At least 10 of the employees who left since Open Roads production began were women. Speaking with Polygon, 12 former employees said their departure was at least in part due to Gaynor’s behavior toward workers, specifically women on the team. Fifteen employees have left the studio since development on Open Roads began in 2019 around six staff members remain.
Open roads annapurna full#
The Open Roads team has my full faith and support as they bring the game to completion.Fullbright co-founder Steve Gaynor, known for his work on Gone Home and Tacoma, has stepped down from his role as creative lead on Open Roads following multiple allegations of mistreating Fullbright employees, particularly women.ĭevelopment on Open Roads, which was announced in December 2020 and expected to star Keri Russell ( The Americans) and Kaitlyn Dever ( Booksmart), is behind schedule. I’m sad to have stepped back from day-to-day development of Open Roads, but it’s been the right thing to do.
“I care deeply about Open Roads and the Fullbright team. “Stepping back has given me space and perspective to see how my role needs to change and how I need to learn and improve as part of a team, including working with an expert management consultant, and rethinking my relationship to the work at Fullbright. My leadership style was hurtful to people that worked at Fullbright, and for that I truly apologize. “Earlier this year, I stepped back from my role as creative lead on Open Roads. I have a statement to share about my role at Fullbright. Gaynor meanwhile issued his own statement:
Additionally, the representative added that Annapurna is “aware of the situation at Fullbright and has been instrumental in helping the Open Roads team make changes to its structure.” We all have a part to play in creating a safe working environment, change doesn’t happen without discomfort.”Ī Fullbright representative confirmed to Polygon that Gaynor had stepped down as creative lead in March 2021, due to the “pattern of women leaving” the company. HR, accountability, training, something needs to change. “How do we ensure we are creating an environment that results in women feeling respected. “This sprint marks the 4th woman to leave Fullbright in the last year,” wrote one employee. When these attempts were unsuccessful, some employees took to leaving anonymous digital post-it notes on the company server in late 2020.
With no dedicated HR team at the company, outside of the occasional third-party consultant, employees were sometimes forced to confront Gaynor directly.
“His go-to weapon was to laugh at people’s opinions and embarrass them in front of other people.” “This is going to sound like a joke, but I’m completely serious: Working for him often felt like working for a high school mean girl,” said one former employee to Polygon. Gaynor would laugh at other people’s opinions, and assert his control over Open Roads, believing it to be his game, not the team’s. Additionally, Gaynor was known to disparage and discredit the contributions of female staff, often directly to leadership. While former employees state that they did not witness or experience sexual harassment or explicit sexism, they nonetheless report a toxic culture perpetuated by Gaynor’s “controlling” and “demeaning” leadership style.Īccording to the report, women at Fullbright experienced constant micromanagement, having to get even the smallest details approved by Gaynor.
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