Developers at the Paris-based studio Spiders, known for RPG GreedFall and revolutionary Soulslike Steelrising, have announced they will be going on strike in the coming days, starting 2nd September. A committee representing workers at the Nacon-owned studio has published an open letter alleging a litany of mismanagement, and it sounds like the upcoming Greedfall 2 is floundering.
The letter has been published in English and was shared by the French union STJV. Of Spiders' 95 staff, 44 signed the letter following a failed meeting with CEO Anne Devouassoux. The developers are demanding better transparency and worker representation, a simplification of the studio's structure, a bridging of the gender pay gap, better wages, remote work rights, and more, writing: "Today, it is with regret that we speak out publicly, in the hope that this will finally push management to act in the best interests of employees and the company." The letter mentions that Greedfall 2 is currently "underwater", with the studio "accumulating burnouts" rapidly.
Staff are planning on picketing the Spiders' offices on September 2nd and 3rd, and incredibly, you can, too, with a dedicated Minecraft server set up for that specific purpose.
Are you surprised to see Spiders employees calling out publisher Nacon and taking to the streets? If we've learned one thing from history, you should always try to keep Parisians happy, no matter the cost. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
[source stjv.fr, via gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 16
The French doing as they do, bless them.
Amour et soutien aux travailleurs, c’est parti!
The French are French! Good on them, hope they get what they’re asking for. Insane that there’s still a gender pay gap, especially in an industry like this.
The pre-production phase for Steel Rising 2 has started
I forgot Steelrising existed and confused the thumbnail with Lies of P for a few seconds.
On-topic, I hope things goes well for the workers.
Well that studio is dead. Nacon is awful and they won't do anything. Greedfall 2 will never be finished now. What a shame. The first one was fun.
A Frenchman writing a statement in English?! He's definetly serious and upset.
I quite like France.. I just don't particularly like the people but I hope they sort everything out. I liked steelrising a lot but I didn't really like greedfall. In regards to Nacon I don't know too much about them really but I did purchase a replacement ps4 pad from them and it was superb.
Idk how nacon is doing financially but after WRC and greedfall their games had quite low all time peak concurrent players on steam so if these people strike for some time and delay greedfall 2 even more (greedfall 1 was like the most popular game from the publisher) instead of getting what they want they might be laid off because the industry is doing the same these past 2 years
Nacon is just a bad company all around. Remember LOTR: Gollum? Blood Bowl 3? That taxi sim? They make bad decisions all around and drag their developing studios with them.
I once emailed Spiders to tell them how much I appreciated the heart and soul they put into their games and got a personal response back from producer and cofounder Jehanne Rousseau that was full of gratitude. Their games aren't AAA and never perfect, but I respect the developers and wish them the best in this.
Greedfall was one of my surprise favorite games of the PS4 era.
I have a feeling it was a fluke rather than a standard for the studio moving forward.
It's a shame to see them push the studio like that after a success. Steel rising was not very good imo, and Greedfall 2 launching in early access with a burntout team sounds like disaster waiting to happen which is a shame for my most anticipated game
be carful if your games dont make money they might just shut the studio
Good for them, Nacon is a horrific publisher. Who remembers Frogwares and their whole debacle with Nacon effectively stealing both the rights to their game and the profits, then trying to blackmail them? Lovely folks.
Chinese publisher no? Like tencent, what a surprise..
It's looking like Spiders should have stayed with Focus smh
You can't be French If you don't protest.
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