Indonesian perspective here, worker’s rights are a formality and workplace abuse is so common because complaining about your job will never be taken seriously. The mentality is “suck it up because that’s life” which only goes so far when your autonomy as a human being is being tested. Before anyone says “other countries are like this too” doesn’t mean that this practice should be normalized. It’s actually insane. It’s hard to quit when you’re psychologically coerced to do whatever your superiors say. Jakarta is also the kind of town where someone from your previous job is highly likely to know someone from your next job. Your reputation will likely take a hit if your toxic superiors start talking shit about you to people in the industry. That’s why the story had to go viral before it could be taken seriously.
I realize I'm very lucky to have been born in Canada, so when I hear the argument that “other countries are like this too”, not only is it nothing but a crappy excuse to disregard the issue, but it's not even true to begin with. I just hate the "tough it up, that's life" argument in general. I know it sucks, you know it sucks, so why would you want to keep it that way?!
As a Brazilian, where worker's rights are well maintained (even though lots of bullshit still happens), forcing an employee to slap themselves in the face a hundred times is the kind of thing that would get a company closed down, people arrested and employees granted fortunes in record time. There may be other countries that normalize that kind of abuse, yes, but there should never be. And any company buying crunch from such companies is even worse, because they fund this abuse. My condolences, and here's to hope that this case may be at least a stepping stone to improve Indonesia's work culture.
when parents physically and emotionally abusing you as a kid was normalized, same thing will also happen when you are an adult. I hate being born in asia
Similar in the Philippines - employers feel they are doing you a favor by employing you and your attitude should reflect that. Leaving is not a good idea because your rep precedes you and all the local technology studios are owned by members of the dozen or so families and literally related to each other. If you point out that you generate way more profit for the company than they pay you, you're a spoiled American or a communist.
I kind of figured that it was a unique cultural quirk in your local work culture. Asian Companies hit differently, and as a fellow SEA i recognize your plight. i just hope you all get the same work protections that took several decades or (hundred?) for the US to have worker rights. which is slowly being eroded away btw.
@@TheGIGACapitalist I was about to explain how the power of an individual consumer is useless, and that spreading awareness and organizing and voting and protesting and strikes are the real way to enact change, but then I looked at your username and realized it would be worthless
I agree, if a game is 60 hours long I'm less likely to buy it because I'll be less likely to finish it, and I do not give a crap about realistic horse testicles. I'd also add to your list that I want games with longer development periods and liberal use of delays when deemed necessary
@@TheGIGACapitalistthe literal point of this video is that stuff like this is hidden and overlooked. You literally cannot make ethical choices buying games based on impressions or cursory research. Hell one of the most popular PMG videos is about abuse in a smaller indie studio. There need to be systems in place to force better work practices as well as better organization workers-side because as long as it's about dollars then companies will often do what is the cheapest quasi-legal option until they can't.
For anyone who doesn't know, if you hit your head and have "concussion-like symptoms" after, that's just a plain ol' concussion. It takes way less force than you'd expect to experience a mild concussion if you hit the wrong spot.
There's bound to be a charge for "making a person self-induce a concussion"... My heart goes out to Christa. I've always been a people-pleaser, it felt visceral watching this video, knowing how easily it could have been me...
the vision becoming white and ears ringing sounded like quite serious symptoms. a hospital visit just to safe would seem like the responsible thing to do had this just been an accident and not... planned abuse.
Yeah bro and I have probably had a few, like two for certain, why are you bringing this up? Are you being disparaging towards those of us who have had concussions and rubbing in our faces that you have never had because you're so careful with your head? Well guess what, my concussions weren't my fault, they were from other people being forceful with me or just straight up attacking me!
Not in the videogame industry, but in the tech industy in Europe. I left my previous job because they had outsourced to India part of the work. I thought this was cool, a whole new group of colleagues! However, the amount they payed the workers was really low (although they refused to tell me exactly how much they were being payed due to internal company policy, I could see part of the budget), they worked for shifts >12h (they denied it, but I could see their commit times and their shifts were indeed >12h). Having videocalls with them to mentor them in how the company worked, if the videocall laster more than 15 min, I could see their bosses calling them on their phones to know why they had not checked in during the last 15 min. If they made any mistake (everybody makes mistakes!), they were severely punished. I reported it to the higher ups and ethics team, but apparently, everything was legal in India. I don't care how legal or illegal it is, it was clearly exploitative and immoral. Long story short, I left shortly after we identified this behaviour, and I was pissed off enough (and publicly enough) that I think I'm permanently blacklisted in that world. In any case, there is obviously evil people, but the rest should not stay silent. If everyone in the first world identifying those abuses threatened to leave their companies (or actually left them like I did), we could enact structural change. I'm sure some people identified the abuse, but just said to themselves "it's not my problem, and they provide the results we need". We should not be passive observers in the face of abuse! If you ever see this, take action!
@@MorbidEel No idea. This was part of my complaint to the higher ups. The people were good, but the pressure and overwork made them less performant. It didn't make sense at all.
As an Indonesian, thank you for updating the story for the rest of the world... The industry, especially the western side of the world, starts paying attention and keeps the conversation going, and hope it gets better as a result
We don't have the slapping concussions thing in the Games Industry in the u.s, what we have is more over work and pressure to stay late after the shift is over, not quite the same...
Damn man this is the 2nd documentary I'd have watched about Indonesia today. Watched a docu about the OPM and what happened and is still happening in West Indonesia. Wild stuff bro stay safe out there
I want to add- if anyone thinks this is unique to the games industry, its not. Any industry with outsourcing sees this same stuff. Thank you for shining a light on it.
It's so scarry how much this mirrors domestic abuse and the like; the continuously encroaching control over ever aspect of the employee's lives (restricting spending and access to funds, dictating how they can dress, what they can eat, and who they can talk to) and the isolation from people and support systems who could help them escape and realize this is abuse. And adding that this is happening by the employers just makes it even more trapping, your means of economic escape and finding a new job is way more unattainable. Also I don't think people realize how much sleep deprivation affects the body. This is a form of torture, but also added control here. How can you plan your escape or realize how your abuse has snowballed when you're in a near-hallucinating haze?
Often, you don't. Usually it takes getting laid off for many folks to decide not to find another industry job. For others, it can happen with other kinds of breaks like having a kid and taking parental leave - I heard of an extremely veteran dev who, after taking a week off to witness the birth of their grand kid (to give you a sense of just how veteran they were!) simply didn't come back to the office and quit. And then you have others who justify it (poorly). I had another tell a story about someone having an anniversary dinner with their partner (like.. 5 year or other particularly big one). The studio buzzes him on his cellphone mid-dinner and he promptly leaves his partner to go into work. And this story was told with PRIDE. Like, sure, it was an emergency but 1) he wasn't the only one who could solve it and 2) IT WAS HIS ANNIVERSARY DINNER.
It’s because employer abuse like domestic abuse is all about control. Abuse in the workplace or at home can happen to anyone in any situation, of any background, making any amount of money.
As an Indonesian gamedev who mainly works on outsourcing projects, thank you so much for returning to this story. I'm shocked to learn this wasn't picked up everywhere else, because it was all that everyone in the SE Asia video game sphere pretty much talked about when the news broke. Not just because of how horrific it was, but also because of how it was a stark reminder of just how vulnerable and prone to exploitation our own careers as gamedevs were, and the lack of worker's protections afforded to people working in the creative industry here. To me, hearing the story felt like a bad omen of something that could happen again to anyone down along the line as the games industry here grows, the only question being 'when', not 'if'. I'm also glad that you pointed out the elephant in the room: the wider problem of how outsourcing is done in tech-related industries and unfair, exploitative practices that benefit the global north greatly while leaving scraps for people in the global south and other vulnerable countries. Brandoville feels like a symptom of a system that's working as intended on taking advantage of that power imbalance. It's hard not to imagine that it's not the only one. Sometimes I think about how someone working in the games industry or even the same game with the same role as I do and who puts in the same hours as I do (with the exception that they work in the global north) might have 2-3 times my salary, and that kind of stings. And it's not fair because it's not really their fault. The onus is really on the other side to bridge that imbalance and take responsibility to ensure people on this end aren't exploited. I hope this piece at least sparks conversation, like you said, because it looks like this kind of situation will only change later rather than sooner. Sometimes I really wish more people in English-speaking countries would pay more attention as to what's happening elsewhere in the world. Anyways, excellent as always, PMG. All the best.
She has incredible strength to endure what she endured, speak out and tell her story, and then to push to make things better so others don't have to go through what she did. I hope her new law career makes a big difference. Her story was hard to watch but her courage is inspiring.
As an Indonesian, I thank you for exposing this. Sadly, Brandoville case is only one of many labor violations that is neglected in our countries. And this case get blown out because the people in creative industries tend to be vocal about their workers right, compared to another sector anyway. We also don't have any meaningful worker unions outside of some limited sectors, such as manufacturing and healthcare. And not to mention the perspective of worker union is still frowned upon a lot of white collar workers (despite when they need one), as they seen union as a brainless mob that disrupt their office activity every time they're having protest in the street.
I do not usually comment on this channel because my English is not good, and I use translator but I bring the comment in case the algorithm makes you understand and that reaches more people, I'm sick of the idealization that some companies have when things like this show have slaves, and always these people talk about morality and ethics but then ignore the real victims.
@casht6195 I agree. The amount of control that individuals have over workers is disgusting. Clearly this was not good for their business, but they say unions are bad for business. In this case, not having a union causes their business to fail. If your business cannot succeed without overworking everybody, then you are one accident away from losing the ability to turn a profit. And abused people are more likely to suffer accidents, illness, and worse.
