s largest video game website receives a copy of the game four weeks ahead of release, for which they run a preview, a second preview and then an early review. Other websites and popular streamers receive code two weeks before release. The websites investigating The Establishment’s staffing and misconduct allegations do not receive copies.
SEPTEMBER: The game is released, and on the strength of its trailers and marketing has already sold millions of copies from preorders alone. It quickly sells millions more. Iron Steel receives mixed reviews from major outlets, however, with some sites praising its ambition and drive to expand on the now-tired BloodDeath formula with Lady Rose’s new mechanics and alternate storyline. Most are highly critical of its practically unfinished state, however, citing hollow sound effects, disjointed cutscenes and half-implemented features. Performance is also an issue for many, with the PC version crippled by bugs and the last-gen console editions hovering between 9-18fps.
The one thing everyone agrees on, though, is that the multiplayer mode is a waste of time.
SEPTEMBER: In some good news for over-worked developers at The Establishment, despite its overall mixed reception Iron Steel easily hits the Metacritic bonus threshold outlined in their contracts. With most major websites critical of the game having dropped review scores entirely, it’s left to outlets like “GamerSnatch” (97/100) and “SEO Bandits” (99/100) to pad the average and bring in bonus cheques for the creators of the game.
A mobile spin-off is released. It contains all of the main game’s Loote Chests, and almost none of its gameplay.
OCTOBER: A series of urgent patches fail to fix the game’s performance issues on console. They do, however, manage to introduce a stricter and more expensive economy for the game’s reworked Loote Chests.
Despite growing discontent among fans—with the game’s Steam reviews in particular having been bombed to hell and back thanks to its various performance woes— Iron Steel has now sold so many copies that it has become the most successful launch in AAAA Games history.
NOVEMBER: An internal, post-release review conducted by The Establishment finds that the global pandemic had a monumental effect on Iron Steel’s development. The disruptions it caused to workflow, planning, communication and testing were unprecedented, and were identified as being the main culprits for most if not all of the game’s major shortcomings. Allegations of a “culture of neglect” are not mentioned. None of this, or the pressures placed on the team by AAAA Games management, is ever communicated to the public, who continue to attack the “lazy” developers for their “stupid mistakes”.
Reviews on Glassdoor from a rapidly-growing number of former employees begin to reveal the scale of the game’s troubled development, making public the endless cycles of crunch brought on by publisher insistence and poor studio management.
DECEMBER: Continued strong sales mean Iron Steel is now the most successful game in AAAA Games history, bringing in millions for the publisher’s shareholders and executives. It has, however, failed to meet internal sales targets. Tentative plans for a sequel—AAAA Games own the Iron Steel IP, of course—are thus cancelled, leaving The Establishment free to pursue a new publishing deal.
They are courted by Tencent, Amazon, Google and former publishers Electronic Soft. Faced with this uncertain and internally unpopular future, many senior developers quit to form a new company, promising in a launch blog that “we’re not here to make the same mistakes”…
Big thanks to Dimitrije Miljus, Vladimir Manyukhin and Lou LL for allowing us to use their artwork for this piece!
The Electronic Entertainment Expo used to be the cornerstone of the video game industry, the week that every publisher, developer and fan had circled in their calendars because it was where the biggest news, reveals and interviews of the year could be had.
That was then, though, with “then” being any time from the 1990s through to the mid 2010s. As the last decade wore on, though, publishers worked out they could better manage their news cycles by themselves in their own time, and the popularity of online news showcases increased, meaning E3 became less and less relevant as a blockbuster spectacle (even if it remained somewhat useful as a genuine industry tradeshow).
There was also, you know, a global pandemic that meant the show hasn’t taken place in-person at the LA Convention Centre for the last three years, giving those competing online showcases plenty of time to spread their wings. That hasn’t helped, either.
Anyway, now that the pandemic is abating/people have simply stopped caring about it, live events like E3 are starting to take place again. And with a whole bunch of E3’s replacements due to run over the next months, the event’s organisers have decided now is the moment to declare that they’re going to try and bring the whole thing back for 2023.
“We’re excited about coming back in 2023 with both a digital and an in-person event,” Stan Pierre-Louis, CEO of E3 organisers the ESA, has told The Washington Post. “As much as we love these digital events, and as much as they reach people and we want that global reach, we also know that there’s a really strong desire for people to convene — to be able to connect in person and see each other and talk about what makes games great.”
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You can’t blame them for trying. But with Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft all happy making big announcements in their own time, and Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest starting to hit its stride, you have to wonder how much of that “reach to convene” is going to be left for E3—whose 2021 online show was a disaster—when there are already industry-only conferences like GDC getting back underway, and fans are now getting their big reveals elsewhere.
Genshin Impact raked in over $3 billion from mobile players in less than two years, according to the latest report from analytics firm Sensor Tower.
