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Scavengers Studio creative director accused of belittling and harassing employeesUpdate: Studio responds to allegations, indefinitely suspends creative director
Update: Studio responds to allegations, indefinitely suspends creative director
Update:ScavengersStudio have since responded to the allegations, apologising for “the harm caused” and committing to doing better for their staff. Read their full statement below. Original post from 26/01/2021.
Last year, the makers of theDarwin Project, Scavengers Studio, announcedSeason, a lovely-looking bicycle adventure about a traveller “recording the last moments of different cultures before they’re washed away.” It looks like a beautiful and relaxing experience, but a new report paints a dark picture about what’s allegedly been going on during its development. Multiple employees have accused the studio’s creative director of sexual and verbal harassment, and described the studio as a hostile and toxic work environment.
The sources describe one incident during a company party in 2019 where they say Darveau was “in full predator mode”, allegedly groping multiple female employees. They add that one of the women he reportedly harassed quit the following Monday, while another left the studio shortly after. According to the report, this incident was enough that an investigation took place, though the results were allegedly never made clear to staff. They say the outcome was that the studio cut back on alcohol being available at events, and Darveau would no longer drink at work events at all.
“It felt very frustrating to put that on the back of people being drunk, because Darveau was still pretty shitty before he drank,” one staff member who was at the meeting told GI.biz. “It felt like an excuse.”
Season - The Game Awards 2020: Official Announcement Trailer | PS5Watch on YouTube
Season - The Game Awards 2020: Official Announcement Trailer | PS5
While the report details multiple incidents of sexism and harassment, GI.biz’s sources say that going to HR wasn’t really an option, because the team was simply too small for dedicated HR. As a result, conflict resolution fell to co-founder and current CEO, Amélie Lamarche, who was reportedly in a romantic relationship with Darveau up until the last few years. Everyone GI.biz spoke to flagged this as a conflict of interest, with some of them claiming Lamarche made an effort to protect Darveau.
“Darveau… has lots of charisma and he gets away with a lot,” one source said. “But [Lamarche]… is actually worse. Because she covered a lot of what he did or what he does.”
Some sources accuse Davreau of being a disorganised leader who doesn’t listen to others, and say the game has already seen “a considerable shift and focus in scope” since he started working on it.
“Now I don’t even know what’s been announced because it’s so different from what we had planned,” one source stated. “I don’t even recognize the game.”
Others who know less about the content of the game want to shed some light on the dissonance between Season’s cozy, inclusive pitch, and the alleged toxic work environment it’s being made in.
“If half of what [I know of Season] is true then the game is going to be great, and I do not want to remove that from all my friends who are working on it,” another stated. “But I also do not feel comfortable with Scavengers being praised as a fun, cool, indie, inclusive place.”
Scavengers Studio responded to GameIndustry.biz with the following statement, as well as detailing the measures they’ve put in place to “prevent harassment situations and maintain a safe environment”.
“Scavengers Studio appreciates that there have been situations during its rapid growth and takes the position that any type of harassment is unwelcomed and unacceptable and takes any complaints in this respect very seriously. You should note that Scavengers Studio has taken positive steps to look into its culture to see what aspects need to be adjusted,” they said.
The measures they claim to have taken to make the workplace better include setting up a harassment prevention policy, providing harassment prevention training, and implementing a complaints process, amongst other things. GI.biz say these correspond with what their sources told them, though their sources said these were unclear and ineffective.
You can read the whole report onGamesIndustry.biz.
Update:Scavengers Studio’s Amélie Lamarche responded to these allegations last night in a post on the developers' website. Here’s the full statement:
“Following the toxic workplace allegations brought forward in the media, Scavengers Studio wishes to apologize for the harm caused. Allegations such as these are serious, and we are committed to doing better for our employees, our fans and our partners.
“Our company held an emergency Board of Directors meeting to discuss the best course of action moving forward. Effective immediately:
“In the meantime, we ask for the community’s patience and understanding as we go through this process. The Season team has poured their hearts into the project. We have full confidence in their creative direction and will continue to support the amazing work of our talented team.”