Worth noting for anyone who isn't as familiar with Indonesia and its culture: Indonesia is an incredibly religious place. An Indonesian's official government ID includes an identifier for which religion you belong to. There are six choices. Atheism is not a choice. You belong to one of the six. Also remember: in the 1950s and 1960s, Indonesia was a progressive society with a strong union movement, and workplace rights and laws. Compared to their neighbours, Indonesian factory workers had better rights, protections and pay. The President of the time wanted to tax oil and gas extraction (just like Norway does). The US government didn't like this, so the CIA funded, weaponised and backed the far-right coup that would result in a brutal dictatorship that lasted until 1998. The coup resulted in over a million Indonesians butchered in the streets. Over a million more placed in concentration camps. Communists, unionists, feminists, and social progressives were targeted in particular. Women's rights, worker's rights, fairly taxing foreign corporations: all things of the past under this new regime. As late as the 1990s, Indonesian schoolchildren would walk past the mutilated corpses of political dissidents as they walked to school. That's the regime that the CIA put in power. That's why a story like this one is even possible.
also note the cia has done very similar things in several other countries (ex: Iran, Guatemala, the Republic of the Congo, Chile, possibly Syria) the U.S. military is also largely responsible for the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan
there was actual push to atheism as one of the "aliran lainnya" but its only select regions (e.g.: theres still animism in really rural parts of indonesia) -or they might have removed them as well idk but i doubt so. anyway its kinda brutal to compare the 1960s to this because its a wildly different agenda to begin with; thats a political operation resulting in the violation of human rights, and this one is an example of the lack of law protecting worker rights due to just how incapable our justice system is. in any case its gonna be hard to see change in the next 5-7 years because inward and outward political pressure that keeps us in stalemate misery
@@theneonbop Also worth adding none of this is speculation or conspiracy - most of it is self-admitted by the CIA or other institutions through declassified documents or otherwise. It's just hidden and not talked about. The fact that the CIA (and allies) turned the Taliban into the armed force that the US would go to war with, for instance is entirely evidenced by declassified documents, leaving no room for doubt. Google 'Operation Cyclone'. The US is also responsible for the most brutal communist dictators rising to power (such as Pol Pot off the top of my head), and backing fascist regimes to prevent a communist one (such as South Korea and South Vietnam). (Yes, South Korea was fascist in the truest sense of the word and while it has improved since the Korean War you can see vestiges of its fascism today. And yes, the Vietnam war was fought by the US in support of a fascist regime.)
Thank you so much for covering this story! As someone from Indonesia, the story was quite popular and I'm glad you guys are able to do a deep dive on this as well as spread more awareness too.
We don't have the slapping concussions thing in the Games Industry in the u.s, what we have is more over work and pressure to stay late after the shift is over, not quite the same...
@@FrawgfithAmblose they export the slaps and increasingly, only keep the prestige staff in-country, offshoring the grunt work and crunch to places less likely to complain about it
Chris, Anni, and the rest of PMG, your work is important, VERY important. My sincerest thanks. This one. The Palestine video. The Roblox video. You cover the bits that people missed. You also cover the topics less known. The Second Life one. The Farming Simulator one. Seriously, and very sincerely, thank you.
Im Zambian and the unfortunate thing is I completely understand these style of escalated abuse. Adults are given carte blanche to demand respect from younger people, especially work subordinates. It leads into a culture where if someone wants to abuse their power they can and will. So the slow encroachment of Christas agency to the point where she can slap herself 100 times and still think the company is normal is so unfortunately normalized. I leave in the US now and I still feel the trauma of being punished in boarding school by prefects and this documentary brought it all back. I hope things get better. I hope societies can stop encouraging things like this. Most of all I hop Christas life is better after going through all that. Thanks for showcasing this, way more opportunity for the west to see whats going on and demand change
Christa in that video with her boss at the 25:24 mark was like a completely different person from the clips from the interview. I am so happy she got away and seems to be in a better place for healing. I hope this video can help fuel some change.
She was quite literally concussed, along with all the other mental/physical effects of the shit she went through. It still fucking sucks seeing peope go through this sort of torment.
nah , ive read almost like a 1000ish chat log screenshots from this whole abuse and let me tell you the chat logs are truly brutal and insane . the amount of insults , degrading comments , manipulation , cult-like behavior present in those chat logs are truly horrifying and i felt so sorry for christa , no human being deserves anything like this . cherry is a hell-spawn that deserves anything bad coming her way , just remembering some of these messages still makes my blood boil . how one human can think of doing something like this puzzles me . i hope the victims of this outrageous torment can heal and find peace
If my boss ever said that God had talked to them about me, I think I’d quit on the spot out of fear for whatever comes next. This is horrifying. Thank you for your reporting. Edit : holy shit Cherry was literally just running a cult out of this game studio
I've never had that experience in either direction myself, but I've known two people who have had bosses or senior leadership basically say that... but in a good way. There are people who are deeply moral and ethical and who understand their own morality in religious terms. It does happen. That said, my first reaction would be the same as yours, no question.
When a teacher has you write 100 lines, they don't then read what's written. There'd be no point. Something tells me whoever ordered the '100 slaps' video watched every second of it.
Just wanted to thank you for the warning up top re: preemie baby death! As a recent mother to a preemie, I didn't want to have to see that but I still wanted to watch the video. Thanks to the warning, I was able to skip just the relevant part and not be haunted by that story for the rest of the week. I'm planning on revisiting that section later, when I'm feeling stronger, and I sincerely appreciate the employee telling their story and the warning regarding it.
Thank you for continuing to be one of the few sources of ACTUAL journalism in the gaming industry. This poor woman's story absolutely needed to be told. Sadly a side-effect is that to the 'audience' this kind of extreme personal abuse makes it all to easy to rationalize the problem as these bad actors, and not even think about the system (that is the industry executives and shareholders, and in no small part we the customers) who incentivize and empower bad-actors such as these, the more psychotic the better! (until it becomes a sufficiently big PR headache, then they'll take token measures to distance themselves).
Yeah, I was really disappointed to hear how much of this particular story was able to be linked back to one specific person, not because that changes anything about what happened, but because that gives people who want to ignore the problem the absolute perfect excuse to claim there isn't one.
When the screenshots of Christa's abuse became viral on Facebook and Twitter, I personally couldn't believe it bc Christa's social media posts were all so positive. She'd mainly talk about working out and share gym selfies and ofc as a friend I'd be like "yay you go girl you're smoking!" In hindsight, I guess Cherry might've micromanaged her social media uploads too, and seeing our supportive words of Christa's "workout journey" might've probably fueled Cherry's delusional power trip. It speaks a lot on the ostracizing aspects of it. I'm relieved that the comment section here are all supportive.
I’ve lived and worked in SEA in multiple game studios. At one of them, a colleague of mine took his own life, and HR just swept everything under the rug. My resignation letter to that company ended up being over 12 pages long, but I decided not to send it because I knew it wouldn’t change anything. In fact, it might have made things worse for my colleagues who still worked there. I feel for these people who are trapped and abused on a daily base to make something that is supposed to bring the exact opposite.
It will make DEVELOPERS upset. Probably not gamers tho. It doesn't affect them. As a matter of fact, there's a non trivial amount of gamers out there who romancize crunch and abuse in general as a necessary evil for making better games. And as @BSideWasTaken just said, they're too busy raging over "woke" content anyway.
If it's not affecting gamers directly, they don't care. There's a reason games are an escape from real life. Gamers don't have the intellectual or empathical capacity to care about any of this stuff, especially if it's at a small, no-name company like this. This stuff happens all over the world all the time, it's impossible to fix
I’m happy that they spoke out and it went viral so they can get justice and help others. But it’s such a horrible fact that they need to get that virality to even begin to be heard. Thank you for bringing this to a larger audience PMG
Real FairTrade labels don't go far enough. There are many layers of indirection you can use to hide exploitation and suffering: yes, the assembly line employees get a decent wage and working condition, but the components they assemble were from another supplier, which had a contract with a large offshore firm in India, which had ties to a small local factory, which turned out to be a child sweatshop with strong ties to local police, but because the certification looked only at the two level, they are still "Fair Trade". I guess software has much smaller supply chains than this and really the only people in scope are the actual artists making the assets, the programmers, and their company owners, with game engine devs and a thousand dependencies maintained by unpaid volunteers being out of scope, so maybe it's doable if the certifier isn't outright corrupt.
@@rkvkydqfI agree with your caveats about Fair Trade labelling and it’s issues but at least it exists and started a change in consumer behaviour. And demanding a similar structure for games would be a good start.
There are problems with simple labeling. For example, current industry labeling for chocolate to say they “don’t have child labor” on the farms that produce the Cacao… doesn’t involve random inspections. All inspections are announced well in advance. So of course the farms pass… the child laborers are merely given the day off, or come into work later after the inspection. Any standard that is set has to be both rigorous and *enforceable* not just a nice label industry creates for itself to paper over the problem.
My girlfriend is Indonesian and bad work habits are common. In Europe, my work time is 8-4, but her work time is 9-6 (with 1 hour break). But the thing is she always has to do unpaid overwork. Overwork is expected of her. She commonly works until like 8 PM or even midnight. There is a lot of people in Indonesia, so if you can't suck it up you're easily replaceable.
@@kudosbudo Ineffective unions, easily-replacable workforce, little government oversight. It happens across the world. There are countries that have it even worse than Indonesia.
