A new report on development practices at Techland contains quotes from employees who claim that mismanagement, indecision and the use of homophobic slanders hampered the ongoing work on Dying Light 2. CEO Pawel Marchewka responded at length to the allegations – but advocated hanging a photo of a nude woman next to a cheetah in her office.
Here is Marchewka’s comment on the photo, from The Gamer report:
“The photo in question is from a famous English artist and conservationist David Yarrow, who I appreciate for his art, passion and dedication to work, and I never thought it would offend anyone,” explains Marchewka. “I think he’s one of the best, if not the best wildlife photographer. That’s why I hung it up in my office. But I want to make sure that I am setting the right example so that if any of our employees anonymously report that they are not comfortable with him, I will remove him immediately. “
Video games are art, of course, but are naked women alongside cheetah art? I would say: yes, bad art. Here is the photo (not safe for work) for you to judge yourself. I’m sure that’s what RoboCop’s Dick Jones would have hung on his wall.
The rest of the report, which is based on conversations with ten current and former Techland employees speaking on the condition of anonymity, paints the image of a company in disarray. This includes the use of homophobic slanders when giving feedback on the job, high staff turnover, decisions made and reversed weeks later, and an administrative team that reportedly refuses to listen to the people they hire. Some sources also said that it is difficult to complain about managerial behavior because the head of HR, Aleksandra Marchewka, is the wife of the CEO.
Many of these allegations reflect reports from the Polish website PolskiGamedev.pl last year, which said the development was a “mess”.
Last year, Techland severed ties with writer Chris Avellone, who was working on the script and the world of Dying Light 2, amid allegations of sexual assault.