The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Developer, Daedalic Entertainment, Claimed to Have Unethical Work Environment

A new claim from the German publication Game Two has sprouted regarding developer Daedalic Entertainment, known for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. The allegations comprise, as summarized by IGN, “reportedly enforcing uncompensated overtime, allegedly trying to pay staff below minimum wage, and a toxic work environment cultivated by an alleged abusive leadership.”

Further, alongside a supposed development budget of roughly $15.9 million USD, which is quite low for a AAA-scale release, anonymous sources have shared comments reinforcing the claims of horrid working conditions.

Then, there is the allegation that the apology message regarding the game’s quality given by the official Twitter account was written by the ChatGPT AI tool from publisher Nacon. Adding fuel to the fire is that the game’s name is not correctly written out. And allegedly, Daedalic did not give their consent to send this message.

IGN has backed up the claims of Daedalic’s horrid work culture, as quoted below:

IGN sources back up the Game Two report, describing Daedalic’s low pay, crunch, and toxic work culture as an open secret within the German video game industry. Game Two alleges Daedalic exploited young employees and interns not just in terms of low pay, but their lack of experience within the industry, a claim also backed up by IGN’s sources. In the video, Daedalic denies currently employing interns.

You can view IGN’s coverage for additional details.

Game Two’s full report video on the matter is viewable below, with English subtitles: