Open Roads Team Splits From Fullbright After ‘Toxic’ Workplace Allegations
The Open Roads team is no longer part of Fullbright due to its split with Fullbright.
According to Fulbright co-founder Steve Gaynor now known as The Open Roads Team, will continue to work with Annapurna Interactive but will have no affiliation with the former studio.
“After careful consideration, Fulbright will no longer be in a position to publicly represent the Open Road,” he confirmed. “At launch, it will be credited to The Open Roads Team.”
It’s been about 2 years since Gainer He stepped down as creative lead at Open Roads after being accused of creating a “toxic work culture.”
“I stepped away from the project,” he recalled. “There wasn’t much shared about what we were working on. I did my best, and now it’s been two years.”
Reportedly, his actions resulted in the evacuation of 12 staff members from the studio and the women’s “repeated mental breakdowns due to microaggressions”.
“My leadership style hurt those who worked for Fulbright and I sincerely apologize for that,” he later said in a statement. twitter. “How my role will need to change as I step down, and how I feel as part of the team, whether working with a professional management consultant or rethinking my relationship with my work at Fulbright. It gave me the space and perspective to think about what I need to learn and improve on.I have a lot of respect for Open Roads and the Fullbright team.Away from the day-to-day development of Open Roads. It’s a shame it happened, but it was the right thing to do, and the Open Roads team has our full trust and support in bringing the game to completion.”
It looks like Gaynor will continue developing Fullbright while the Open Roads team continues to work on tiles. The studio’s next title will be a solo work.
“I became more and more frustrated with that higher level role and it affected my attitude towards people in the studio,” he said of his time on Open Road. . “I really regret it and should have dealt with it sooner, but it didn’t happen and that’s my fault.”
Want to learn more about Open Roads? Check out the original Open Roads reveal trailer and how the game builds on its predecessor in terms of storytelling.
Ryan Reston is IGN’s entertainment journalist and film critic.you can follow him twitter.
