General Gaming The Battle for Bungie's Soul: Inside the Studio's Struggle for a Better Work Culture (Long-Form Article from IGN), update: Bungie's head of HR has stepped down

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

I'm REALLY pleased to see this type of in-depth reporting from a site like IGN!

 

The Battle for Bungie's Soul: Inside the Studio's Struggle for a Better Work Culture - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

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IGN has spoken to 26 current and former Bungie employees whose accounts of the studio's work culture span overt sexism, boys' club culture, crunch, and HR protection of abusers, as well as more complex stories of microaggressions, systemic inequalities, and more recent stories of a slow but steady struggle toward improvement.

 

Quote

 

In September, Bungie made a huge announcement. After the developer spoke publicly about its desire to push back on toxic work culture, CEO Pete Parsons pulled back the curtain on a number of new initiatives in an effort to "recognize our shortcomings." Bungie would hire a Diversity & Inclusion director, update hiring practices, improve training and tools, allow anonymous HR reporting, and end forced arbitration. The announcement was lauded across the industry, appearing to be a set of proactive, forward-looking moves amid industry-wide working conditions scandals.

 

The response from within the company was different.

 

Many of its current and former employees felt that their experiences at the company — going as far back as 2011 and as recently as this year — dramatically clashed with Bungie’s virtuous self-portrait. While some praised the news, for many others, hiring a D&I director or ending mandatory arbitration in all employee contracts was far too little, far too late. For others still, it was only one step on a long journey to a potentially better future, but with roadblocks remaining along the way.

 

 

[Brick]

A response from Bungie CEO Pete Parsons 

 

A Message from Bungie CEO Pete Parsons > News | Bungie.net

WWW.BUNGIE.NET

 

 

[Keyser_Soze]

Following report into sexism and toxicity, Bungie head of HR steps down | PC Gamer

WWW.PCGAMER.COM

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Gayle d'Hondt will no longer be Bungie's senior employee relations manager.

 

[Moa]

Given all the shit coming out on all these studios and the longstanding history of people dunking on Valve's weird corporate structure/culture, I'm surprised nothing horrifying (that I know of) has come out about them.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

It has to be deeply rooted in these companies that even after the Activision/Blizzard they aren’t completely cleaning house to avoid their own scandal. As if to do so would horrifically gut the company of too many key figures and reduce head count to the point that every project would be heavily impacted. 
 

but you know what? Get your shit together. Stop protecting bad actors no matter their position. 
 

I see a head of HR leaving announcement and I always have to wonder if they’re leaving is because they’re being treated as the scape goat. They’re leaving before that happens. Or they’re leaving because the work ahead to make significant improvements in accountability and standards within the company is just “too hard”.