Riot Games paying out $100 million to 1,500 female employees

Riot Games paying out $100 million to 1,500 female employees

"It isn't everything you deserve. But it is an acknowledgement that you aren't alone, you are never alone, and we can stop this across the industry together." 

US game developers Riot Games (Valorant) are paying out $100 million to 1,548 women employed at the company between 6th November, 2014 and 27th December, 2021. This follows a 2018 class action lawsuit for gender discrimination from former employees Melanie McCracken (Nuverse) and Jes Negrón (Retcon Games) that had its final approval hearing on 16th May, 2023.

After the initial $10 million settlement was objected to by California's Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), the $100 million was agreed on in 2021, with $20 million covering legal fees.

According to the settlement Riot must pay out the following to those eligible :

• $2,500-5,000 depending on whether they worked as an employee or temporary agency contractor, and regardless of whether they exclude themselves (the “Minimum Payment”), and
• $15,000-35,000 if they worked as an employee and do not exclude themselves, or
• $5,000-10,000 if they worked as a temporary agency contractor and do not exclude themselves
• Group/Class Members may also receive an additional $40,000 if they worked as an employee in or before 2015 and do not exclude themselves.

In statements on LinkedIn, Negrón and McCracken both expressed relief at the end of their four year journey. McCracken emphasised that "this is just the beginning" and talked about the importance of "inclusivity and belonging" in the workplace, while Negrón spoke about the stories of "disgusting bro culture" she and other women involved in the case had to endure and repeat throughout the process to get a "modicum of justice".

Any "current and former female employees and temporary agency contractors" at Riot in California between 6th November, 2014 and 27th December, 2021 can participate in the settlement and payment will be distributed in the three weeks following the final approval hearing last Tuesday. If you think you or someone you know might be eligible, go to https://www.riotsettlement.com/ for more details.

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/04/activision-riot-settlement-payments
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/riot-s-100-million-gender-discrimination-settlement-granted-final-approval
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7064643428264857600/
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/melaniemccracken_toggle-navigation-activity-7064744567169822720-sS-t/
https://twitter.com/JesNx/status/1659212142829264899?cxt=HHwWhoDTxeWp2oYuAAAA

(originally published as part of Girl Games Network #1 on 21/5/2023)

Summer Games Done Quick Returns!

 Summer Games Done Quick Returns!

From the 28th May to 4th June, 2023 the annual speedrunning fundraiser Summer Games Done Quick is back on Twitch raising money for Doctors Without Borders. Many of the runs are taking place at the Hilton Minneapolis, Minnesota for in-person attendees and VOD recordings of the runs can be found on GDQ's YouTube page afterwards.

Some runs and runners of note this time include :

• 31/5 Shadow the Hedgehog - Gamecube by MetalMedB (Glitchless Bidwar)

• 1/6 Golf It! - PC by Nichole Goodnight & Bathinjan (Classic First 5 Maps 100% Race)

• 1/6 Give Me Toilet Paper! - Switch by Asuka424 (Hand%)

• 2/6 VVVVV - PC by Metroid Crime (Any% Glitchless)

• 2/6 Pokémon Colosseum - Gamecube by Swiftalu and Sparkle (Any% Race)

• 3/6 Fire Emblem Engage - Switch by Claris (Any%)

• 4/6 Super Mario Maker 2 - Switch by TheRileyC, Aurateur, PangaeaPanga, TanukiDan, Shoujo, Caspur189, LilKirbs and Thabeast721 (Relay Race)

In addition to SGDQ, GDQ hosts charity speedruns throughout the year and gives a spotlight to female and non-binary runners in their Frame Fatale events. On-site and remote volunteer registration for the next FF event  "Flame Fatales'' will be open from the 9th-17th of June if this week's show inspires viewers to contribute.

As with every GDQ event for the last six years, programmer and artist lexyeevee (Fox Flux Deluxe) is hosting a game jam concurrently on itch.io, this time called "Games Made QVIICK??? HD REMIX", which will be running until the 5th of June.

• https://gamesdonequick.com/schedule

• https://www.twitch.tv/gamesdonequick

• https://eev.ee/

• https://itch.io/jam/games-made-qviick-hd-remix

(originally published as part of Girl Games Network #2 on 31/5/2023)

Super Free Games Faces Gender Discrimination Lawsuit

Super Free Games Faces Gender Discrimination Lawsuit

Former Super Free Games (Word Collect) employee Haley Bowman (Sonos) filed a lawsuit in the San Francisco Superior Court on the 11th of May, 2023 against the company for gender discrimination, unequal pay and being terminated while pregnant.

