And so began another three-month investigation into Brandoville Studios, a company that's contributed art assets to games like The Last of Us: Part 2, Age of Empires IV & Assassin's Creed Shadows among others. (4/7)
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What we found was one of the very worst examples of workplace abuse in the history of this industry. That may sound hyperbolic. I really don't think it is.
was finally able to sit down and watch this and it is so heartbreaking and horrifying. really incredible reporting that everyone in the industry and beyond should see.. excellent work!
Now parts of this story have already gone viral in Indonesia, with the alleged abuser having now fled the country and the police.
But outside of SE Asia, almost nobody seems to be aware that anything has even happened. Why is that? I think that's an important part of this story too. (6/7)
It's not an easy watch at times, but it's also not without hope.
Because, ultimately, as well as this being a story about violence, it's also a story in which a group of people recognize that their own strength, together, is far greater than that of their abuser. (7/7)
It also strikes me like this potentially, seriously could be in 'corporate cult' territory; where businesses ultimately emerge as cults; the cohesion, control, living on site, punishments, wielding of religion, isolation, overly powerful 'leader'. It all appears to be there. Perhaps?
I love games so much, and i am so glad that you do this kind of reporting on the abuses of the industry. these people are a core component of an industry that ignores them. i know there are discussions around crunch in major studios in the US and elsewhere, but if it's just simply exported abroad >
the rot within the industry will never really be excised. i hope that your reporting on this gets more attention and sparks the same level of outrage among gamers as crunch at Rockstar and Bioware and other US studios did/does
Thank you so much for helping the victims get the word out internationally, Chris. Hopefully they'll be able to track Cherry Lai down and extradite her back to Indonesia to answer for what she's done
Thank you for your work on bringing this story to light for international audiences. Honestly, I wasn't even aware that Brandoville was working on AAA games.
It is honestly kinda frustrating that the AAA studios would seemingly turn a blind eye and not speak up about cases like this.
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Here's our investigation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR9HQ2C6h_4
(5/7)
But outside of SE Asia, almost nobody seems to be aware that anything has even happened. Why is that? I think that's an important part of this story too. (6/7)
Because, ultimately, as well as this being a story about violence, it's also a story in which a group of people recognize that their own strength, together, is far greater than that of their abuser. (7/7)
Fucking yikes. :(
It is honestly kinda frustrating that the AAA studios would seemingly turn a blind eye and not speak up about cases like this.
(not that anyone should judge people by their names but still)