The free-to-play game is on pace to earn its Chinese developer miHoYo an average of $2 billion—or more than one-fourth of a Bethesda (which sold to Microsoft for $7.5 billion in 2020)—every year. What do numbers even mean anymore?
Even more astounding is the speed with which Genshin Impact was able to amass this fortune. It only took the Breath of the Wild-style gacha game six months following its September 2020 global launch to accrue its first billion dollars, three months faster than the augmented-reality monster-hunting of Pokémon Go.
As for 2022, Genshin Impact earned $567 million in Q1, more than double its closest competitor. And it doesn’t look like it’ll be slowing down any time soon: Sensor Tower also reports that active users are up 44 percent since this same time last year.
Genshin Impact’s success is in large part thanks to its overwhelming popularity with Chinese players, who are apparently responsible for just over 30 percent of the game’s earnings on iOS, or around $973.3 million. It’s so beloved in the country that a 2021 collaboration with Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants was shut down at locations in Shanghai and Hangzhou due to the massive crowds violating China’s covid-19 restrictions at the time.
It’s easy to assume the inherent predation of the gacha format is the driving factor behind these unbelievable earnings. I don’t doubt that Genshin Impact attracts its own gambling-addicted whales, dropping stacks of real cash in the hopes of unlocking their favorite goat girl or angel boy. But from the outside looking in, it does appear as if casual players are at least getting their money’s worth thanks to miHoYo’s frequent content updates and expansions.
In any case, game big. Number go up. Money fake. That’s the breadth of my business analysis.
Fortnite continues to provide millions of dollars in immediate aid for Ukraine. The latest update from Epic is big, announcing that as of March 25 it has raised over $70 million in aid for charities and groups supporting Ukrainians during the ongoing and horrific Russian invasion of the country.
In a blog first posted on March 20 on Epic’s official news page and since updated on March 25, the company explained that players have helped raise over $70 million that will go to support folks in Ukraine during the war. This is part of Epic’s ongoing plans to donate proceeds from all “real-money” purchases made in Fortnite between March 20 through April 3.
Epic had already raised over $35 million to help Ukraine in just one day using Fortnite. It should be noted that Xbox is also donating all proceeds made in the Xbox version of Fortnitefor the next two weeks, too.
Interestingly, Epic also announced back in its initial March 20 blog post that it won’t be waiting for the funds to clear before donating the money it has raised. Instead, Epic will send the funds to the charities only days after the “transactions are reported.” It explained that it was doing this because waiting for the “actual funds to come in from our platform and payment partners” could take a long time. So it’s using its own money and resources to speed up the process.
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According to Epic, all the funds raised will then be donated to a number of charity organizations, which include Direct Relief, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the World Food Program.
Meanwhile, also announced on March 25 was news from Humble Bundle that its own, separate Ukraine charity game package had raised over $20 million. That goes along with an earlier Itch.io bundle that raised over $6 million.
This money is much-needed by folks living in Ukraine who are dealing with the ongoing and deadly invasion by Russia. The war has already led to thousands dead and injured. It has also forced over 3 million people to flee the country, creating a large and growing refugee crisis.
Indie digital storefront Itch.io has raised over $6 million via its recently ended Bundle for Ukraine charity package. Meanwhile, Humble Bundle’s similarly large collection of games and comics has already raised over $6 million as well, with six days left before it ends. That’s a massive amount of money, all of it going to support folks suffering during the horrific Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The first bundle to go live was created by Necrosoft Games director Brandon Sheffield. This package was available on Itch.io starting on March 7 and collected nearly 1,000 games into a single, massive package. And folks could get all of those games—worth an estimated value of approximately $6,500—for just $10. A pretty damn good deal and for a good cause, as all funds raised via the Bundle for Ukraine go towards supporting two groups: The International Medical Corps and Voices of Children.
Originally the bundle had a comparatively small goal of $100,000. That goal was smashed quickly and after only 24 hours the indie bundle had already raised just over $1.5 million. It ended yesterday, reaching a grand total of $6,370,557.
Meanwhile, another bundle, this one from Humble Bundle, has also been organized and launched to help provide much-needed support for Ukraine during the ongoing and deadly invasion. Like the Itch bundle, it contains a massive amount of games—nearly 100—including titles like Back 4 Blood, Fable, Metro Exodus, Quantum Break, PGA Tour 2K21, Kerbal Space Progam, and Amnesia.
As I’m writing this now, the bundle has already passed $6 million. Considering the incredible selection of games on offer and the fact that the whole thing only costs $40, I suspect that by the time this bundle wraps up in a week it will end up raising considerably more than $6 million.
Add both up and that’s over $12 million in charity! (And like I just mentioned, the Humble Bundle will likely raise that number up even more by next week.)