Super Free Games, formerly known as Super Lucky Games is a word and trivia game developer owned by the Stillfront Group and based in California with global remote employees, mostly across America. Although their careers page boasts a "flat management model" and insists on valuing a work-life balance, Bowman's case alleges "cronyistic" hiring practices, backed up by an anonymous former employee's review on Glassdoor.

In 2022, a Marketing Department Reduction in Force Committee was established at SFG and asked Bowman to leave her managerial marketing position for a position with a 20-26% pay cut in production on the grounds that she "had poor communication issues and created a level of mistrust with UA [the User Acquisition Team]". In her case, Bowman has said that there were no issues between her and UA. When she refused to take the cut and role change, she was terminated two months into a pregnancy she alleges SFG knew about and that her firing was falsely presented as a workforce reduction externally.

In addition to this, the lawsuit alleges an "unmistakable bias" against women, who make up less than a third of SFG, often being excluded from important meetings and social opportunities. Bowman also was not consulted on the marketing decisions that were key to her role in the Marketing division. SFG have not made any statements regarding the case as of two weeks after the filing.

• https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/discrimination-lawsuit-filed-against-san-franciso-game-developer/

• https://superfree.com/careers/

• https://www.gamesindustry.biz/super-free-games-receives-lawsuit-that-alleges-biases-against-women

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-bowman/

• https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-Super-Free-Games-RVW55119549.htm

• https://www.stillfront.com/en/stillfront-group-acquires-super-free-games-a-leading-developer-of-casual-word-games/

(originally published as part of Girl Games Network #2 on 31/5/2023)

Retro RPG Quartet Coming to Switch & PC

Quatro-Path Traveler

 

    Following in the octuple footsteps of Square-Enix's Octopath Traveller, indie turn-based JRPG Quartet surpassed its $35,000 Kickstarter goal earlier this week and is set to come to PC sometime next year.
    Set to open with four different scenarios that can be played in any order, players will be able to step into the shoes of the conflicted Nikolai, the privileged Cordelia, the burgeoning magician of cook that is Ben, and the haunted Alexandra as they deal with "a centuries-old conflict that literally reshaped the world" as the narratives collide.
    Combat builds on developer SomethingClassic's previous game Shadow of Adam, with four characters that can swap with another four to replenish Ability Points (used for magic) should they get injured, totaling eight party members (including a robot and a hippo!) to mix and match as you wish.

    The Kickstarter (which was mostly required to finish the art assets in the '90% completed' game) may have passed, but you can still check out Quartet's demo via its Kickstarter page which promises 30-45 minutes of the game. And you can wishlist it on Steam now!
    Quartet's press release promises a variety of settings, from 'the steampunk-inspired streets of Leornin to the forests on the barbarian frontier' and much more, so there's sure to be at least one locale of interest to fans of classic JRPGs.
    With the Switch port and End-Game Dungeon + Tournament DLC stretch goals met, Quartet is guaranteed to cram content into your favourite portable console when it launches in 2022.

Stats

• Playtime    - 30-45 minutes (DEMO)
• Genre        - RPG, JRPG
  
• Developer - SomethingClassic
• Publisher  - SomethingClassic
• Platforms  - Steam; Nintendo Switch
  
• Release     - 2022 (Tentative)
• In 5 words - Four heroes fight with friends.
  

Links

• Kickstarter 
• Steam 
• Website
  

Magical Mystery Turnabout : visual novel Attorney of the Arcane coming next year.

The Ace Attorney-inspired visual novel Tyrion Cuthbert : Attorney of the Arcane is bringing its law-based legerdemainry (that's another word for magic) to Steam and phones in December 2022.

Set in the kingdom of Wyverngarde. where only the elite have access to magic, you play as defense attorney Tyrion Cuthbert as he defends the innocent.

What sets this apart from your run-of-the-mill lawyer sim is the magic system that's "heavily inspired by tabletop games" requiring players to use the rules of magic as evidence, similar to in Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright.

If the game's funding succeeds, TC:AA will feature music by YouTube stars insaneintherain (hear him talk about some of his process here) and Shady Cicada, both of whom are no stranger to game music.

According to the FAQ, "[TC:AA] will feature approximately ten hours of gameplay and will be split up into five episodes.", which puts it on par with each game in the recently released Great Ace Attorney Chronicles duo-logy.

With an IndiGoGo campaign and Steam demo launched last month, be sure to watch this space for an in-depth preview of the game's first case and check out the trailer below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZexGE-u1eck