Allegations Of Sexism, Bullying, And Burnout: Inside The Microsoft Studio Behind State Of Decay 3

[Gizmo_Duck]

Undead Labs doubled in size, but lost its charismatic founder. It's working on the ambitious sequel State of Decay 3, but after several years is still trapped in pre-production. And recently it's faced allegations of mismanagement, burnout, and misogyny as it's struggled to live up to its promise of being the welcoming, diverse, and inclusive Xbox first-party studio it touts itself as.

Kotaku interviewed 12 current and former employees for this article, all of whom requested anonymity because they feared sharing their concerns publicly would doom their careers in the video game industry. Many felt very positive about certain aspects of the studio. A few said it still has room to improve but has overall been a very good place to work. Most considered the last few years since the acquisition a period of crisis, and are worried management hasn't learned the right lessons.

At first, some employees were worried the Microsoft acquisition would change the indie studio for the worse. Now they worry the $2 trillion company's incredibly "hands-off" approach allowed dysfunction to fester, leaving some of the studio's more vulnerable employees to fend for themselves. As one former developer put it, "We were afraid they would come in and change our culture but our collapse came from within, and we could have used [Microsoft's] help."

 

[levitate]

Is this the game where the zombie said ‘******!!!”?

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Is this the game where the zombie said ‘******!!!”?

that was Back 4 Blood lol

 

[Legal]

The pettiness is astounding.

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

that was Back 4 Blood lol

For real?

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

Microsoft nor anyone else is going to know of a problem if it isn't spoken on. You have to speak up.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

For real?

WB Games Says Zombies Aren't Screaming The N-Word During Back 4 Blood Beta

 

[TreySav]

The Tech, comic, and video game industries have always been filled with sexually frustrated beta cacs who try to take out their personal failings on the rest of the world

 

[ColdSlither]

WB Games Says Zombies Aren't Screaming The N-Word During Back 4 Blood Beta

Oh hell no! Someone in development thought they were being slick as hell

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

The Tech, comic, and video game industries have always been filled with sexually frustrated beta cacs who try to take out their personal failings on the rest of the world

literally every industry. Anywhere women are a minority of the workforce is gonna be filled with harassment.

 

[CoolinInTheCut]

literally every industry. Anywhere women are a minority of the workforce is gonna be filled with harassment.

Not going to lie, it's hard for me to care about these kinda allegations, cause like you said, it's in every industry.