Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment has defended itself against an anonymous employee’s claims that the studio is going through the COVID-19 pandemic.
An anonymous employee posted a review of the company on Glassdoor, which he later shared on the Apex Legends Reddit forum, claiming that while other firms have delayed deadlines and game updates to explain the drop in productivity, Respawn and its parent Electronic Arts not done.
“I feel extremely stressed and exhausted trying to keep our seasonal releases on the same aggressive timeline as before the shelter,” the review says. “I currently work 12-13 hours a day and there is no separation between my home and my working life.
“We have no idea how to do a live service project, which means poor planning decisions and without dimensioning the work, it means that we actually have very little idea of how much we can achieve in a given month.”
The employee added that no attention has been paid to the team’s health, exacerbated by conflicting “take care of your health” messages and waiting for more hours to meet the same deadlines.
“I am so exhausted that I am considering leaving without a next job to go mentally so I can be in a better place,” the post concludes.
Apex Legends Director Chad Grenier responded below the review image on the game’s Reddit forum, acknowledging that “I am the leader of the Apex team.”
He said the study takes into account the health and best interests of its employees, but acknowledges that the transition to working at home as a distributed team has been difficult.
“We certainly did not have the tools, the technology or the systems to make a smooth transition from several hundred people on the same campus to a completely remote study,” he wrote.
He claims he has been telling his staff every day “just work as hard as they can,” a message he says was echoed by the study leadership and EA leadership as well.
It also reports that both EA and Respawn implemented staff benefits to account for the change in working conditions, such as unlimited paid time off for those who are physically and mentally suffering or who need to care for someone.
The companies have also reportedly been reimbursing staff for any purchases made to make remote work easier and more comfortable, in addition to offering flexible hours and additional payments to account for rising internet and energy bills.
Grenier insists that it has been very clear with the team that the deadlines are also flexible.
“Like a broken record, I continually asked people to speak to their managers or producers if they will not be able to do their jobs on time without contracting,” he wrote. “Delays would be fine, we just need to know that one is needed.”
He emphasized that revealing an earlier delay of two weeks to the end of Apex Legends Season 4 was because he had had to delay Season 5.
“I’m definitely not trying to say that this person who wrote the review is wrong, and I’m not defending myself from the review,” he says.
“They are absolutely right in how they felt, and clearly they were working too hard, even though they were told it was okay to miss their deadlines. The problem is not with the intention of Respawn’s leadership, we have the best interest of all in mind.” ”
He suggests that team members are reluctant to inform their superiors that they will not meet their deadline or that they will not want to disappoint their teammates.
“Everyone wants to fix that bug, finish that cool new character, or launch that new game mode, and they will unknowingly crush themselves to do it,” he wrote. “That’s how dedicated this team is, they’re amazing. Because of this, all team leaders have learned to better look for cues, check in more regularly with developers, and proactively push features after reading the cues, rather than wait for someone to raise their hand.
“Are we perfect? No, of course not. Respawn and EA are 100% more concerned with the health of the team than the game and its profits? Absolutely, even in non-pandemic times. As one of the original Respawners, I can honestly tell you that Respawn (and EA) has been a great place to be for the last 10 years and it’s a place that puts people first. “
Last year, Respawn CEO Vince Zampella said that despite the increase in popularity at launch, the studio was determined to update Apex Legends less frequently to maintain the quality of life for its developers.
.