It's similar to the US - nowadays, work in the industry there is considered 8 hrs + 1 hr (or less) for lunch. And even in the European studios, because the US ones can get away with it and they want to 'match working hours', it's starting to become common for it to be 8.5+0.5 (because some European cultures only do 30m lunches). This does not count the usually normalized overtime - so while officially it might be, say, 10 to 4 as core hours with employees choice on where to put the rest, it wouldn't be unusual for peeps to be there at 9 and working until 6.
5:08 "We have investigated ourselves and found no evidence of wrongdoing." Absolutely disgusting behaviour from both Ken and Cherry Lai. They both need to be locked up for a very long time.
One thing that should be called out more often is the companies that hire 3rd party companies without checking on working conditions of people they indirectly hire. These companies are indirectly responsible for this terrible things as well.
My limited time working as a contractor for Microsoft taught me enough about their work culture and why I should despise them. It is nothing but layers upon layers of contractors hiring contractors to deflect the truly awful conditions those who do work for Microsoft are under from the company proper itself. More than a few Microsoft contracting companies have turned out to be out and out scams. Microsoft just consumes the endless supply of people who are excited to be part of the games industry and then discards them as their working conditions invariably lead to burnout. It does not surprise me at all that there is rampant abuse at the bottom of the Microsoft contracting ladder.
Cherry should be in jail for all the horrible stuff she has done to these people. Ken too should Investigated. Hoping all that those mistreated get help and end up somewhere so much better & safer. Also want to thank them for coming forward and sharing their stories. Especially good luck to Christa recovering and studying law, I hope she gets to help many! Thank you for reporting on this abuse and for putting trigger warnings.
I think this is very important to remember. The more we let it happen "over there" (I'm in Europe), the easier it will be for them to make it so "here".
Brandoville iirc now rebrands as Lai-Lai studio (or Lai2 Studios) abroad. The CEO Ken Lai get the eff out of Indonesia and make a new Studio abroad, presumably at Hong Kong
@@jacobl2222 Abusers like this often have a God complex, a superiority complex. In their minds everyone around them is only there for their…..enjoyment? I’m not sure how to describe it really but I hope you understand. You saw the messages, “fear God and fear me”.
Agreed. More than often, it's a way to disguise their reason why they would find you a valuable asset. It's always disgusting to see others weaponize religion to make whatever they're doing to seem right.
watched this on nebula but I'm here to show some algorithm love to help this video reach as many people as possible!! thank you for helping to bring these stories to the global north!
My dad is Indonesian, and he never shared much of his culture with me. Often, I think about some online friends and distant family in Indonesia. Thank you for covering this story.
this is really prevelant in south asian countries sadly. As an indian, i totally get this and we really need to stand up against workplace abuse on a large scale.
Jacob gellers latest vid on spec ops the line has A great message, is "about" A video game, and reveals atrocities so public its A shock we somehow forgot them as A public.
A woman slapping herself on the face not even that hard is "distressing" to watch these days? I think I need to take a sabbatical from work to deal with my PTSD. GImme a break, people are straight up scrambling to find any little innocuous thing to add to their inventory of traumas. lol PUHH-LeEeEeE-E-E-EEEEZ-ZUH stop being the bane of my existence kthxbye.
So.... this is a cult. Can we all agree that this is a cult? Because this isn't just unprofessional, this isn't just abusive, this is a cult leader forming a flock.
Christa is so brave to be able to talk about it herself on video like this. Its alarming someone clearly with so much strength can still be vulnerable to being effectively brainwashed and abused like that and have her whole sense of identity taken over. Much like an abusive domestic relationship. Well done to Christa amazing person
I worked as a Live Ops Art Outsourcing Producer, as a contractor for a very large US studio--I worked with several small external developers all over the world where my only contact was ONE person from that small studio. I would relay our development needs, and they would deliver the work, and if things came in late or poor quality, we would ask if there was training we could do between our artists and theirs, but they never took us up on it/we never saw any evidence of those artists even existing. It all felt really gross and after my contract was up I vowed to never work faceless outsourcing again. I used to tell my friends that I was pretty sure I was the contact point for 3D Model Sweat Shops. I've had my job threatened over rocking the boat and questioning process. I once asked to review the contract we had with the small studio so I could tailor our requests to those studios around it. I was met with shock at my 'audacity' and anger and vehement refusal. As a contractor in an at-will state, they absolutely will just drop you if you make a fuss. There's definitely dark shit going on behind AAA studios.
It's also incredibly important not just for the sake of Indonesian game workers, but game workers everywhere. These conditions exist on a curve, the worst conditions allowed to exist set the precedent for what companies are able to get away with everywhere else.
00:02 CHRISTA 00:03 Hi, Mrs. Cherry 00:05 Nothing 00:06 Hi, Mrs. Cherry, noted, thank you. WTF? My Boss would have been torn to shreds by civil court if he forced me to answer text messages at midnight.
When I was in college more than a decade ago I dreamt of getting into game development. Luck and circumstances pulled me into becoming a barber, a career I’m fortunately thriving in and find fulfilling. Hearing these kinds of stories makes me grateful that I never had a chip on shoulder about missing a chance to be in the industry. I always feared that younger me wouldn’t have had the courage or grit to speak out against this kind of abuse. I applaud and wish the best for these youngsters trying to pave the way for a fairer and healthier industry standards.
The No Viral No Justice was first popularized by Alvin Lim, Indooneisan lawyer that also an activist. Sadlly he just recently passed away (Sunday, Jan 5 2025)
Even making sure for proper English captioning, not just the auto-generated that can frequently get words wrong which can make it harder to understand what's going on. Wish that TH-cam offered ways for communities to be able to contribute captioning again, even with some form of vetting process, rather than relying on auto-generation
@Dracon7601 Truly! There's so many times I've caught the auto-generated captions being wrong, and even my hard-of-hearing grandmother can catch it sometimes. It's frustrating that we can't fix it so that more folks can enjoy the videos
I cannot begin to describe how I feel about this, it's absolutely sickening, I feel I'll and afraid just for listening to this. Thank you for your honest labor covering these stories.
I felt physically anxious seeing the 'exchange' between Cherry Lai and Christa. As someone coming from SEA, there is something I can relate to what Christa felt at the time to a certain extent- the mentality of "this is a part of work" and "I can't disobey my boss because probably no other places will take me". Asian labor is still cheap compared to the West, laxness in worker protection and the prevailing Confucian hierarchical social system definitely don't help, either.
Thank you for always working diligently to cover these topics and giving a voice to people who are not usually given the chance to be heard. Great reporting as always.
Cherry’s actions really reek of narcissism. The need to be in the centre of everything and hold absolute control even down to your schedule, absent empathy, attempted sabotaging of relationships, gaslighting, incessant insults and abuse. I’m glad Christa and everyone else escaped from that.
A woman slapping herself on the face not even that hard is "distressing" to watch these days? I think I need to take a sabbatical from work to deal with my PTSD. GImme a break, people are straight up scrambling to find any little innocuous thing to add to their inventory of traumas. lol PUHH-LeEeEeE-E-E-EEEEZ-ZUH stop being the bane of my existence kthxbye.
Yes - that is exactly where this comes from. It's a real shame that there was no mention of the word 'colonialism' or 'neocolonialism' in the video. Much of SEA and is western neocolonies, particularly Indonesia and the Philippines.
I'm from Vietnam and things like this could be caused by the other countrymen. Blame colonialism however you want, just make sure to solve it first and not to use it as a distraction to continue the status-quo
@@zannierzan9634 Read The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins, it's more than just a bit colonialism, it's still going on and shaping the culture, country and geopolitical world stage to this very day. Seriously worth looking into, though bleak so very bleak. However, in the pursuit of progress and harm reduction I believe it's imperative to understand what, where and how strong the sources of obstruction flow from and how they benefit from maintaining such nightmare conditions to keep doing it in the first place
Wow, massive respect to these devs for sharing their story and to PMG for the excellent journalism as always. Only 10 mins in but some of the things that Christa is describing about Cherry sound like text book psychological abuse (love bombing for example), no one deserves to go through that in their workplace, horrible stuff thank you all for making this.
This isn't new in Indonesia. One of my friends said he got stripped down to his undies and hosed with water for not fulfilling his sales quota. One of the biggest beverage companies in Indonesia too. He quit after 3 months, now self-employed with a small shop.
Good thing Christa is a good person. If Cherry Lai would pull those things she did to any other person, I think she would have been unalived. us Indonesians aren't afraid to take justice with our own hands.
I mean one one hand sure. On the other walking around helps me think and healthier than just sitting on your ass. Not like treadmilling is very distracting an activity either, especially since she's not like jogging or something, just walking.
The most famous example of Jesus fighting capitalists was in a temple. He wasn't fighting power, he was eliminating the competition. Don't be confused what monotheism is about. It's about control.
@@TheGIGACapitalistno he very clearly hated anyone selling in the church. Don't confuse the fact that people use Christ as a justification for being terrible as it being cosigned in the Bible. MLK was a pastor and frequently used the Bible to push his message, one which was significantly more socialist than pop history teaches. Faith is a tool it can be used for boon or ill.
I had read all the screenshots that Christa’s compiled. Besides all the point that had been mentioned in this video, there were still few points in her screenshots that baffles me on how inhumane this studio was. Christa was treated not only as a corporate slave but more like Cherry Lai’s personal slave, micro managing, serving, and the scummiest things Cherry Lai asked her to do is to manage, pay and sort all things that Cheery Lai and her family would do in Indonesia as her vacation trip to Bali. Cherry Lai also used Christa as her personal ChatGPT, asking things like what’s the price of a certain product, where to go recommendation and anything else that doesn’t include as her job applied position. The boss couple are truly wrong in the head.
