It’s tough to know that the company that made some of your favorite video games in recent years was actually a hotbed of toxicity and racism. But that’s the way it is… And it’s possible that the blame may not even be entirely theirs, but rather the parent company’s. I’m talking about Deck Nine and Square Enix, of course, the ones responsible for ‘Life is Strange’ after snatching it away from Don’t Nod. Good game, thanks, now these people over here will make it. And I wish this had been the dirtiest move they made about it.
Life is very strange
How is it possible for a developer who could barely finance herself with Kickstarter to go on to lead one of the most beloved franchises in modern video game history? And, above all, how is it possible that a game like ‘Life is Strange: True Colors’, admired for its LGBTQ representation, was about to be released with Nazi symbols throughout its screens?
That -which is a supposed mistake whose origin they apparently continue to examine- is just the tip of the iceberg: Deck Nine created a toxic work environment allowing not only sexist comments, but weeks and weeks of crunch where developers put in between 70 and 80 hours per week. They were not mandatory, of course, but the workload was so ridiculously extensive and at Square they were in such a hurry that there was no other option.
And with crunch, a major looking over their shoulder (insisting that they didn’t want the game to be labeled as “gay”) and a bunch of new employees being forced in, inevitably leading to toxicity. Oh, and let’s add writers who didn’t want to admit they were wrong (the original ending of the game was very similar to a rape) and a Square that only accepted that the protagonist was bisexual after the press and the public showered them with praise.
And, of course, there were cases of sexual harassment, bullying, and transphobia that culminated in Nazi symbols within ‘Life is strange: True colors’. Now, after several canceled games (and employees fired), Deck Nine has based its own existence on the next installment of the saga they are developing. The question is whether they will be able to recover from these accusations. And the answer, frankly, is not clear.
