Quantic Dream, the developer behind Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human, has successfully won its libel case against French newspaper Le Monde, while also losing another to Mediapart.
Back in 2018, the Heavy Rain developer took issue after a joint report published in French publications Le Monde, Mediapart, and Canard PC made accusations of inappropriate behaviour, overworked staff and a "schoolboy culture" that allowed for racism, sexism and homophobia at the studio.
The studio won its case against Le Monde earlier this month, on September 9. According to Solidaires Informatique (as translated by Eurogamer) Le Monde's case was weakened as it could not prove certain factors of its reporting without revealing the name of its anonymous sources. Despite the ruling, neither Le Monde nor Quantic Dream has publicly commented on the judgment.
As part of the same case, Quantic Dream also sued French outlet Mediapart. However, the studio was unsuccessful and Mediapart was subsequently completely cleared. During the trial, which took place in May, a spokesperson for Quantic Dream told GamesIndustry.biz that it had taken the outlets to court for "publishing articles that we felt were not printed in good faith, nor with reasonable research nor evidence, and which drew false conclusions which extensively damaged the reputation and morale of the studio.
IGN covered the reports at the time, relaying claims made about the studio's leadership as well as reports of a "cache" of controversially photoshopped images that allegedly existed on Quantic Dream's servers.
At the time, Quantic Dream co-leads David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumière categorically denied the allegations calling them "ridiculous, absurd and grotesque" before issuing a formal statement with the studio.
In other Quantic Dream news, rumours have recently surfaced that the studio is making a Star Wars game. The studio has also expanded beyond its home nation of France and set up a new Quantic Dream studio in Montreal, Canada.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Continue reading...
Back in 2018, the Heavy Rain developer took issue after a joint report published in French publications Le Monde, Mediapart, and Canard PC made accusations of inappropriate behaviour, overworked staff and a "schoolboy culture" that allowed for racism, sexism and homophobia at the studio.
The studio won its case against Le Monde earlier this month, on September 9. According to Solidaires Informatique (as translated by Eurogamer) Le Monde's case was weakened as it could not prove certain factors of its reporting without revealing the name of its anonymous sources. Despite the ruling, neither Le Monde nor Quantic Dream has publicly commented on the judgment.
As part of the same case, Quantic Dream also sued French outlet Mediapart. However, the studio was unsuccessful and Mediapart was subsequently completely cleared. During the trial, which took place in May, a spokesperson for Quantic Dream told GamesIndustry.biz that it had taken the outlets to court for "publishing articles that we felt were not printed in good faith, nor with reasonable research nor evidence, and which drew false conclusions which extensively damaged the reputation and morale of the studio.
IGN covered the reports at the time, relaying claims made about the studio's leadership as well as reports of a "cache" of controversially photoshopped images that allegedly existed on Quantic Dream's servers.
At the time, Quantic Dream co-leads David Cage and Guillaume de Fondaumière categorically denied the allegations calling them "ridiculous, absurd and grotesque" before issuing a formal statement with the studio.
In other Quantic Dream news, rumours have recently surfaced that the studio is making a Star Wars game. The studio has also expanded beyond its home nation of France and set up a new Quantic Dream studio in Montreal, Canada.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Continue reading...