Quantic Dream Fires Back at Recent Workplace Allegations
Earlier today, three separate French publications broke the news that alleged employees of Quantic Dream, the studio behind the upcoming title Detroit: Become Human, had reported racism, homophobia, and sexual harassment during their time with the company. Now Quantic Dream, and its founder David Cage, have published statements denying all allegations.
Allegations of misconduct in Hollywood are a frequent occurrence these days, and it would seem that the gaming industry is not immune. The French publications: Le Monde, Canard PC, and Mediapart all report instances of sexual harassment at the hands of Cage and co-founder Guillaume de Fondaumière, homophobic comments and racism. It is reported that Cage, along with some other employees created a database of over 600 images depicting employees and collaborators in demeaning ways. As shown on the Canard PC article banner, the individuals portrayed in the images were manipulated into sexual positions, with several featuring homophobic slurs. This cache draws attention to a bigger problem within Quantic Dream, where out of the 180 employees, apparently only 17 percent are female.
And it’s not just the cache of photos that has been reported either. Cage, is painted as a hard person to work with, with little regard or consideration given to his female colleagues. He is reported to make insistent dirty jokes, smutty remarks in the presence of his wife and inappropriate comments about the actresses in his games. A former employee had this to say about Cage, “David Cage has a very particular viewpoint on how he runs his studio, which in his own words he sees as a private, or a semi-private, space. He feels he has the right to say whatever he wants, it’s his place.”
After these allegations came to light earlier today Cage stated that they were “ridiculous, absurd and grotesque.” In his statement to Le Monde he vehemently denied all allegations of a toxic work environment. This is what Cage had to say, “You want to talk about homophobia? I work with Ellen Page, who fights for LGBT rights. You want to talk about racism? I work with Jesse Williams, who fights for civil rights in the USA… Judge me by my work.”
Shortly after his statements were made public, Quantic Dream posted an official statement on Twitter. You can check out what it says below.
— Quantic Dream (@QUANTIC_DREAM) January 14, 2018
It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds and what it could mean for Detroit: Become Human. So what do you think about the allegations? Do they sound like they might have a bit of truth to them? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and keep it locked for updates!