According to an extensive report in Gamesindustry.biz, Scavengers Studio Simon Darveau has been accused of a number of toxic and abusive behaviors by employees at Scavenger Studio, manufacturers The Darwin Project and the upcoming game Season.
In a Rebekah Valentine report, nine current and former employees of the Montreal-based game development studio described a toxic work environment nurtured by and enabled by the studio’s creative director Simon Darveau Director Amelie Lamarche. (Lamarche was Darveau’s romantic partner when the pair founded the studio.)
The pattern outlined by employees goes as follows: Simon Davreau and other high-level male employees who are said to be routinely involved in violent behavior, particularly towards the women on the team.
This behavior ranged from sexual attitudes or down body groping. One developer once said that was not “reasonable” Seasons of the season a keynote speaker (a woman named Abby) should not be able to play the guitar because “the guitar was too complicated for a woman.”
Behavior attributed specifically to Davreau is more harmful. One story submitted to GI.biz states that Darveau appeared to have had an affair with an employee, who simply stopped showing a wip that worked after Lamarche found out. Another was that Darveau explained his behavior to employees by “comparing himself to a dog in heat – unable to control himself.”
It seems that Darveau would also be drunk and high at company parties. At one party in 2019, several sources claimed he had married and abducted women who worked at the company.
All of this behavior seems to have been enabled by Lamarche, who pointed out to many employees that she could not be unbiased at many points in the company ‘s history because she was romantically involved with Darveau.
The stories of Darveau ‘s accusatory behavior only go on and on, and among them he seems to have entered a number of shouting matches with staff and even an Xbox producer.
It is worth noting that Ubisoft Montreal was the former company of Simon Darveau, where he was the design director of Religion Assassin III. Reports of a secret work environment that Ubisoft says were a big story that came to light last year.
In response to Valentine’s investigations, Scavengers Studio issued policies that they would pursue with changes to the company’s code of conduct and sexual harassment reporting process. He told GI.Biz that “there were some elements in [their] estimates are misleading, slightly blown out of measure or without important pieces. “
The company did not specify what the “assessments are.”
For more on allegations about Scavengers Studio, and how these developments affect their next game, be sure to read the full Valentine report.