Detroit Become Human is a game that has not been without controversy. A trailer depicting domestic violence was considered tasteless; reducing a social issue to a plot point. But what really hurt was the look into developer Quantic Dream’s working conditions with outlets calling the studio and its management discriminatory and toxic. David Cage struck back against such allegations, denying them, and stating that “we’re suing the journalists”. The time seemingly has come. Recently, a lawsuit has been filed against French media outlets Le Monde and Mediaparts.

The Reports

The reports central to the suing were created as part of a collaboration between the two outlets, amongst other contributors. It’s fair to say though that there were controversies galore that placed a dark cloud over Quantic Dreams. Perhaps most upsetting were the manipulated photos. Many employees at one point or another found their faces doctored into images (such as the one above), be them dismissive mocking, sexually explicit, or otherwise offensive (e.g. Nazism). Allegations of racism and sexism were rampant, to say the least.

But of course, what would reporting on the controversial operation of a games company be without a little “crunch”. With Detroit: Become Human on the horizon, the studio is allegedly using crunch, a term used to describe overworking employees to deliver the game on time. Quantic Dream is by no means the only company to potentially do this, unfortunately, but it doesn’t excuse the use of such an inconsiderate practice. Suffice to say, there is quite the spectrum of misconduct going on at Quantic Dream if reports are to be believed.

The Future

Not a lot of details are publically available about the lawsuit; Le Monde and Mediaparts have only confirmed that it is going through. At this point, we can only hope that justice is served. The simple fact of the matter is this is a large company suing over negative media attention. This is a difficult time. Hopefully media outlets worldwide will not be intimidated by this kind of display, whatever the outcome. Although outlets also need to ensure they get the facts right before potentially committing slander. Undoubtedly more details will surface about the entire controversy as the court case begins.