"That decision would be made by his wife who ran the day to day operations" Ah, a "family business" You know a company is corrupt and not a place you wanna work if the higher ups all share the same last name
If you dig deep enough, in SEA, it's not just Lemon Sky and Brandoville. Take Persona Theory for example, Saqina Latif and Buddy Anwardi. I'm sure there are many more other abuses across the whole region. Please, DIG DEEPER, save us.
See, there's a word for a worker who is not allowed to resign, needs to ask permission to do anything, lives within that persons' property, and is physically abused into submission, and it's not "worker"
The thumbnail and title of this video need to be *WAY MORE* sensational and eye-catching, the topic demands it. Before watching I was sure this video is about all the lay-offs in the industry (metaphorical "slaps")
This was an incredibly hard watch, I cannot imagine what it was like to actually live through it. All of my respect and appreciation to Christa and her fellow employees for being able to begin recovery after the abuse they have experienced. I hope the media and the job market never forgets Cherry's actions.
@@TheGahta A World of growth without Surplus. He just said the first thing wasn’t sustainable. Growth is not sustainable and we as a civilisation will have to decide what we do about it.
@@TheGahta Then maybe we don't need growth. Why does an entity need to keep growing? It should do it's job, then either start a new one or make room for the next entity. Growth only takes from those who are forced to shrink.
This is so disturbing to watch. As a game industry professional myself, I wish no one goes through something like this. Thank you for bringing this to light and uncovering this.
I have to admit that Christa and Syifa's story made me cry. All of the employees who came forward to seek justice are incredibly brave, but especially those two. Thank you for sharing.
I work for a large company in the games industry and this has really, really shaken me. I don't know whether this outsourcing happens where I work but even if it doesn't I wish I could do more to stop other companies profiting from this kind of abuse. Thank you so so much for bringing these horrific realities to the fore.
One thing you need to understand about workers rights and third world countries is they don't exist in a vacuum. Or rather, the lack of them doesn't exist in a vacuum. The reason why so many third world countries have such poor labor standards and protections is exactly because of first World countries fighting back against them. They want cheap, exploitable third world labor. That is the primary reason these countries don't have them.
Yes. It's a shame this video went without mention of the words 'colonialism' or 'neocolonialism', because that's what this is, that's why contracts are made with these outsource studios and that's what's created the conditions for these abuses to happen. The very thing that allows this abuse - a lack of workers' rights - is the very reason these studios are successful and have business done with them.
Omg this is horrific. Any major game publisher who worked with this studio needs to explain themselves going forward and how they’ll better vet companies.
Christa Sydney, I'm your fan!!! The strength you have proven to not only get out of there, but blow it up and make actual change, is just heroic. Love from Spain and I wish you all the best.
I noticed Syifa was wearing a University of Western Australia lanyard, so where she moved to in Australia was Perth. I'm from Perth but recently moved over east. I hope she's doing well over there.
This is insane. I can't possibly express how important the work being done by this channel is. Everyone needs to see this, we need the people to know so they can force the companies to change
As an Indonesian its kinda sad that this isnt very surprising, the amount of power religion have here is insane. This is just vile i dunno what else to say uhh... Yea...
Make no mistake this woman wasn’t abusing her employees because of her religion she was using her religion as a weapon to justify and abuse. Religious leaders and communities need to do more to condemn this behaviour and these excuses.
This is just such a genuinely horrific glimpse into this section of the games industry. Thank you for sharing and uplifting SEA workers' voices - it's a very important and much needed conversation to have.
Thank you so much for making this! I knew that outsourcing was a thing but had never really thought about it too much until now. The video was incredibly well put together in its structure and visuals, there’s captions, it was made for a good purpose, everything. Well done, and thank you again! And as for all the former employees who were interviewed, I’m proud of you all. Here’s hoping that things will someday get better.
Wow! I couldn't even make it 20 minutes into the video without having to stop. The abuse is sickening to watch. Massive bravery on the part of Christa and everyone else who spoke up.
A woman slapping herself on the face not even that hard is "distressing" to watch these days? I think I need to take a sabbatical from work to deal with my PTSD. GImme a break, people are straight up scrambling to find any little innocuous thing to add to their inventory of traumas. lol PUHH-LeEeEeE-E-E-EEEEZ-ZUH stop being the bane of my existence kthxbye.
It doesn’t have to be. You can make a AAA game without enabling abusers. I promise it’s possible. Most movies are made with unionized workers. Telling you “we can’t make AAA games without exploiting people” is the lie they use to justify their behaviour.
@@freyjathehealer5559 I'm suspicious that most of the movies you are talking about are also outsourcing work. Especially for special effects. VFX jobs are still some of the worst in terms of crunch. If they unionise to get better conditions, they'll outsource crunch too just to remain competitive.
@@freyjathehealer5559 you are twisting that person's words a lot ........ that's not at all what they are saying of course. this is why the left wing sucks at the moment, people constantly interpreting eachother's words in the most negative way possible. "X sucks too much." "So you are saying X is supposed to suck??" for crying out loud ....
Thank you for making this video. Job industry in Indonesia is hell. My brother isn't from gaming industry but on his first job at a startup he was also crunched, overworked, and at times paid late for no valid reason. But because the "suck it up" mentality is so strong he just accepted it as normal first job behavior. I was also not paid for my internship despite that I interned at a massive company so that's fun!
Indonesian perspective here, worker’s rights are a formality and workplace abuse is so common because complaining about your job will never be taken seriously. The mentality is “suck it up because that’s life” which only goes so far when your autonomy as a human being is being tested. Before anyone says “other countries are like this too” doesn’t mean that this practice should be normalized. It’s actually insane.
It’s hard to quit when you’re psychologically coerced to do whatever your superiors say. Jakarta is also the kind of town where someone from your previous job is highly likely to know someone from your next job. Your reputation will likely take a hit if your toxic superiors start talking shit about you to people in the industry. That’s why the story had to go viral before it could be taken seriously.
I realize I'm very lucky to have been born in Canada, so when I hear the argument that “other countries are like this too”, not only is it nothing but a crappy excuse to disregard the issue, but it's not even true to begin with. I just hate the "tough it up, that's life" argument in general. I know it sucks, you know it sucks, so why would you want to keep it that way?!
As a Brazilian, where worker's rights are well maintained (even though lots of bullshit still happens), forcing an employee to slap themselves in the face a hundred times is the kind of thing that would get a company closed down, people arrested and employees granted fortunes in record time.
There may be other countries that normalize that kind of abuse, yes, but there should never be. And any company buying crunch from such companies is even worse, because they fund this abuse.
My condolences, and here's to hope that this case may be at least a stepping stone to improve Indonesia's work culture.
when parents physically and emotionally abusing you as a kid was normalized, same thing will also happen when you are an adult. I hate being born in asia
Similar in the Philippines - employers feel they are doing you a favor by employing you and your attitude should reflect that. Leaving is not a good idea because your rep precedes you and all the local technology studios are owned by members of the dozen or so families and literally related to each other. If you point out that you generate way more profit for the company than they pay you, you're a spoiled American or a communist.
I kind of figured that it was a unique cultural quirk in your local work culture. Asian Companies hit differently, and as a fellow SEA i recognize your plight. i just hope you all get the same work protections that took several decades or (hundred?) for the US to have worker rights. which is slowly being eroded away btw.
I WANT SHORTER GAMES WITH WORSE GRAPHICS MADE BY PEOPLE WHO ARE PAID MORE TO WORK LESS AND ARENT ABUSED IN THE PROCESS AND IM NOT KIDDING.
Excuse me?! Shush the fluff up my dear toad 😡 NOW!
@@TheGIGACapitalist I was about to explain how the power of an individual consumer is useless, and that spreading awareness and organizing and voting and protesting and strikes are the real way to enact change, but then I looked at your username and realized it would be worthless
I agree, if a game is 60 hours long I'm less likely to buy it because I'll be less likely to finish it, and I do not give a crap about realistic horse testicles. I'd also add to your list that I want games with longer development periods and liberal use of delays when deemed necessary
@@TheGIGACapitalistthe literal point of this video is that stuff like this is hidden and overlooked. You literally cannot make ethical choices buying games based on impressions or cursory research. Hell one of the most popular PMG videos is about abuse in a smaller indie studio. There need to be systems in place to force better work practices as well as better organization workers-side because as long as it's about dollars then companies will often do what is the cheapest quasi-legal option until they can't.
@@Sina-dv1eg +1 for RDR2 reference, well done lol
For anyone who doesn't know, if you hit your head and have "concussion-like symptoms" after, that's just a plain ol' concussion. It takes way less force than you'd expect to experience a mild concussion if you hit the wrong spot.
So basically, Cherry Lai made her induce a concussion, then tried to take advantage of the concussion to gaslight her? I feel so bad for Christa
There's bound to be a charge for "making a person self-induce a concussion"... My heart goes out to Christa. I've always been a people-pleaser, it felt visceral watching this video, knowing how easily it could have been me...
+
the vision becoming white and ears ringing sounded like quite serious symptoms. a hospital visit just to safe would seem like the responsible thing to do had this just been an accident and not... planned abuse.
Yeah bro and I have probably had a few, like two for certain, why are you bringing this up? Are you being disparaging towards those of us who have had concussions and rubbing in our faces that you have never had because you're so careful with your head? Well guess what, my concussions weren't my fault, they were from other people being forceful with me or just straight up attacking me!
