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Recent reports on toxic working conditions at NetherRealm Studios – the company behind major fighting titles such as the Mortal Kombat and Injustice series – have been posted on the Internet while former employees and subcontractors shared their experiences on social networks.
Inappropriate behavior, mandatory crunches (excessive overtime) and low wages were some of the issues cited. These are recurring problems that the gaming industry is experiencing and hearing more and more over the years.
In an article by Variety, NetherRealm Studios published a statement about the allegations. The company is currently investigating the reports.
"At NetherRealm Studios, we greatly value and respect all of our employees and give priority to creating a positive work experience," the company told Variety. "As an equal opportunity employer, we encourage diversity and constantly take steps to reduce the turnaround times for our employees." We actively review all allegations because we take these questions very seriously and are constantly working to improve the environment of our company. means for employees to share their concerns or their problems. "
While allegations such as those mentioned above go back to the development of Mortal Kombat (2011) and beyond, a current NRS employee spoke to Mortai about Mortal Kombat 11 and the working conditions that prevailed at that time. The anonymous employee recalled having worked "60 to 70 hours a week, seven days a week since January" and noted that the Mortal Kombat 11 event that took place in Los Angeles and London in January significantly slowed the development Game.
"As an employer for equal opportunities, we encourage diversity and constantly take steps to reduce the crisis time of our employees." We actively review all allegations, we take these issues very seriously and we are constantly working to improve the environment of our company. "
– NetherRealm Studios.
"Everyone said from the start," No, it's not going to have any impact on development, it should be fine. We will be using the content we have now, "said the employee at Variety." Our creative director, our publishing team and our marketing department did not know we were already about three months behind schedule. the whole game. "
The employee goes on to say that almost all departments working on Mortal Kombat 11 have been indented, which has forced them to catch up – what we now see as bugs and problems with Krypt and Towers of Time were quickly updated pushed out for repair.
Former quality assurance analyst Rebecca Rothschild, who worked on Mortal Kombat X and Injustice 2, also told Variety of NetherRealm Studios' exhausting work hours, evoking weeks of work from 90 to 100 hours. She then describes the work environment at NRS as a woman, recalling the minimum number of female workers, let alone those in full-time positions.
"Sexist, transphobic, and generally toxic behavior was endemic, probably because people worked more than 80 hours a week for months and nothing told them of their actions," Rothschild said. She explained that she was unable to negotiate her hourly rate of pay while she was on her third contract with the company, and remembers hearing male workers know that she was not working. they were able to do it when she and the other female staff members were not there.
Rothschild states that his experiences at NetherRealm Studios were not entirely negative. "Working at NetherRealm was not a nightmare," she said. "I had kind-hearted supervisors, incredibly talented and innovative colleagues and I was working on incredible games."
The story of Variety is mainly presented on one side, as NetherRealm Studios would not register and discuss many of the things contained in the article, beyond the statement that we have included here. Most of the quotes and stories are from staff members who had problems working at NRS between 2011 and 2019.
"Sexist, transphobic and generally toxic behaviors were endemic, probably because people worked more than 80 hours a week for months and were not responsible for anything."
– Rebecca Rothschild, former quality control analyst for NetherRealm.
Over the years, video game developers have not missed negative reports about the environment in times of crisis. This has hit games as big as Red Dead Redemption 2 and Fortnite in smaller titles such as The Walking Dead and Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) by Overkill.
The accusations of intense crunch conditions at NetherRealm Studios are probably not a gigantic shock to most regulars in the video game industry, as this seems to be a fairly common practice in many development houses.
Nevertheless, many people think that the situation is unhealthy and unfair and it will be interesting to see how NRS and other developers will react to this type of environment that will occur in the future.
To learn more about this story, visit Variety.
Contributions to this story made by Jon "Catalyst" Gray. Sent by AngryAssassin.
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