The developer behind Heavy Rain (2010) and Beyond: Two Souls (2013), Quantic Dream, has always had a mixed reputation. However, recent allegations of harassment and toxic culture have shown that there is more to worry about than simply uneven gameplay in their newest title, Detroit: Become Human. In fact, the way the evidence is piling up, it may spell disaster for the French company.

It was found that over 600 images like the ones above circulated the offices of Quantic Dream for the past several years. While we have chosen the least offensive, a myriad of other pictures are available from the original source of the expose on Quantic Dream. Some of the photoshopped images featured employee’s heads on Nazis, morbidly obese people, and a variety of pornographic images. As originally reported, many of the images are also accompanied by captions that turn people’s names into plays on poop, homosexuality, and pornography. One image, titled only “Accountants”, featured the faces of several female employees on the bodies of muscular men and came complete with the caption:

Though the name of the person responsible for the more than 600 images is currently withheld, it is known that it was a high-level manager at Quantic Dream, one who had been creating and distributing these images for years. In a statement, General Manager Guillaume de Fondaumière acknowledged existence of the photos by stating that most of the images were sent only to the individuals photoshopped, but many other employees came forward to describe huge email lists, the images stored on the network drive, and some offices even hanging pictures of the images on their workplace walls.

Additionally, in the past two years, over 50 employees have left Quantic Dreams. Although only a handful of employees have come forward about the photos and offensive culture at Quantic Dream, many more have come forward about the harsh management and overtime. A problem that many developers run into, Quantic was also prone to extremely late nights, sometimes averaging 70 hour work weeks to meet deadlines on games. One employee said of the company:

All of this is only compounded on by the fact that Guillaume de Fondaumière and CEO David Cage have also recently been accused of fostering a culture of antagonism, hostility, and negativity. Some of the claims even state that Cage is directly responsible for harassment in the workplace, being one of the biggest perpetrators of sexist and racist remarks. David Cage has since come forward to state that these allegations are completely unfounded and lacking any evidence whatsoever. Cage’s defense is at least partially supported by French courts who have thrown out the claims of two past employees against Quantic Dream’s negative culture.

While many of the details of the case are still being released, it is unlikely that Quantic Dream will recover from this anytime soon. It’s true that some employees did report satisfaction while working at Quantic Dream. However, just because some employees were okay with the culture does not make it an acceptable one. Regardless of how the employees feel about their workplace, it is certainly going to cast a shadow over Quantic Dream’s new game, Detroit: Become Human, which releases in Spring 2018.