Not in the videogame industry, but in the tech industy in Europe. I left my previous job because they had outsourced to India part of the work. I thought this was cool, a whole new group of colleagues! However, the amount they payed the workers was really low (although they refused to tell me exactly how much they were being payed due to internal company policy, I could see part of the budget), they worked for shifts >12h (they denied it, but I could see their commit times and their shifts were indeed >12h). Having videocalls with them to mentor them in how the company worked, if the videocall laster more than 15 min, I could see their bosses calling them on their phones to know why they had not checked in during the last 15 min. If they made any mistake (everybody makes mistakes!), they were severely punished.
I reported it to the higher ups and ethics team, but apparently, everything was legal in India. I don't care how legal or illegal it is, it was clearly exploitative and immoral. Long story short, I left shortly after we identified this behaviour, and I was pissed off enough (and publicly enough) that I think I'm permanently blacklisted in that world.
In any case, there is obviously evil people, but the rest should not stay silent. If everyone in the first world identifying those abuses threatened to leave their companies (or actually left them like I did), we could enact structural change. I'm sure some people identified the abuse, but just said to themselves "it's not my problem, and they provide the results we need".
We should not be passive observers in the face of abuse! If you ever see this, take action!
They need to check in every 15 minutes?! That is just plain disruptive. How is anyone supposed to work properly like that?
@@MorbidEel No idea. This was part of my complaint to the higher ups. The people were good, but the pressure and overwork made them less performant. It didn't make sense at all.
The worst is, if you keep this happen, eventually, these companies will come for you and do exactly the same.
3 words: Purchasing Power Parity.
@@AMurderOfLobsthey're still underpaid even taking that into consideration. Frequently, you also don't get access to any benefits :)
As an Indonesian, thank you for updating the story for the rest of the world... The industry, especially the western side of the world, starts paying attention and keeps the conversation going, and hope it gets better as a result
We don't have the slapping concussions thing in the Games Industry in the u.s, what we have is more over work and pressure to stay late after the shift is over, not quite the same...
@@FrawgfithAmblose That's the funny part. They get to have both!
Damn man this is the 2nd documentary I'd have watched about Indonesia today. Watched a docu about the OPM and what happened and is still happening in West Indonesia. Wild stuff bro stay safe out there
@@nulshift not to mention, extremely underpaid...
I want to add- if anyone thinks this is unique to the games industry, its not. Any industry with outsourcing sees this same stuff. Thank you for shining a light on it.
Me: Oh boy a new People Make Games video!
Also Me: Oh no a new People Make Games video...
No news is good news...
@elliesteele2027 Unfortunately, only in medieval times.
I mean the farming sim esports video was quite upbeat I think...
@@dukepebbles and the excel esports video as well
@@CannedSoyBlazeball episode was very funny, I started ‘playing’ because of that video
It's so scarry how much this mirrors domestic abuse and the like; the continuously encroaching control over ever aspect of the employee's lives (restricting spending and access to funds, dictating how they can dress, what they can eat, and who they can talk to) and the isolation from people and support systems who could help them escape and realize this is abuse. And adding that this is happening by the employers just makes it even more trapping, your means of economic escape and finding a new job is way more unattainable.
Also I don't think people realize how much sleep deprivation affects the body. This is a form of torture, but also added control here. How can you plan your escape or realize how your abuse has snowballed when you're in a near-hallucinating haze?
Often, you don't. Usually it takes getting laid off for many folks to decide not to find another industry job. For others, it can happen with other kinds of breaks like having a kid and taking parental leave - I heard of an extremely veteran dev who, after taking a week off to witness the birth of their grand kid (to give you a sense of just how veteran they were!) simply didn't come back to the office and quit.
And then you have others who justify it (poorly). I had another tell a story about someone having an anniversary dinner with their partner (like.. 5 year or other particularly big one). The studio buzzes him on his cellphone mid-dinner and he promptly leaves his partner to go into work. And this story was told with PRIDE. Like, sure, it was an emergency but 1) he wasn't the only one who could solve it and 2) IT WAS HIS ANNIVERSARY DINNER.
It’s because employer abuse like domestic abuse is all about control. Abuse in the workplace or at home can happen to anyone in any situation, of any background, making any amount of money.
This goes beyond domestic abuse, which is already disgusting as is, this is straight up an actual cult of personality
When you live at the workplace, it almost literally is domestic abuse
Cults work like this too. Restricting sleep and food is key.
As an Indonesian gamedev who mainly works on outsourcing projects, thank you so much for returning to this story. I'm shocked to learn this wasn't picked up everywhere else, because it was all that everyone in the SE Asia video game sphere pretty much talked about when the news broke. Not just because of how horrific it was, but also because of how it was a stark reminder of just how vulnerable and prone to exploitation our own careers as gamedevs were, and the lack of worker's protections afforded to people working in the creative industry here. To me, hearing the story felt like a bad omen of something that could happen again to anyone down along the line as the games industry here grows, the only question being 'when', not 'if'.
I'm also glad that you pointed out the elephant in the room: the wider problem of how outsourcing is done in tech-related industries and unfair, exploitative practices that benefit the global north greatly while leaving scraps for people in the global south and other vulnerable countries. Brandoville feels like a symptom of a system that's working as intended on taking advantage of that power imbalance. It's hard not to imagine that it's not the only one.
Sometimes I think about how someone working in the games industry or even the same game with the same role as I do and who puts in the same hours as I do (with the exception that they work in the global north) might have 2-3 times my salary, and that kind of stings. And it's not fair because it's not really their fault. The onus is really on the other side to bridge that imbalance and take responsibility to ensure people on this end aren't exploited. I hope this piece at least sparks conversation, like you said, because it looks like this kind of situation will only change later rather than sooner. Sometimes I really wish more people in English-speaking countries would pay more attention as to what's happening elsewhere in the world.
Anyways, excellent as always, PMG. All the best.
I'm proud of Christa Sydney
We all should be. Of all the support comments, yours is the one I hope the most she sees.
Speaking out like this is totally badass
She has incredible strength to endure what she endured, speak out and tell her story, and then to push to make things better so others don't have to go through what she did. I hope her new law career makes a big difference. Her story was hard to watch but her courage is inspiring.
100%
100%
As an Indonesian, I thank you for exposing this. Sadly, Brandoville case is only one of many labor violations that is neglected in our countries. And this case get blown out because the people in creative industries tend to be vocal about their workers right, compared to another sector anyway. We also don't have any meaningful worker unions outside of some limited sectors, such as manufacturing and healthcare. And not to mention the perspective of worker union is still frowned upon a lot of white collar workers (despite when they need one), as they seen union as a brainless mob that disrupt their office activity every time they're having protest in the street.
Worker unions were created with worker uprisings. Physical uprisings.
The demands were backed with physical repercussions.
I do not usually comment on this channel because my English is not good, and I use translator but I bring the comment in case the algorithm makes you understand and that reaches more people, I'm sick of the idealization that some companies have when things like this show have slaves, and always these people talk about morality and ethics but then ignore the real victims.
Absolutely, higher-ups in companies all around the world need to be held more accountable for their actions.
@casht6195 I agree. The amount of control that individuals have over workers is disgusting. Clearly this was not good for their business, but they say unions are bad for business. In this case, not having a union causes their business to fail. If your business cannot succeed without overworking everybody, then you are one accident away from losing the ability to turn a profit. And abused people are more likely to suffer accidents, illness, and worse.
Worth noting for anyone who isn't as familiar with Indonesia and its culture: Indonesia is an incredibly religious place.
An Indonesian's official government ID includes an identifier for which religion you belong to. There are six choices. Atheism is not a choice. You belong to one of the six.
Also remember: in the 1950s and 1960s, Indonesia was a progressive society with a strong union movement, and workplace rights and laws. Compared to their neighbours, Indonesian factory workers had better rights, protections and pay.
The President of the time wanted to tax oil and gas extraction (just like Norway does). The US government didn't like this, so the CIA funded, weaponised and backed the far-right coup that would result in a brutal dictatorship that lasted until 1998. The coup resulted in over a million Indonesians butchered in the streets. Over a million more placed in concentration camps. Communists, unionists, feminists, and social progressives were targeted in particular.
Women's rights, worker's rights, fairly taxing foreign corporations: all things of the past under this new regime. As late as the 1990s, Indonesian schoolchildren would walk past the mutilated corpses of political dissidents as they walked to school. That's the regime that the CIA put in power. That's why a story like this one is even possible.
Gotta hate the 30 year regime man, that thing fucked the rest of our system up for generations ahead to this day
also note the cia has done very similar things in several other countries (ex: Iran, Guatemala, the Republic of the Congo, Chile, possibly Syria)
the U.S. military is also largely responsible for the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan
there was actual push to atheism as one of the "aliran lainnya" but its only select regions (e.g.: theres still animism in really rural parts of indonesia) -or they might have removed them as well idk but i doubt so. anyway its kinda brutal to compare the 1960s to this because its a wildly different agenda to begin with; thats a political operation resulting in the violation of human rights, and this one is an example of the lack of law protecting worker rights due to just how incapable our justice system is. in any case its gonna be hard to see change in the next 5-7 years because inward and outward political pressure that keeps us in stalemate misery
@@theneonbop Not the US Military, but the CIA, again. Particularly the Ollie North affair contributed a lot.
@@theneonbop Also worth adding none of this is speculation or conspiracy - most of it is self-admitted by the CIA or other institutions through declassified documents or otherwise. It's just hidden and not talked about.
The fact that the CIA (and allies) turned the Taliban into the armed force that the US would go to war with, for instance is entirely evidenced by declassified documents, leaving no room for doubt. Google 'Operation Cyclone'.
The US is also responsible for the most brutal communist dictators rising to power (such as Pol Pot off the top of my head), and backing fascist regimes to prevent a communist one (such as South Korea and South Vietnam). (Yes, South Korea was fascist in the truest sense of the word and while it has improved since the Korean War you can see vestiges of its fascism today. And yes, the Vietnam war was fought by the US in support of a fascist regime.)
