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Former developers who worked on Chucklefish's 2014 indie hit Starbound say that they worked for free on the game – sometimes recording hundreds of hours of work. Some of these developers said they felt that their inexperience had been exploited by company founder Finn Brice.
Allegations of exploitation of employees and difficult working conditions on Starbound to have popped up in the forums before. But the problem has recently been highlighted by a widely shared working group. tweet of the creator Damon Reece, in which they explained how, from the age of 16, "worked hundreds of hours" Starbound and "was not paid a penny."
Other former workers have told similar stories. Fetalstar, aka Christine, former worker tweeted"I worked at least a hundred hours and I did not receive any compensation. I was really naive and too scared to ask to be paid because all who would do it would be chanted.
"I have also witnessed many inappropriate behaviors."
In a series of interviews with Polygon, Reece and other former developers on Starbound spoke of their bitter working time with Brice and included allegations of bullying and harassment.
Contribution of teenager
Reece worked Starbound For almost two years, between 2012 and 2014. Like many unpaid employees, their job title was "contributor". Reece worked on the legend and narration of the game while managing forums, often late at night. "I was a teenager with no experience in game development, and Finn Brice took advantage of me," said Reece. "He very consciously manipulated and exploited not only myself, but almost everyone on and around the team."
Reece remembers being interviewed by Brice about working for free.
"It was normal, nice and exciting because I did not value my work or myself," Reece said. "I thought that the experience and experience gained while working on the game would be sufficient compensation. This is obviously not true, but it is a very easy lie to swallow for an impatient teenager. In addition, there were already several other contributors, including many teenagers like me, who were not paid. "
Later, Reece began to suspect a farm, especially when Starbound started to attract significant revenue through crowdfunding and pre-orders.
"When the beta version of the game was released in December 2013, it has sold more than a million copies in its first month," said Reece. "And yet, Chucklefish management has always found it totally acceptable to continue to use unpaid workers to complete their game."
Reece now works as a senior editor for Route 59 Games. "I have regrets on all this, of course," they said. "I regret not leaving earlier and not defending myself. But I refuse to blame myself for being exploited in adolescence. "
Achieved to comment on the claims of Reece and others Starbound developers, Chucklefish offers Polygon the following statement:
We are aware and saddened by the current allegations against Chucklefish regarding StarboundEarly development. Meanwhile, the main team and community contributors were collaborating via a discussion forum and spending their time for free. Community contributors were under no obligation to create content, meet deadlines or set a specific number of hours. Everyone has been credited or paid according to their agreement.
It's almost a decade since StarboundThe development of this product has begun, and from that time Chucklefish has evolved considerably into an independent studio with a strong focus on good work practices, providing a welcoming environment for all employees and freelancers. Our doors remain open to all related parties who wish to discuss their concerns directly with us.
Rho Watson is the founder of Igloosoft Games and worked for Brice as an artist between 2011 and 2014. "I worked without pay for a few months, but I had a lot of difficult to negotiate a paid contract, "they told Polygon. "I would say that I was paid very fairly, but I'm still not sure the cost was worth it. All this experience has seriously disillusioned me and put me out of business for four years. "
Watson says that Chucklefish was "a horrible place to work." They added: "To be intimidated by [Brice] and subjected to his cruel jokes was commonplace. Personally, I was the subject of one of these cases where he forced me to answer a humiliating question about sleeping with a member of the team.
Watson recalled "dozens" of contributors who worked for free.
"Finn was good at letting people take on things so he could get away with it," Watson said. "He would make the favorites. He would love the last contributor and assume it would mean he would get a contract offer, but that would never come. And then after they got fed up and stopped producing assets, he passed on to the next person.
"His excuse was that he did not have enough money to pay people, which seemed reasonable enough. But as soon as the pre-order exploded and people were able to see how much the game was winning, all of a sudden, all these people came to see him, wanting to be paid for their work. He told them more or less: "I did not promise you anything and you signed contracts saying that you would not expect a payment, so I do not have to do anything."
