Over the last year or so, Quantic Dream has found itself in varying degrees of a defensive posture. French newspapers reported in 2018 that there was a toxic work culture at the narrative game studio that involved harassing employees, casual racism, and a generally uncomfortable work environment. Quantic Dream fought back against the accusation, though things have been relatively quiet since the studio and Sony threatened to sue the journalists that wrote the story.
Today, game developer union initiative Game Workers Unite joined with French union Solidaires Informatique to call for testimonies from employees past and present on the studio, specifically concerning the subject of predatory sexual behavior within Quantic Dream. Both unions say that they received complaints about predators in the company and ongoing issues with sexual harassment and are hoping to hear from other alleged victims by making a public call.
“These offenses are extremely serious and are punishable by law, however they seem to be repeated with impunity for several years because of a strong omerta, this must stop,” the Game Workers Unite statement reads. Omerta is a code of silence about criminal activity, usually to protect others.
In response, Quantic Dream released their own statement on Twitter denying knowledge of any wrongdoing and asking any victims to speak to authorities.
Quantic Dream recently became partly owned by internet technology company NetEase and announced they would be bringing their slate of narrative adventure games, including the recently released Detroit, to the Epic Games Store on PC.
