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BEHIND XDEFIANT’S TOXIC WORK CULTURE, CRUNCH, AND YEARS OF DELAYS

havoc00

havoc00

Member
Following Insider Gaming’s exclusive report this weekend, it took all but 12 minutes for Executive Producer Mark Rubin — and another disingenuous tweet from Aches to shoot down the rumors that XDefiant’s delays aren’t related to chasing Call of Duty. Nevertheless, Rubin did confirm that the game has yet again been delayed, but its latest delay was because of “major technical issues” related to the game’s netcode, which is an issue that has been outlined since November 2023.

As previously mentioned, XDefiant has missed dozens of internal milestones and deadlines these past couple of years and although Rubin’s latest comments on XDefiant missing its latest release date due to the netcode are accurate, it’s not a simple case of a one-and-done issue that has plagued the game for years. As Insider Gaming has reported, XDefiant’s shortcomings stem from several executives and directors on the project. They are internally referred to as ‘The Boys Club’ by a large majority of the team.


insider-gaming.com

Behind XDefiant's Toxic Work Culture, Crunch, and Years of Delays

Behind XDefiant's toxic work culture, crunch, delays, and a group of directors and managers internally referred to as 'The Boys Club'.
insider-gaming.com insider-gaming.com
 
Raven77

Raven77

Member
Who Is That Jeremy Renner GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
 
Angry_Megalodon

Angry_Megalodon

Member
All the red flags here:

"toxic culture"

"Boys club" LOL Yes, sure, ma'am.

"verbally abused": yes, in the mobile era, there is no recorded evidence of that. .

"The word N on a WHITEboard" (double sin here) Still, no recorded evidence of that. No pics, no nothing.

I'm surprised she didn't mention Donald Trump, though.
 
Faust

Faust

Perpetually Tired
I smell bullshit.

Given the need these types of narcissists have for attention, I wouldn't put it past them if they either made it all up or actively wrote the offending language down on the board so they can blame people they don't like.
 
Last edited:
nush

nush

Member
Angry_Megalodon said:
All the red flags here:

"toxic culture"

"Boys club" LOL Yes, sure, ma'am.

"verbally abused": yes, in the mobile era, there is no recorded evidence of that. .

"The word N on a WHITEboard" (double sin here) Still, no recorded evidence of that. No pics, no nothing.

I'm surprised she didn't mention Donald Trump, though.
Click to expand...
What her Resetera username?
 
March Climber

March Climber

Member
Speaking from a business angle, I think eventually surveillance rules are going to have to change at these older, larger, established developer and publisher companies. There’s simply too much at stake in today’s world of inflated budgeting for someone to simply throw accusations out there about why a game is in development hell, thus stirring a pot and potentially killing hype or sales.

The increased surveillance would also dissuade the bad actors that seemingly keep popping up in these companies, as they are being part of the problem by potentially doing these reported actions.

It’s one of the few ways I see this ‘he said, she said, he did, she did’ side-taking stuff stopping in gaming. Evidence is one of the easier methods of achieving transparency.

I don’t care if it sounds like too much. These situations have to go away together(the actions and the accuser). Neither are helping business.
 
havoc00

havoc00

Member
March Climber said:
Speaking from a business angle, I think eventually surveillance rules are going to have to change at these older, larger, established developer and publisher companies. There’s simply too much at stake in today’s world of inflated budgeting for someone to simply throw accusations out there about why a game is in development hell, thus stirring a pot and potentially killing hype or sales.

The increased surveillance would also dissuade the bad actors that seemingly keep popping up in these companies, as they are being part of the problem by potentially doing these reported actions.

It’s one of the few ways I see this ‘he said, she said, he did, she did’ side-taking stuff stopping in gaming. Evidence is one of the easier methods of achieving transparency.

I don’t care if it sounds like too much. These situations have to go away together(the actions and the accuser). Neither are helping business.
Click to expand...
I agree something has to be done. What that is ? I don’t know.
 
RickSanchez

RickSanchez

Member
Faust said:
I smell bullshit.

Given the need these types of narcissists have for attention, I wouldn't put it past them if they either made it all up or actively wrote the offending language down on the board so they can blame people they don't like.
Click to expand...

It's ok to not believe allegations from one person if they are not backed up by evidence, even though Ubisoft has a history of bad workplace culture.

But what i find far more surprising is GAF's hard-on for crunch culture. It's ok to work developers to death as long as you get your game early ? Imperialist mindset. Where is this coming from ? I'm sure everyone here would enjoy not having to work more than 5 days a week or more than 8 hours a day. Why not extend that same consideration to game developers ? They are human beings too, same as you and me.
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
Ubisoft really seems like a ship without a rudder these days. That new Prince of Persia game underperformed. By all indications, Skull and Bones has bombed. And XDefiant (what a name lol) is stuck in development hell.

I'm not sure what Ubisoft has these days besides Assassin's Creed...
 
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Mokus

Mokus

Member
RickSanchez said:
It's ok to not believe allegations from one person if they are not backed up by evidence, even though Ubisoft has a history of bad workplace culture.

But what i find far more surprising is GAF's hard-on for crunch culture. It's ok to work developers to death as long as you get your game early ? Imperialist mindset. Where is this coming from ? I'm sure everyone here would enjoy not having to work more than 5 days a week or more than 8 hours a day. Why not extend that same consideration to game developers ? They are human beings too, same as you and me.
Click to expand...
There are a lot more people on this planet who have to do physical work in much harsher conditions outside exposed to weather conditions and 7 days a week (that also is very harmful for their health). And this is only the tip of the iceberg. But almost nobody talks about them, only about these soft and underdeveloped adults who always have a time to whine to a journalist.
 
