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This Week in Games - The Leaks of Us

(read: 2K Games holds exclusive rights so you have no choice)

Apparently, the genesis of this whole dispute wasn’t just the pay. It was only part it, and from the rumours going round, and the situation may have been pretty dire for the people who worked at ND.
Hundreds of furloughed staff had approached Naughty Dog to ask for an advance on the post release bonus they are contractually obligated to receive. To those who don’t know a very common industry practice is to underpay workers during production and promise them huge bonus six months after the games' release. The more the game sells, the bigger the bonus they receive. As such, employees had made plans around this bonus (weddings, buy a house, send kids to college, etc.) on the premise it would make its initial release date. Then the corona virus happened, which resulted in the game being delayed indefinitely, and all those plans going up in flames..

As a good chunk of the employees had BARELY been paid for the work, they were hoping to use their bonuses to weather the storm, so that they and their families could get by. But Naughty Dog flat out refused the request to advance them even a portion of their future bonus. According to an insider "the employee was told that his contract stated he would be paid out 6 months after the game released OR not at all". The employee was threatened with termination for making the request. The studio was worried more employees would demand their bonuses now if they gave this one employee his bonus early. To add insult to injury, senior staff (including Neil Druckmann) asked for and received their bonuses early. This pissed off the majority of employees at Naughty Dog.

The leaks were a way of forcing the studio to release the game sooner rather then later. By forcing their hand, it meant the bonuses could have been given to fellow employees earlier rather than potentially waiting till God knows when to get the money owed. It wasn’t just to stick it to ND. Even so, it’s impossible to verify any of this given the nature of this dispute so take it with a grain of salt, we’ll have to wait and see as more stuff comes out. Either way this isn’t painting a good look for the company.

#810704 wrote:

Apparently, the genesis of this whole dispute wasn’t just the pay. It was only part it, and from the rumours going round, and the situation may have been pretty dire for the people who worked at ND. Hundreds of furloughed staff had approached Naughty Dog to ask for an advance on the post release bonus they are contractually obligated to receive. To those who don’t know a very common industry practice is to underpay workers during production and promise them huge bonus six months after the games' release. The more the game sells, the bigger the bonus they receive. As such, employees had made plans around this bonus (weddings, buy a house, send kids to college, etc.) on the premise it would make its initial release date. Then the corona virus happened, which resulted in the game being delayed indefinitely, and all those plans going up in flames.. As a good chunk of the employees had BARELY been paid for the work, they were hoping to use their bonuses to weather the storm, so that they and their families could get by. But Naughty Dog flat out refused the request to advance them even a portion of their future bonus. According to an insider "the employee was told that his contract stated he would be paid out 6 months after the game released OR not at all". The employee was threatened with termination for making the request. The studio was worried more employees would demand their bonuses now if they gave this one employee his bonus early. To add insult to injury, senior staff (including Neil Druckmann) asked for and received their bonuses early. This pissed off the majority of employees at Naughty Dog. The leaks were a way of forcing the studio to release the game sooner rather then later. By forcing their hand, it meant the bonuses could have been given to fellow employees earlier rather than potentially waiting till God knows when to get the money owed. It wasn’t just to stick it to ND. Even so, it’s impossible to verify any of this given the nature of this dispute so take it with a grain of salt, we’ll have to wait and see as more stuff comes out. Either way this isn’t painting a good look for the company.

I mean, the reason those are set in the future isn't because company like to be dick to their employee, it's because they literally don't have the money before the game ship and sell. It's an ugly situation, but it's not like there's no rational to it.

TLOU2 sounds like a train wreck, but given the history of Naughty Dog with their culture and the rumors of people hired, I’m not surprised. Not like I was ever going to play the game, but this is just the sort of thing they deserve.

Naughty Dog went downhill when Neil Druckmann fired Amy Hennig from the company and took over her stuff for himself. The new TLOU spoilers sound hilarious if true (hard to fake high quality videos like that, though)

Maybe performance compensation isn't a good idea