The Lais killed that kid.
PMG, thank you for shining a light on this Indonesian circles. Content creators of the year, imo.
RIP little Arslan. My heart goes out to Syifa and her family.
I just got to that part and I feel sick. I can't imagine what that mother went through and it is so obvious how much the job contributed.
Thank you so much for covering this story! As someone from Indonesia, the story was quite popular and I'm glad you guys are able to do a deep dive on this as well as spread more awareness too.
We don't have the slapping concussions thing in the Games Industry in the u.s, what we have is more over work and pressure to stay late after the shift is over, not quite the same...
@@FrawgfithAmblose Yep, US citizens thought their work was horrible, wait until they see works in 3rd world country
@@FrawgfithAmblose they export the slaps and increasingly, only keep the prestige staff in-country, offshoring the grunt work and crunch to places less likely to complain about it
Chris, Anni, and the rest of PMG, your work is important, VERY important. My sincerest thanks.
This one.
The Palestine video.
The Roblox video.
You cover the bits that people missed.
You also cover the topics less known.
The Second Life one.
The Farming Simulator one.
Seriously, and very sincerely, thank you.
Dont forget the Counter Strike Gambling Problem recently being talked in Coffezilla channel in depth
Im Zambian and the unfortunate thing is I completely understand these style of escalated abuse. Adults are given carte blanche to demand respect from younger people, especially work subordinates. It leads into a culture where if someone wants to abuse their power they can and will. So the slow encroachment of Christas agency to the point where she can slap herself 100 times and still think the company is normal is so unfortunately normalized. I leave in the US now and I still feel the trauma of being punished in boarding school by prefects and this documentary brought it all back. I hope things get better. I hope societies can stop encouraging things like this. Most of all I hop Christas life is better after going through all that. Thanks for showcasing this, way more opportunity for the west to see whats going on and demand change
I hope your life is better now. No one deserves abuse.
I’m so sorry you went through that
I can't afford to consitently support monthly, but I truly appreciate the work PMG does. Keep investigating.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Christa in that video with her boss at the 25:24 mark was like a completely different person from the clips from the interview. I am so happy she got away and seems to be in a better place for healing. I hope this video can help fuel some change.
She was quite literally concussed, along with all the other mental/physical effects of the shit she went through. It still fucking sucks seeing peope go through this sort of torment.
nah , ive read almost like a 1000ish chat log screenshots from this whole abuse and let me tell you the chat logs are truly brutal and insane . the amount of insults , degrading comments , manipulation , cult-like behavior present in those chat logs are truly horrifying and i felt so sorry for christa , no human being deserves anything like this . cherry is a hell-spawn that deserves anything bad coming her way , just remembering some of these messages still makes my blood boil . how one human can think of doing something like this puzzles me . i hope the victims of this outrageous torment can heal and find peace
If my boss ever said that God had talked to them about me, I think I’d quit on the spot out of fear for whatever comes next. This is horrifying. Thank you for your reporting.
Edit : holy shit Cherry was literally just running a cult out of this game studio
I've never had that experience in either direction myself, but I've known two people who have had bosses or senior leadership basically say that... but in a good way. There are people who are deeply moral and ethical and who understand their own morality in religious terms. It does happen.
That said, my first reaction would be the same as yours, no question.
When a teacher has you write 100 lines, they don't then read what's written. There'd be no point.
Something tells me whoever ordered the '100 slaps' video watched every second of it.
E. Honda did
Mom: "hold my slipper"
Just wanted to thank you for the warning up top re: preemie baby death! As a recent mother to a preemie, I didn't want to have to see that but I still wanted to watch the video. Thanks to the warning, I was able to skip just the relevant part and not be haunted by that story for the rest of the week. I'm planning on revisiting that section later, when I'm feeling stronger, and I sincerely appreciate the employee telling their story and the warning regarding it.
Good luck to you and your family right now! I’m wishing the best for you and I hope you have all the support in the world right now.
Thank you for continuing to be one of the few sources of ACTUAL journalism in the gaming industry. This poor woman's story absolutely needed to be told. Sadly a side-effect is that to the 'audience' this kind of extreme personal abuse makes it all to easy to rationalize the problem as these bad actors, and not even think about the system (that is the industry executives and shareholders, and in no small part we the customers) who incentivize and empower bad-actors such as these, the more psychotic the better! (until it becomes a sufficiently big PR headache, then they'll take token measures to distance themselves).
Yeah, I was really disappointed to hear how much of this particular story was able to be linked back to one specific person, not because that changes anything about what happened, but because that gives people who want to ignore the problem the absolute perfect excuse to claim there isn't one.
When the screenshots of Christa's abuse became viral on Facebook and Twitter, I personally couldn't believe it bc Christa's social media posts were all so positive. She'd mainly talk about working out and share gym selfies and ofc as a friend I'd be like "yay you go girl you're smoking!"
In hindsight, I guess Cherry might've micromanaged her social media uploads too, and seeing our supportive words of Christa's "workout journey" might've probably fueled Cherry's delusional power trip.
It speaks a lot on the ostracizing aspects of it. I'm relieved that the comment section here are all supportive.
The games industry is so fascinating because it feels like the mainstream don’t take it too seriously: neither its successes nor atrocities.
Institution rot
It surpassed every ent industry except music industry I think
It's surpasses music and movie combined. Merchandise is a different category though since that interplays with other media. @@dantheanimator5072
Don’t you mean either?
It's like they treat the games industry as a kids product rather than a medium for art like the other entertainment mediums.
I’ve lived and worked in SEA in multiple game studios. At one of them, a colleague of mine took his own life, and HR just swept everything under the rug. My resignation letter to that company ended up being over 12 pages long, but I decided not to send it because I knew it wouldn’t change anything. In fact, it might have made things worse for my colleagues who still worked there. I feel for these people who are trapped and abused on a daily base to make something that is supposed to bring the exact opposite.
Which studio was this? Asking as a SEAian whose sibling is also looking for work in the industry rn
@SocialistSadako They've since stopped paying salaries and left everyone hanging. Their own incompetence made them not a threath to anyone else.
@@OSemeador But which studio was it?
This is the type of stuff that should get gamers upset about the games industry
Instead, it's because a POC or woman was cast in a role that made them an actual human being.
Too bad grifters don't actually want games to be better it seems
Thats... Thats like the whole channel bud.. good job
It will make DEVELOPERS upset. Probably not gamers tho. It doesn't affect them. As a matter of fact, there's a non trivial amount of gamers out there who romancize crunch and abuse in general as a necessary evil for making better games. And as @BSideWasTaken just said, they're too busy raging over "woke" content anyway.
If it's not affecting gamers directly, they don't care. There's a reason games are an escape from real life. Gamers don't have the intellectual or empathical capacity to care about any of this stuff, especially if it's at a small, no-name company like this. This stuff happens all over the world all the time, it's impossible to fix
I’m happy that they spoke out and it went viral so they can get justice and help others. But it’s such a horrible fact that they need to get that virality to even begin to be heard.
Thank you for bringing this to a larger audience PMG
Sickening. We need a FairTrade label for software dev.
Yes please!
Real FairTrade labels don't go far enough. There are many layers of indirection you can use to hide exploitation and suffering: yes, the assembly line employees get a decent wage and working condition, but the components they assemble were from another supplier, which had a contract with a large offshore firm in India, which had ties to a small local factory, which turned out to be a child sweatshop with strong ties to local police, but because the certification looked only at the two level, they are still "Fair Trade". I guess software has much smaller supply chains than this and really the only people in scope are the actual artists making the assets, the programmers, and their company owners, with game engine devs and a thousand dependencies maintained by unpaid volunteers being out of scope, so maybe it's doable if the certifier isn't outright corrupt.
@@rkvkydqfI agree with your caveats about Fair Trade labelling and it’s issues but at least it exists and started a change in consumer behaviour. And demanding a similar structure for games would be a good start.
Good luck with that. Most gAmErS are already enraged that they can't get free AAA games on the regular. Sad but true.
There are problems with simple labeling.
For example, current industry labeling for chocolate to say they “don’t have child labor” on the farms that produce the Cacao… doesn’t involve random inspections. All inspections are announced well in advance. So of course the farms pass… the child laborers are merely given the day off, or come into work later after the inspection.
Any standard that is set has to be both rigorous and *enforceable* not just a nice label industry creates for itself to paper over the problem.
My girlfriend is Indonesian and bad work habits are common. In Europe, my work time is 8-4, but her work time is 9-6 (with 1 hour break). But the thing is she always has to do unpaid overwork. Overwork is expected of her. She commonly works until like 8 PM or even midnight.
There is a lot of people in Indonesia, so if you can't suck it up you're easily replaceable.
why dont they unionise?
@@kudosbudo Ineffective unions, easily-replacable workforce, little government oversight. It happens across the world. There are countries that have it even worse than Indonesia.
It's similar to the US - nowadays, work in the industry there is considered 8 hrs + 1 hr (or less) for lunch. And even in the European studios, because the US ones can get away with it and they want to 'match working hours', it's starting to become common for it to be 8.5+0.5 (because some European cultures only do 30m lunches). This does not count the usually normalized overtime - so while officially it might be, say, 10 to 4 as core hours with employees choice on where to put the rest, it wouldn't be unusual for peeps to be there at 9 and working until 6.
5:08 "We have investigated ourselves and found no evidence of wrongdoing."
Absolutely disgusting behaviour from both Ken and Cherry Lai. They both need to be locked up for a very long time.
