The mistreatment of workers within the video game industry is an issue that seems to never go away. On October 25, video game developer Creative Assembly announced in a statement on Twitter that an investigation is being launched concerning allegations regarding a former employee.
While the specifics of the allegations are unknown, Creative Assembly seems to be taking them incredibly seriously, using an unknown third party for its investigation. Following the statement, Creative Assembly encouraged employees still within or that have exited the company to share any experiences using their dedicated whistleblowing email address in a follow-up tweet.
According to Game Developer, tweets from last week have alluded to the alleged troubles going on within the development studio, from stories about bullying, harassment, and abuse either experienced firsthand or heard about with at least one culprit named by multiple people who was known to many as having a history of alleged concerning behavior. It’s unknown how widespread the issue is within the company, and while it is reassuring to see Creative Assembly’s response to this issue, it’s more than likely to assume that it’s been going on for a long time.
The misconduct at Activision-Blizzard seemed to be the spark that lit the match, giving an opportunity for current and former employees within AAA game development studios and smaller indie studios to voice their experiences. While the developing situation at Creative Assembly is incredibly distressing, hopefully, it’s a step forward for the studio to do better and reassess its company cohesion.