RickSanchez

RickSanchez

Member
Mokus said:
There are a lot more people on this planet who have to do physical work in much harsher conditions outside exposed to weather conditions and 7 days a week (that also is very harmful for their health). And this is only the tip of the iceberg. But almost nobody talks about them, only about these soft and underdeveloped adults who always have a time to whine to a journalist.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. Miners, construction workers, etc. But the solution to that is talking about them and trying to improve their lives, if at all you have the influence to do that. Making software developers crunch makes no difference the situation of other people.

I too work a mostly cushy job. Me crunching long hours in my office will not improve the life of a random construction worker. What i said, still stands.
 
Haint

Haint

Member
RickSanchez said:
It's ok to not believe allegations from one person if they are not backed up by evidence, even though Ubisoft has a history of bad workplace culture.

But what i find far more surprising is GAF's hard-on for crunch culture. It's ok to work developers to death as long as you get your game early ? Imperialist mindset. Where is this coming from ? I'm sure everyone here would enjoy not having to work more than 5 days a week or more than 8 hours a day. Why not extend that same consideration to game developers ? They are human beings too, same as you and me.
Click to expand...

The "hard on" is based on an understanding that the lowest level developers at big western studios earn $150K-$200K year and enjoy similar amenities to all those "day in the life" Tiktok memes you see from other FAANG's. Crunch to these people is making minimal effort to actually perform their basic duties for the majority of the day, and not spend half of it playing ping pong or napping in their meditation rooms with drinks from the in-house Artisanal Juice Bar. Does this Lissette woman actually sound and look like someone who was earnestly performing 12-16+ hours of labor a day? Come'on man, grow a brain.
 
Last edited:
RickSanchez

RickSanchez

Member
Reallink said:
The "hard on" is based on an understanding that the lowest level developers at big western studios earn $150K-$200K year and enjoy similar amenities to all those "day in the life" Tiktok memes you see from other FAANG's. Crunch to these people is making minimal effort to actually perform their basic duties for the majority of the day, and not spend half of it playing ping pong or napping in their meditation rooms with drinks from the in-house Artisanal Juice Bar.
Click to expand...
Completely fair to expect someone to work their allotted hours dilligently and not slack off. But i believe that is different, and crunch is different.

Reallink said:
Does this Lissette woman actually sound and look like someone who was earnestly performing 12-16+ hours of labor a day?
Click to expand...
Hard to judge based on a Twitter profile.

Reallink said:
Come'on man, grow a brain.
Click to expand...
I don't remember getting personal with you. But ok.
 
Haint

Haint

Member
RickSanchez said:
Completely fair to expect someone to work their allotted hours dilligently and not slack off. But i believe that is different, and crunch is different.


Hard to judge based on a Twitter profile.


I don't remember getting personal with you. But ok.
Click to expand...

Nah it's really not. There is no reality in the entire multiverse where this woman is sleeping under her desk like a Japanese salarymen. You can take that to the bank as a 200% guarantee. But of course you already know this, intuitively, and so does everyone else.
 
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Loomy

Loomy

Banned
AJUMP23 said:
There is no way a person wrote the N word on a board in a conference room. No matter the persons behavior.
Click to expand...
Oh you sweet summer child.

A cargo ship ran into a bridge due to a technical issue with the ship and everyone started blaming DEI practices for it. They found out the Mayor of Baltimore is a young black man, and they started spouting all kinds of racist shit and, again, blaming DEI for him winning his election.

I don't think you understand just how fucking racist some people can be and how safe they feel being that way.
 
Angry_Megalodon

Angry_Megalodon

Member
March Climber said:
Speaking from a business angle, I think eventually surveillance rules are going to have to change at these older, larger, established developer and publisher companies. There’s simply too much at stake in today’s world of inflated budgeting for someone to simply throw accusations out there about why a game is in development hell, thus stirring a pot and potentially killing hype or sales.

The increased surveillance would also dissuade the bad actors that seemingly keep popping up in these companies, as they are being part of the problem by potentially doing these reported actions.

It’s one of the few ways I see this ‘he said, she said, he did, she did’ side-taking stuff stopping in gaming. Evidence is one of the easier methods of achieving transparency.

I don’t care if it sounds like too much. These situations have to go away together(the actions and the accuser). Neither are helping business.
Click to expand...


I have said this a lot of times, not only for the particular case of devs but in general. I am fully pro-surveillance, but the reaction from the same people making the allegations would be predictable: "We don't live in a fascist state, my civil rights, this and that"

So they can keep making allegations based only on their demographic group.
 
AJUMP23

AJUMP23

Parody of actual AJUMP23
Loomy said:
Oh you sweet summer child.

A cargo ship ran into a bridge due to a technical issue with the ship and everyone started blaming DEI practices for it. They found out the Mayor of Baltimore is a young black man, and they started spouting all kinds of racist shit and, again, blaming DEI for him winning his election.

I don't think you understand just how fucking racist some people can be and how safe they feel being that way.
Click to expand...
People are racist but they do not go into their work and write racist stuff on white boards. Especially college educated. No way one thing that lady said happened to her.
 
Loomy

Loomy

Banned
AJUMP23 said:
People are racist but they do not go into their work and write racist stuff on white boards. Especially college educated. No way one thing that lady said happened to her.
Click to expand...
They send racist shit through Slack, and try to sneak it into presentations thinking it's funny.
 
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