The ongoing, illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia has led to thousands of deaths, with many fleeing the country as their homes and towns are bombed by missiles. As a result, multiple countries, including the United States, have placed pressure on Russia and Putin via economic sanctions. And as the invasion continues, many private companies are also pulling their business from Russia.
These huge, discounted charity bundles have quickly become a popular way for folks to band together and help support others on a massive scale. Back in 2020, a similarly large package of games was offered online as part of Itch’s Racial Justice And Equality bundle. That charity collection ended up raising an impressive $8,149,814 for two organizations: the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and Community Bail Fund.
Hot on the heels of announcing plans to head in a somewhat new direction over the next five years, Riot Games has expanded its Queue Dodge buyout program–normally available to new hires during the first six months of their employment–to all employees. In other words, employees who opt to leave the company right now–because they’re not on-board with the CEO’s stated vision, or for whatever reason–are being offered 25 percent of their annual salary, three months of subsidized health benefits, and other advantages, all throughout January.
Read More:Inside The Culture Of Sexism At Riot Games
All any worker—also known as a Rioter—needs to do to opt into this buyout program is quit. This can be for any reason, but the timing of the Queue Dodge’s expansion suggests it’s primarily intended as a way to weed out folks who don’t think a job with the new Riot is the right fit for them. In particular, Riot is asking people to sign onto the company’s new five-year plan, which CEO Nicolo Laurent outlined on January 11 in a very long blog post. Laurent talked about the company’s goals, its commitment to diversity and inclusion, and a restructuring that’s been taking place for a few years.
“We’re asking Rioters to commit to a Riot where everyone feels supported,” Laurent wrote on the company’s website. “Where ideas get productive feedback, where Rioters ask tough questions in ways that foster healthy dialogue, where we’re all learning and growing from diverse perspectives, and where we’re unapologetically and relentlessly focused on players.”
Speaking to Business Insider, Laurent gave some context for the expanded Queue Dodge while also explaining that the move will position Riot Games for success going forward. Laurent claimed the program’s not about thinning the herd.
“We’re trying to grow the business,” he told the publication. “We just want to make sure we have the right team of people who are highly motivated.”
Riot’s Queue Dodge buyout program, which takes its name from a term used to describe gamers that leave multiplayer lobbies before a match starts, has existed for quite some time, though it’s typically only available for new employees. Prior to this expansion, the program let Rioters walk away with 10 percent of their annual salary (up to $25,000) as opposed to the current 25 percent. It seems the expansion is temporary and only lasts until the end of January.
We’ve reached out to Riot Games for comment and will update if we hear back.
In addition to the three months of subsidized health benefits and 25 percent of their annual salary, Rioters who opt into the expanded Queue Dodge buyout program will remain eligible to earn a potential employee bonus in March.
Read More:Riot Games Reaches $100 Million Settlement in Gender Discrimination Lawsuit
Riot Games recently settled a gender discrimination lawsuit that was levied against the company back in 2018 for $100 million. To be honest, I find it a little strange that the company would compensate people who don’t jive with its outward stance on diversity and inclusion, but I also understand employees needing resources to continue looking for work in the temperamental industry that is video games should their last job not work out for whatever reason. It’s a double-edged sword, this Queue Dodge program, but I suppose I can say I’m all for it as long as those who stay on are actively committed to fixing the racism and sexism that has persisted at the developer for years.
Riot announced today it will disable chat between opposing League of Legends teams in the game’s next update as a way of cutting down on the toxicity that’s often present in these conversations.
“While /all chat can be the source of fun social interaction between teams as well as some good-hearted banter, right now negative interactions outweigh the positives,” the development team explained in an official blog post attributed to game director Andrei “Meddler” van Roon and lead gameplay producer Jeremy “Brightmoon” Lee. “We’ll evaluate the impact of this change through verbal abuse reports and penalty rates, as well as surveys and direct feedback from you all.”
League of Legends players were previously able to toggle /all chat off and on but the feature was enabled by default, leaving open the potential for players to be unwillingly bombarded with hateful messages.
The current plan, van Roon elaborated on Twitter, is to leave /all chat disabled for the next few patches and then survey players for their opinions as to whether they want to keep the change or revert to the previous system. The decision may even differentiate by region if the experiences are varied enough.
The news was met with mixed reactions from the League of Legends community, with many indicating that toxic behavior was more of a problem in team chat than in interactions with opponents. Some even described moments of camaraderie, especially between opposing players of the same role. But seeing as being able to converse with allies is vital for this type of competitive game, team chat will stick around for the time being.
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“We know this sucks for those of you who just want to compliment your lane opponent’s skin or ask for a dance party in Baron pit,” Riot added. “But we believe the tradeoff is worth it to cut down on the growing negativity /all chat has been creating in your games.”
League of Legends patch 11.21 is scheduled for next Wednesday, October 20.