Funny, if you extrapolate that sentiment you'd have to arrest every CEO in the world basically.
@rondomane Not every CEO in the world makes their employees slap themselves till they bleed...
@@rondomane funny you should say that!
Great idea @@rondomane let's go
@@rondomane How very interesting!
One thing that should be called out more often is the companies that hire 3rd party companies without checking on working conditions of people they indirectly hire. These companies are indirectly responsible for this terrible things as well.
They are directly responsible. Nothing indirect about it.
They're outsourcing to these companies because it's illegal to do this in their own countries. They want this to continue
My limited time working as a contractor for Microsoft taught me enough about their work culture and why I should despise them. It is nothing but layers upon layers of contractors hiring contractors to deflect the truly awful conditions those who do work for Microsoft are under from the company proper itself. More than a few Microsoft contracting companies have turned out to be out and out scams. Microsoft just consumes the endless supply of people who are excited to be part of the games industry and then discards them as their working conditions invariably lead to burnout. It does not surprise me at all that there is rampant abuse at the bottom of the Microsoft contracting ladder.
Cherry should be in jail for all the horrible stuff she has done to these people. Ken too should Investigated.
Hoping all that those mistreated get help and end up somewhere so much better & safer. Also want to thank them for coming forward and sharing their stories. Especially good luck to Christa recovering and studying law, I hope she gets to help many!
Thank you for reporting on this abuse and for putting trigger warnings.
Honestly, she deserves a visit from Luigi.
Of Mario fame, ofc
Cherry is canadian, as of other news in our country, its expired after 40 days, people forget and no law being served. Probably she is in Canada now
They need a luigi-ing if you catch my drift.
If Cherry truly believes in Christianity, she’s going straight to hell.
Instead she's in Hong Kong
The people with money in the US would like their workplaces to be like this too.
They are working very hard to make that a reality
@@18skeltor Along with their politician and government
that's why left was born in europe
I think this is very important to remember. The more we let it happen "over there" (I'm in Europe), the easier it will be for them to make it so "here".
Brandoville iirc now rebrands as Lai-Lai studio (or Lai2 Studios) abroad. The CEO Ken Lai get the eff out of Indonesia and make a new Studio abroad, presumably at Hong Kong
Thanks! Thank you for the reporting, this is truly insane and I hope this video can start to make video game reporting more widespread and mainstream!
If someone tells you god talked to them about you, run, run far away.
Especially if it is someone more powerful than you.
As a practicing christian... yes, RUN, run as far as you can.
Nobody is capable of more viciousness and cruelty than a person who thinks god personally approves of everything they're doing to you.
@@jacobl2222 Abusers like this often have a God complex, a superiority complex. In their minds everyone around them is only there for their…..enjoyment? I’m not sure how to describe it really but I hope you understand.
You saw the messages, “fear God and fear me”.
Agreed. More than often, it's a way to disguise their reason why they would find you a valuable asset. It's always disgusting to see others weaponize religion to make whatever they're doing to seem right.
watched this on nebula but I'm here to show some algorithm love to help this video reach as many people as possible!! thank you for helping to bring these stories to the global north!
Nebula gang!
My dad is Indonesian, and he never shared much of his culture with me. Often, I think about some online friends and distant family in Indonesia. Thank you for covering this story.
You should study your Indonesian side's study of demons and forces beyond your imagination, they have discovered very frightening things.
this is really prevelant in south asian countries sadly. As an indian, i totally get this and we really need to stand up against workplace abuse on a large scale.
Less than 3 minutes in and I've already put my hands on my head. Can't believe we live in a world that lets these things happen to begin with.
Not to be too upsetting, but this is the tip of the iceberg for humanity treatng itself poorly.
Bro, iz ra hel oblitering Pales tine exists in this world funded by our tax dollars, how could you not think something like in this video exists?...
Jacob gellers latest vid on spec ops the line has A great message, is "about" A video game, and reveals atrocities so public its A shock we somehow forgot them as A public.
A woman slapping herself on the face not even that hard is "distressing" to watch these days? I think I need to take a sabbatical from work to deal with my PTSD. GImme a break, people are straight up scrambling to find any little innocuous thing to add to their inventory of traumas. lol PUHH-LeEeEeE-E-E-EEEEZ-ZUH stop being the bane of my existence kthxbye.
So.... this is a cult.
Can we all agree that this is a cult? Because this isn't just unprofessional, this isn't just abusive, this is a cult leader forming a flock.
Christa is so brave to be able to talk about it herself on video like this. Its alarming someone clearly with so much strength can still be vulnerable to being effectively brainwashed and abused like that and have her whole sense of identity taken over. Much like an abusive domestic relationship. Well done to Christa amazing person
Almost work here, and so glad that i stopped after interview, got a bad feeling and turns out my hunch was right
I worked as a Live Ops Art Outsourcing Producer, as a contractor for a very large US studio--I worked with several small external developers all over the world where my only contact was ONE person from that small studio. I would relay our development needs, and they would deliver the work, and if things came in late or poor quality, we would ask if there was training we could do between our artists and theirs, but they never took us up on it/we never saw any evidence of those artists even existing. It all felt really gross and after my contract was up I vowed to never work faceless outsourcing again. I used to tell my friends that I was pretty sure I was the contact point for 3D Model Sweat Shops. I've had my job threatened over rocking the boat and questioning process. I once asked to review the contract we had with the small studio so I could tailor our requests to those studios around it. I was met with shock at my 'audacity' and anger and vehement refusal. As a contractor in an at-will state, they absolutely will just drop you if you make a fuss. There's definitely dark shit going on behind AAA studios.
It's also incredibly important not just for the sake of Indonesian game workers, but game workers everywhere. These conditions exist on a curve, the worst conditions allowed to exist set the precedent for what companies are able to get away with everywhere else.
Commenting this to help the vid to stay in the algorithm. From a Filipino American supporting our Indonesian friends out there
00:02 CHRISTA
00:03 Hi, Mrs. Cherry
00:05 Nothing
00:06 Hi, Mrs. Cherry, noted, thank you.
WTF? My Boss would have been torn to shreds by civil court if he forced me to answer text messages at midnight.
When I was in college more than a decade ago I dreamt of getting into game development. Luck and circumstances pulled me into becoming a barber, a career I’m fortunately thriving in and find fulfilling.
Hearing these kinds of stories makes me grateful that I never had a chip on shoulder about missing a chance to be in the industry. I always feared that younger me wouldn’t have had the courage or grit to speak out against this kind of abuse. I applaud and wish the best for these youngsters trying to pave the way for a fairer and healthier industry standards.
Not like you even missed a chance, if you wanna make games you can just make 'em. No need to join the 'industry'.
The No Viral No Justice was first popularized by Alvin Lim, Indooneisan lawyer that also an activist. Sadlly he just recently passed away (Sunday, Jan 5 2025)
It would be amazing if someone made an Indonesian caption for this. More Indonesians need to know about this.
Even making sure for proper English captioning, not just the auto-generated that can frequently get words wrong which can make it harder to understand what's going on. Wish that TH-cam offered ways for communities to be able to contribute captioning again, even with some form of vetting process, rather than relying on auto-generation
@@Widdershyn The person willing to do it could contact them through their email or social media.
Yeah the death of community captions was a tragedy.@@Widdershyn
@Dracon7601 Truly! There's so many times I've caught the auto-generated captions being wrong, and even my hard-of-hearing grandmother can catch it sometimes. It's frustrating that we can't fix it so that more folks can enjoy the videos
I still miss the community captions. If it still existed, I would easily make an Indonesian caption for this as soon as I could.
"She had a spreadsheet of her friends and #1 was me" RUN GIRL SHES CRAZY
I cannot begin to describe how I feel about this, it's absolutely sickening, I feel I'll and afraid just for listening to this. Thank you for your honest labor covering these stories.
I felt physically anxious seeing the 'exchange' between Cherry Lai and Christa. As someone coming from SEA, there is something I can relate to what Christa felt at the time to a certain extent- the mentality of "this is a part of work" and "I can't disobey my boss because probably no other places will take me". Asian labor is still cheap compared to the West, laxness in worker protection and the prevailing Confucian hierarchical social system definitely don't help, either.
Thank you for always working diligently to cover these topics and giving a voice to people who are not usually given the chance to be heard. Great reporting as always.
As a Malaysian, there are companies over here that are just as bad, would love to talk to you about it
Cherry and Ken are absolute sociopaths, holy shit...Cherry is acting like a bona fide cult leader
Cherry’s actions really reek of narcissism. The need to be in the centre of everything and hold absolute control even down to your schedule, absent empathy, attempted sabotaging of relationships, gaslighting, incessant insults and abuse. I’m glad Christa and everyone else escaped from that.
Thanks for doing this important work.
The Content Warning was very necessary for this one...
Yes. I had to take a break in the middle.
A woman slapping herself on the face not even that hard is "distressing" to watch these days? I think I need to take a sabbatical from work to deal with my PTSD. GImme a break, people are straight up scrambling to find any little innocuous thing to add to their inventory of traumas. lol PUHH-LeEeEeE-E-E-EEEEZ-ZUH stop being the bane of my existence kthxbye.
Honestly brought me to tears
Just awful what the US and the Dutch did to this country.
Yes - that is exactly where this comes from. It's a real shame that there was no mention of the word 'colonialism' or 'neocolonialism' in the video. Much of SEA and is western neocolonies, particularly Indonesia and the Philippines.
