Scandal After State of Play - Devs of Aeon Must Die! are Quitting
The future of Aeon Must Die! has suddenly become uncertain. The developers, employees of Limestone Games, have announced that they are leaving the studio. The main reasons are too many overtime and low salaries.
- Limestone Games, currently working on Aeon Must Die!, has sudden staffing problems, its members have left the work;
- There are many reasons for this dramatic decision, the main ones being too persistent crunch and delayed salary payments;
- The devs claim that yesterday's trailer of Aeon Must Die! was made by a third-party company without any respect for IP rights.
The voices of dissatisfaction after yesterday's State of Play show persist. Many players could feel disappointed. Those who are waiting for Aeon Must Die! have reason to worry. In Limestone Games, several employees have just handed in their resignations. The reasons for such decisions are quite serious. Mainly, too much crunch and lack of pay mentsare given.
According to the information presented by the devs, the game's trailer was prepared by an external studio, and the employees responsible for the project have previously resigned. The game's trailer may have been developed without respecting IP rights. The full version with the devs' comments (visible in the Twitter post) is available here.
Publishing material with such commentary is only the tip of the iceberg. Former employees of the studio made the documentation available to the public, from which everyone can learn the evidence for these allegations. The whole thing is available as a Dropbox folder. We will find there, among other things, the content of the message in which Jaroslaw Lossenko, CEO of Limestone Games, tries to intimidate team members, as well as details of their resignations.
One of the documents lists the negative phenomena that may have contributed to such development. There was toxic atmosphere in the studio, the management used intimidation as a method of exerting influence, the preferences and health conditions of employees were not respected. At the same time, the employees complained about the lack of transparency in the structure of the board, lack of precision in establishing positions, low salaries, lack of payments on time. These are just some of the positions, and the list is long.
The most interesting thing, however, is how the publisher of the game - the French company Focus Home Interactive - behaved in the face of the case. From the documents provided, it appears that the team working on the title reported the aforementioned problems earlier. However, the publisher did not react to the news. It was only the resignation of members and publicity of the case that prompted Focus Home Interactive to publish its stance.
It shows that the case is currently under investigation. Apart from this information, the publisher refrains from commenting. We hope, however, that Focus Home Interactive will contribute to remedy the situation. It would be a pity if this promising title did not live to see its release. Limestone Games' work should not be in vain, especially in such a situation.