"I tried to defend their interests a few times and they were simply told," If you care so much, you pay them. Watson left the company.
A former worker, who requested that his identity be protected, said he had agreed to volunteer "as a way to get in the door" of a career in game development.
"Most of the contributors have not been compensated," said the person. "I remember someone who received a computer and software to work, but that's about it. If anyone offered Finn compensation, he immediately shot them down and claimed that he was not obliged to pay anyone. "
The source added, "Finn would start to be inappropriate in the developer [IRC] channel, asking everyone for pictures, guiding developmental discussions into strange sexual tangents. "
In response to allegations of inappropriate behavior, Brice told Polygon: "These claims come from a number of years ago and do not reflect who I am now. I would like to apologize if my words or actions have already caused injury or distress because it was not my intention. I am proud to lead an inclusive and progressive business and continue my commitment to equality and fairness as a cornerstone of Chucklefish. "
Tired tasks
Many workers came and went, only lasted a few months or even weeks. Spookitty, one of Chucklefish 's artists, told Polygon: "I was supposed to help major artists achieve their own goals if they needed help or advice. they had to do other tedious tasks … Finn often gave us tasks to do something that he wanted to see. made."
Spookitty stated that they were not paid for their work Starbound.
"I went there early in the project," Spookitty said. "I remember attending the first discussions and proposing various concepts and designs for the name of the game and society, as well as for their logos. Finn seemed more than happy to praise the work I would do, and for a moment, I thought I had progressed a lot in the group. Later, I realized that it was a model for him.
"Whenever someone new came forward, he rented it and made it seem extremely important and indispensable to the business. As soon as you would have passed or a newer person would have arrived and that she was quite willing to accept anything that he wanted, you would find yourself trying to get on with it. to be struck off and caught off guard.
Spookitty recalled an example of intimidation: "Finn revealed to a colleague that he was a transsexual asking them what bathroom they had used. He found it hilarious. He thought it was even more hilarious when my colleague denounced him.
Spookitty, now living as an independent artist, finally had to take time after falling ill. "I only left for two or three weeks. When I got in the back, Finn did not answer me with a word or two, if at all. I had already been replaced. Any fan who was willing to provide free work was enough to replace me. I had no choice but to disappear. I was undesirable and useless.
Clark Powell is a musician whose work includes music for games like Combat fighters. He remembers talking with Brice about his work on Starbound. On Wednesday, in response to Reese's Twitter feed, Powell tweeted: "I've almost done audio and music for Starbound, until that [Brice] I said it was going to be unpaid. He revealed that none of the artists or coders were paid either, and I said that it did not seem right to me.
"He just blew me up after that. He threw himself into this coarse screed on the fact that I had the right to play and that he would just do the music himself, because anyway I was probably bad at job. "
"I was really suspicious about the fact that few workers were under revenue-sharing or deferred payment contracts," Powell told Polygon during an interview. "It was just taking the charisma of those in charge," he said. Brice's "tremendous influence" in the industry had probably deterred many former workers from coming forward. This week, however, a number of men in positions of responsibility in the video game industry have been removed from power to carry out bullying, sexual harassment and abuse.
Samanthuel Louise Gillson worked on Starbound, create various artistic assets for the game. She remembers her job interview with Brice and the way he talked about compensation.
"He asked me if I wanted to get paid and I said it would be better," Gillson told Polygon. "He started talking about how he had made a lot of money by taking five percent[of[from[de[fromterrariums]and he said that this new game would be bigger than terrariums.
"So I saw that there would be no money on the table, but all these five percent discussions made me think there might be something later. I started creating artistic resources, but the only thing I signed was an NDA. There was no contract. "
"Finn looked pretty nice when I met him for the first time and he welcomed me into the team. And then I did not really hear about him after what is strange, because he gave me free hours of work. I was so inexperienced at the time. I did not see it for what it was. an imbalance of power. "
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