According to over a dozen current and former employees, Life Is Strange developer Deck Nine’s management has long let a toxic work culture fester at the studio, including protecting multiple abusive leaders, encouraging crunch, and allowing bullying of individuals advocating internally for more authentic representation.

Early last year, while working on the next entry in the Life Is Strange franchise, a few developers at Deck Nine stumbled upon something that didn’t belong in their game: Nazi symbols.

Initially, developers noticed a reference to the number 88, and flagged the issue to their bosses assuming it was an innocent mistake. But in the ensuing weeks, others found more problematic signs and in-universe labels, such as references to a racist meme, the number 18, and the Hagal rune. As the number of possible hate symbols mounted, staff grew increasingly concerned that someone was putting these items in their game deliberately as a dog whistle to white supremacists.

  • @[email protected]English
    20•7 months ago

    They aren’t the developers of Life is Strange, they made the spinoffs. LiS and LiS 2 were developed by Dontnod.

    • @[email protected]English
      5•7 months ago

      Dontnod gave up the IP when they left. You’re not wrong, but that’s not the whole picture.

    • Mossy Feathers (She/They)English
      29•7 months ago

      Sadly, it’s not too surprising. For some reason the game industry has a problem with toxic, bigoted people rising to positions of power while the kinder, more tolerant people end up getting left behind.

      The toxicity itself isn’t surprising, ambitious people tend to walk all over other people in their quest to achieve their ambitions, the bigotry kinda is though. Why does it seem like they’re almost always bigots? Does bigotry just go hand-in-hand with people being willing to step on other people to get ahead?

      • @bahbah23English
        22•7 months ago

        Does bigotry just go hand-in-hand with people being willing to step on other people to get ahead?

        I’m pretty sure that’s the main point of bigotry

        • Mossy Feathers (She/They)English
          9•7 months ago

          Sure, when it comes to stepping on people you’re prejudiced against. However what about in a general sense? Does it make stepping on others easier in general, even if they’re the same as you?

          • @xkforceEnglish
            12•7 months ago

            There is no group of people that cant be othered. Women, minorities, LGBT, people that differ in religious/areligious beliefs, physical characteristics like weight, mental disorders and neurodiversity, poverty/lower income, the list goes on

          • Stopthatgirl7OPEnglish
            10•7 months ago

            You step on people you see as beneath you, and suck up to those you see as having power.