Allegations of crunch, sexism, discrimination and toxic working conditions against game developers are unfortunately no longer an exception. Now Bungie has also been the target of allegations, but there is apparently a light at the end of the tunnel.
The basis of the current turbulence around Bungie is a Report to IGN. The magazine had spoken to 26 current and former employees of the studio and uncovered some unsightly allegations that go back to 2011. It shows pretty much the whole range of components of a toxic work environment, especially within the narrative team (which is responsible for everything related to the story of the game).
Working hours of up to 100 hours per week, a lack of staff and the extremely harmful behavior of a supervisor appear in the allegations. Other superiors in the area are said to have shone through sexism, racism and abusive behavior rather than through competence. Complaints in this regard are said to have been thrown off by the personnel department, or there was no reaction at all. There is also said to have been a lot of misconduct in other areas.
The Bungie CEO then issued a statement apologizing for the incidents, but also promised to investigate the incidents and improve the situation. At the same time, however, he also points out that many improvements have already been implemented in order to achieve more inclusion, diversity and equality, such as groups supervised by employees such as [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected] In the management areas, too, the proportion of female employees and those of underrepresented groups has increased significantly. The You can check out the entire statement on the Bungie website
The employees apparently also confirm that something is in motion there. In addition to describing the incidents to IGN, newer employees also mention that things are slowly but surely getting better in the company and that the measures implemented are apparently having an effect. These employees also confirmed the CEO’s statements in his statement. So there is hope that things will continue there. The fact that Bungie is already postponing releases or extending seasons is in itself a good sign that at least the crunch is being reduced.
Bungie also insisted on cutting out a new trailer for the upcoming expansion Destiny 2: The Witch Queen at the Game Awards.
