External studio employees working on Assassin's Creed Shadows reportedly being abused; Ubisoft responds

Allegations regarding mental and physical abuse of employees at Brandoville Studios in Indonesia surfaced a few days ago. The studio was among those hired by Ubisoft to work on Assassin's Creed Shadows, mainly art and animation. First reported by People Make Games in a lengthy video, it covered various employees sharing their experiences while working for Brandoville Studios.

The studio has now shut down, however, the employees who were subjected to horrible crunch time and abuse shared their stories. This all started during the covid where employees were working and living in the studio and were always on a strict schedule.

Christa Sydney was the first to come forward and collect evidence with a few others also backing her about the allegations. All this started after she spoke against the CEO, Ken Lai, who also reported back in 2021 that there was no crunch in the studio with former employees now revealing the opposite.

However, the main culprit here was the CEO’s wife, Kwan Cherry Lai, who managed day-to-day operations. At first, it started with a strict working schedule which further devolved into physical abuse with overwork, lack of sleep for multiple days and even asking employees to hurt themselves. One time, Sydney was even asked to share a video of slapping herself 100 times.

Also Read: Ubisoft releases new combat gameplay overview for Assassin's Creed Shadows

Ubisoft responds to the situation

The situation getting significant attention across the gaming industry, and Ubisoft also acknowledges the issue. “We are deeply disturbed by the recent reports surrounding Brandoville Studios. We strongly condemn all forms of abuse, and our thoughts are with the affected employees,” a Ubisoft spokesperson in a statement to Eurogamer.

However, since this was an external studio with Ubisoft having no control over it in terms of how they work and treat their employees, there is likely not much they could do. Crunch has been a common practice in the gaming industry, especially for public companies. While many have put out a statement against it, the situation is likely to remain the same for the foreseeable future.