Another tale of exploitation from the video game industry

[kutsuwamushi]

So, apparently, there is a long-running scandal involving the music of Doom Eternal that I had not been aware of because I never got around to playing it. The OST was terrible, despite the composer, Mick Gordon, having previously done excellent work for other Doom titles.

Management blamed Mick Gordon for the failure, publicly. On Reddit, of all places.

Mick Gordon has posted a lengthy, detailed response, explaining how he was exploited, fucked over, and turned into a scapegoat for management's multiple failures. It's nightmarish stuff.

Bethesda claims his account is a "distortion of the truth", but like, it would have to be basically all lies in order for it not to be terrible mistreatment.

If it's true that Mick Gordon turned down a six-figure settlement in order to be able to post this, then it really deserves to be read.

Comments

[schneefink]

If this is even partially true - and it looks pretty convincing - then I don't even want to know how they treat other contractors who maybe can't afford to go months without payment or refuse a settlement.

[kutsuwamushi]

Yeah, it's hard to imagine. Mick Gordon is a well known video game composer, so it's hard to imagine how bad it can get for less established people who maybe don't have the reputation or financial resources to push back.

And it's really hard to take seriously Bethesda's rebuttal, when they're well-known for treating employees and contractors poorly, and when it was one of their managers who first took the dispute public in a really ugly way.