author: Barth Faryna
Chucklefish Comments on the Exploitation of Young Programmers
Chucklefish's response to accusations of exploitation of young programmers during the development of sandbox game Starbound has seen the light of day. Not everyone is happy with the words in the studio's statement.
We have a continuing scandal over the accusations made by a young programmer, Damon Reece, against Chucklefish. During the development of Starbound, the young team allegedly did not get paid for the work they did. In exchange for hundreds of hours devoted to the title, they could only count on satisfaction and a position in portfolio.
In Reece's opinion this was sufficient then, because at that time his work was not worth much to him. He was only 16 years old and was just beginning his career, so it was quite easy to manipulate him and use him, as he claims. His accusations, however, did not come out to demand that the British studio pays the money it is due. Reece wanted to make young people aware that they should not let themselves be exploited and that they should always expect appropriate remuneration for their work.
Starbound is a very successful title. The game started to bring profits even before its official launch - the sources of financing were crowdfunding campaigns and pre-orders. That's why Reece feels even more deceived.
In a statement issued by Chucklefish to Screen Rant, we can read the following:
“We're aware and saddened by the current allegations against Chucklefish regarding Starbound's early development.
During this time both the core crew and community contributors were collaborating via a chat room and dedicated their time for free. Community contributors were under no obligation to create content, work to deadlines or put in any particular number of hours. Everyone was credited or remunerated as per their agreement.
It's been almost a decade since Starbound's development first began, and from then Chucklefish has grown considerably into an indie studio that has a strong emphasis on good working practices, providing a welcoming environment for all employees and freelancers.
Our doors remain open to any related parties who wish to discuss their concerns with us directly.”
Reece referred to the statement in an interview with RockPaperShotgun. The programmer pointed out several inaccuracies in what Chucklefish is trying to convince everyone. First of all, the deadlines were present and had to be met. In addition, most of the crew were tempted with permanent positions at the end of their work. Reece also said that Finn Brice, the founder of Chucklefish, was very good at using other people and knew how to approach them.
It is not entirely clear how the scale of the problem actually presents itself. The only thing we know is that both the graphic designer Rho Watson and the concept artist Christine Crossley supported Reece's accusations. It is also said that there are "dozens of teenagers" who fell for the beautiful words of the studio's founder and afterwards condemned the company's practices.