I'm from Vietnam and things like this could be caused by the other countrymen. Blame colonialism however you want, just make sure to solve it first and not to use it as a distraction to continue the status-quo
@@zannierzan9634 Read The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins, it's more than just a bit colonialism, it's still going on and shaping the culture, country and geopolitical world stage to this very day. Seriously worth looking into, though bleak so very bleak. However, in the pursuit of progress and harm reduction I believe it's imperative to understand what, where and how strong the sources of obstruction flow from and how they benefit from maintaining such nightmare conditions to keep doing it in the first place
Wow, massive respect to these devs for sharing their story and to PMG for the excellent journalism as always. Only 10 mins in but some of the things that Christa is describing about Cherry sound like text book psychological abuse (love bombing for example), no one deserves to go through that in their workplace, horrible stuff thank you all for making this.
This isn't new in Indonesia. One of my friends said he got stripped down to his undies and hosed with water for not fulfilling his sales quota. One of the biggest beverage companies in Indonesia too. He quit after 3 months, now self-employed with a small shop.
Bless his soul, thats just f inhumane, sales is grueling as hell
I'm in awe of the resilience of Christa. Half of what happened to her would kill me. I wish her all the best.
Good thing Christa is a good person.
If Cherry Lai would pull those things she did to any other person, I think she would have been unalived. us Indonesians aren't afraid to take justice with our own hands.
@4:33 You can tell nobody at this panel cared because the lady is doing the walking treadmill. How disconnected can you be?
I mean one one hand sure. On the other walking around helps me think and healthier than just sitting on your ass. Not like treadmilling is very distracting an activity either, especially since she's not like jogging or something, just walking.
Because none of them seem to care about the games industry. To all of them, the industry is just a means to make easy money.
Of course these psycho bosses will bring "god" into this.
Yup, always has been the ultimate trump card for absolute authority. The basis of religious dogma.
All the while acting in a way that would make Jesus strangle them lol
The most famous example of Jesus fighting capitalists was in a temple. He wasn't fighting power, he was eliminating the competition. Don't be confused what monotheism is about. It's about control.
@@TheGIGACapitalistno he very clearly hated anyone selling in the church. Don't confuse the fact that people use Christ as a justification for being terrible as it being cosigned in the Bible. MLK was a pastor and frequently used the Bible to push his message, one which was significantly more socialist than pop history teaches. Faith is a tool it can be used for boon or ill.
@@TheGIGACapitalist Go outside
I got tested and interviewed 1 month before this studio’s closing..
My heart goes to all the artist in the industry.
I had read all the screenshots that Christa’s compiled. Besides all the point that had been mentioned in this video, there were still few points in her screenshots that baffles me on how inhumane this studio was. Christa was treated not only as a corporate slave but more like Cherry Lai’s personal slave, micro managing, serving, and the scummiest things Cherry Lai asked her to do is to manage, pay and sort all things that Cheery Lai and her family would do in Indonesia as her vacation trip to Bali. Cherry Lai also used Christa as her personal ChatGPT, asking things like what’s the price of a certain product, where to go recommendation and anything else that doesn’t include as her job applied position. The boss couple are truly wrong in the head.
"That decision would be made by his wife who ran the day to day operations"
Ah, a "family business"
You know a company is corrupt and not a place you wanna work if the higher ups all share the same last name
If you dig deep enough, in SEA, it's not just Lemon Sky and Brandoville. Take Persona Theory for example, Saqina Latif and Buddy Anwardi. I'm sure there are many more other abuses across the whole region. Please, DIG DEEPER, save us.
persona theory? interesting
Nothing to add. Please keep this up!
Thank you People Make Games. Thank you for the amazing journalism the game's industry deserves.
See, there's a word for a worker who is not allowed to resign, needs to ask permission to do anything, lives within that persons' property, and is physically abused into submission, and it's not "worker"
The thumbnail and title of this video need to be *WAY MORE* sensational and eye-catching, the topic demands it.
Before watching I was sure this video is about all the lay-offs in the industry (metaphorical "slaps")
To be honest, I'd have found the whole insane video game cult' angle to be more of a hook.
This was an incredibly hard watch, I cannot imagine what it was like to actually live through it. All of my respect and appreciation to Christa and her fellow employees for being able to begin recovery after the abuse they have experienced. I hope the media and the job market never forgets Cherry's actions.
Profit isn't sustainable, it brings out the worst in people not the best.
Oh an armchair economic professor
Please tell us about your idea of a world of growth without surplus 😂
@@TheGahta A World of growth without Surplus. He just said the first thing wasn’t sustainable. Growth is not sustainable and we as a civilisation will have to decide what we do about it.
@generaltom6850 why wouldn't it be sustainable 🤣
don't feed@@TheGahta , very obvious troll just looking to waste y'alls time
@@TheGahta Then maybe we don't need growth.
Why does an entity need to keep growing? It should do it's job, then either start a new one or make room for the next entity.
Growth only takes from those who are forced to shrink.
This is so disturbing to watch. As a game industry professional myself, I wish no one goes through something like this. Thank you for bringing this to light and uncovering this.
I have to admit that Christa and Syifa's story made me cry. All of the employees who came forward to seek justice are incredibly brave, but especially those two. Thank you for sharing.
I work for a large company in the games industry and this has really, really shaken me. I don't know whether this outsourcing happens where I work but even if it doesn't I wish I could do more to stop other companies profiting from this kind of abuse. Thank you so so much for bringing these horrific realities to the fore.
One thing you need to understand about workers rights and third world countries is they don't exist in a vacuum.
Or rather, the lack of them doesn't exist in a vacuum.
The reason why so many third world countries have such poor labor standards and protections is exactly because of first World countries fighting back against them. They want cheap, exploitable third world labor. That is the primary reason these countries don't have them.
Yes. It's a shame this video went without mention of the words 'colonialism' or 'neocolonialism', because that's what this is, that's why contracts are made with these outsource studios and that's what's created the conditions for these abuses to happen. The very thing that allows this abuse - a lack of workers' rights - is the very reason these studios are successful and have business done with them.
SPREAD THIS
As an Indonesian who wanted to go in the game industry, knowing this news doesn't get any traction made me felt so powerless
Forget about newspapers. THIS is the new journalism
the videos of christa are gut wrenching. that cherry woman should be behind bars for years.
Omg this is horrific. Any major game publisher who worked with this studio needs to explain themselves going forward and how they’ll better vet companies.
once again covering stories that deserve the coverage. Thank you for all the in-depth journalism in gaming that matter!🙏
This is both distressing and important. Thanks for bringing this to broader awareness.
Excellent reporting of a tragic ongoing story. Thanks Chris, Anni and the team for putting this together
Christa Sydney, I'm your fan!!!
The strength you have proven to not only get out of there, but blow it up and make actual change, is just heroic.
Love from Spain and I wish you all the best.
Harrowing stuff. Thank you for continuing to report on the difficult and less heard stories.
I noticed Syifa was wearing a University of Western Australia lanyard, so where she moved to in Australia was Perth. I'm from Perth but recently moved over east. I hope she's doing well over there.
This is insane. I can't possibly express how important the work being done by this channel is. Everyone needs to see this, we need the people to know so they can force the companies to change
As an Indonesian its kinda sad that this isnt very surprising, the amount of power religion have here is insane.
This is just vile i dunno what else to say uhh... Yea...
It wasn’t even the majority religion.
Make no mistake this woman wasn’t abusing her employees because of her religion she was using her religion as a weapon to justify and abuse.
Religious leaders and communities need to do more to condemn this behaviour and these excuses.
This is just such a genuinely horrific glimpse into this section of the games industry. Thank you for sharing and uplifting SEA workers' voices - it's a very important and much needed conversation to have.
Thanks for doing what you do, PMG
Thank you so much for making this! I knew that outsourcing was a thing but had never really thought about it too much until now. The video was incredibly well put together in its structure and visuals, there’s captions, it was made for a good purpose, everything. Well done, and thank you again! And as for all the former employees who were interviewed, I’m proud of you all. Here’s hoping that things will someday get better.
All these games should be labelled with Crunch Labor
Wow! I couldn't even make it 20 minutes into the video without having to stop. The abuse is sickening to watch.
Massive bravery on the part of Christa and everyone else who spoke up.
A woman slapping herself on the face not even that hard is "distressing" to watch these days? I think I need to take a sabbatical from work to deal with my PTSD. GImme a break, people are straight up scrambling to find any little innocuous thing to add to their inventory of traumas. lol PUHH-LeEeEeE-E-E-EEEEZ-ZUH stop being the bane of my existence kthxbye.
@@AMurderOfLobsJesus how old are you?
This is horrific. The human cost of AAA gaming--of everything honestly--is too high.
It doesn’t have to be. You can make a AAA game without enabling abusers. I promise it’s possible. Most movies are made with unionized workers. Telling you “we can’t make AAA games without exploiting people” is the lie they use to justify their behaviour.
@@freyjathehealer5559 I didn't say that but go off
@@freyjathehealer5559 I'm suspicious that most of the movies you are talking about are also outsourcing work. Especially for special effects. VFX jobs are still some of the worst in terms of crunch. If they unionise to get better conditions, they'll outsource crunch too just to remain competitive.
@@freyjathehealer5559 you are twisting that person's words a lot ........ that's not at all what they are saying of course. this is why the left wing sucks at the moment, people constantly interpreting eachother's words in the most negative way possible.
"X sucks too much."
"So you are saying X is supposed to suck??"
for crying out loud ....
Thank you for making this video. Job industry in Indonesia is hell. My brother isn't from gaming industry but on his first job at a startup he was also crunched, overworked, and at times paid late for no valid reason. But because the "suck it up" mentality is so strong he just accepted it as normal first job behavior. I was also not paid for my internship despite that I interned at a massive company so that's fun!