In the gaming sphere, 2021 proved to be a year of controversy for many publishers and developers as large portions of staff came out against the companies that had allegedly encouraged and enabled a workplace environment of harassment. While stories differ from company to company, the most well-known of these is the ongoing lawsuit against Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher Activision Blizzard, which has seen calls for the CEO Bobby Kotick to resign, and many employees leave the company themselves.
RELATED: Crusader Kings 3 is Getting Same-Sex Marriage
A staff survey published by Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet suggested that Paradox Interactive’s employees felt that harassment was present in the workplace. In the survey, a so-called “culture of silence” allowed an employee with a reputation to hold a significant senior position for years, along with allegations of a “toxic” studio where women were treated as “token” hires. Now, the company looks to investigate the sources of its “toxic” workplace culture using an external report.
The report was created by Swedish firm Gender Balance, which specializes in discrimination and harassment issues. Speaking on the report, Paradox chief of staff Mattias Lilja said, “We are now getting to the bottom of this, and we are getting a concrete picture of the problem. The report is a first step for us to really address these issues and bridge the trust gap that exists.” This trust gap has been referenced before by developers who also had scathing reports published in 2021. Head of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Ybarra has spoken about how the company seeks to rebuild its trust with fans and employees going forward.
The report by Gender Balance covers many negative behaviors which have allegedly taken place at Paradox Interactive, with some of them including “using harsh and demeaning language, ridicule, recurring mean-spirited criticism, unfairly questioning competence, interrupting or speaking over someone in meetings, and blaming and shaming.” A number of women also reported unsolicited comments on their appearance, and seeing gendered stereotypes throughout their working experience. Following from this report, Paradox Interactive’s next step is to create an action plan to solicit further change, and will look to improve matters before the next survey this fall.
MORE: The Craziest Things You Can Do In Crusader Kings 3
