Metroid Dread Studio hit with allegations of poor organization and management

In the wake of disputes over Metroid Dread developer MercurySteam’s policy regarding in-game staff accreditation, more allegations have emerged in recent days suggesting questionable management practices and employee handling at the Spanish studio, creators. from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. games, Metroid: Samus Returns, and of course the latest entry in the Metroid series.

Website in Spanish Anait Games has released more information after speaking with several former staff members about his time in the studio working on Dread. The programmers and artists who worked on the game talk about management and organization issues, and a negative and stressful culture at MercurySteam.

The article details various complaints throughout the development. One area involved ‘overreach’ that required cuts by Nintendo. A period between April and July 2020 in which Nintendo reviewed the progress of the game and made several cuts to address an alleged bottleneck in the art pipeline. “There were about 120 cutscenes to do, it was a scope“says a former programmer (via Google translator) who left the study shortly thereafter. Another substantial cut from the previous year is also mentioned.

The development of Metroid Dread is described as “quite chaotic. Many times, when giving me instructions, my leader and the director of the game contradicted each other,” says another programmer. Another artist told Anait the following about the management style at the studio:

They don’t trust the worker at all and it shows. You don’t feel valued. The bad atmosphere is constant and very tense, in general.

It is alleged that the penalties in the study “range from isolating the worker or changing groups to the sudden dismissal itself.”

Elsewhere, allegations are made of improper treatment of staff and contractors with respect to wage bargaining, as well as a negative assessment of the study’s response to the pandemic. One programmer said that “the pandemic has not been handled well. It was utter and utter chaos,” describing the unsafe anti-COVID measures employed in the workplace because staff were unable to work on the project remotely.

Inconsistencies are cited in the responses of the Human Resources department to employee complaints, with an example detailing the right of workers to leave the office to cast a vote for the elections in the Community of Madrid, which fell in one day skillful, questioned due to the current state of development. At that time.

The article also touches on the debate over credits, with the fear of public speaking suggested as a factor that has kept people silent until now:

I think they play a bit with the fact that a lot of people don’t dare to speak in public. I know two more people who are not properly accredited but I understand that they are afraid to complain because it seems that their career is going to sink.

Another worker elaborates:

Top leaders know a lot of people and can destroy your career if they have a problem with you. They don’t mind talking bad about you and ruining your career and that’s why people don’t talk.

Metroid Dread launched on October 8 to overwhelmingly positive reviews and strong sales. The credits controversy and these new allegations don’t seem to have had an effect on the momentum of the game, at least not yet, but it’s certainly disturbing to hear stories like this one, especially when mirrored. similar accusations about the management and culture of MercurySteam made years ago when Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 was released.

We discussed the issue of credits in a Talking Point article on the subject written before these new allegations surfaced. MercurySteam gave a response to the credit issue above, although no comment has yet been made on these latest allegations. We will update this article if a statement is released.