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Almost every source we spoke to described Scavengers as an environment hostile to women -- a "boys' club" culture that was largely permitted by its co-owners or, in Darveau's case, actively led by. Several said women were frequently degraded by male employees including Darveau, or infantilized and treated as if they did not know what they were talking about even when speaking from a position of expertise about their own work. This was said to have happened in casual conversations, public team meetings, and on the studio's work Slack.
Several also said that beyond being degraded, many women at the studio were victims of sexist remarks and behaviors, both from Darveau and from a handful of other male employees. Multiple women described having numerous inappropriate comments made about their appearance and outfits, with one saying a male employee repeatedly made remarks asking if she was attracted to him or if she would marry him.
As Scavengers was a smaller studio -- around 30 to 40 people over the last couple of years -- there was no dedicated HR. This meant that Lamarche was the go-to person for conflict resolution, even if (as it was in many cases) that conflict was with Darveau, with whom all our sources said she was in a romantic relationship up until the last few years. All those we spoke to also pointed out that they felt this at minimum impacted her ability to be impartial when issues arose, and several said it dissuaded them from reporting problems.
One major incident that many we spoke to were aware of occurred in mid-2018, and involved an employee who one day simply stopped showing up to work. Sometime later, an office meeting was called in which it was announced that she wouldn't be returning. Employees who spoke to Lamarche later told the story around the office: Darveau allegedly had an affair with the employee, and Lamarche had found out. No one was able to confirm whether or not the employee had left of her own volition following this incident.
One source said that Darveau later explained his behavior to others by comparing himself to a dog in heat -- unable to control himself.
The studio's problems with treatment of women came to a head during a company party in January of 2019. Up to that point, sources said, Scavengers parties typically included alcohol, and Darveau especially would often become drunk and loud. At this one, he was especially drunk, and multiple sources claim they saw him inappropriately touch and grab multiple female employees. One employee who was there described Darveau as "in full predator mode."
This incident was enough that studio leadership did take action. An external investigator was brought in, but those who were there at the time said that the results of the investigation were never fully made clear to employees. There was one new policy: Scavengers would be greatly cutting back on alcohol available at work events, and Darveau would not be drinking at work functions at all. One employee recalls the incident very much being pinned on the role of alcohol, with Darveau excusing his behavior on his drunkenness.
"It felt very frustrating to put that on the back of people being drunk, because Darveau was still pretty shitty before he drank," said one employee who was at the meeting. "It felt like an excuse."
Some of those we spoke to drew a direct connection between this incident and Lamarche's appointment as CEO of Scavengers later that year, taking on the role previously held by Darveau and occupying more of a front-facing position for the studio. However, if this was a direct consequence of his behavior at the party, it was never made clear to the employees, and Darveau still remained in a position of power as creative director and co-owner.
"They said, 'You can talk to us,' but in the end everybody knows you can't really say anything against the founders, otherwise you're fucked," said one person who was at the meeting.
Following this event, those who were at the studio then said that some of the sexism they had been dealing with up to that point did improve for a time. Darveau, they said, seemed to be at least somewhat ashamed of what happened. However, it didn't fully quell the "boys' club" culture that multiple sources described -- sexist remarks and dismissal of the studio's women still continued and went unchallenged.
Many of the worst complaints about Darveau stem from his time as creative director on Darwin Project, which Scavengers launched in 1.0 at the beginning of 2020 and announced it was shutting down just four months later. Officially, its servers were meant to be shut down at the end of 2020, though at the time of this piece's publication some servers remain online, with the studio saying it will no longer fix bugs, monitor voice chat or the official Discord, issue bans, or otherwise support the game. Sources told us that a small number of layoffs occurred following the wind-down of Darwin Project, though the specific number impacted was unclear.
With Darwin Project in the rearview in 2020, the studio's focus began to turn fully to its next project, Season. Officially, Season's development is being headed up by creative director Kevin Sullivan, with the initial intention being for Darveau to begin work on a third, unannounced project within the studio following Darwin.
Multiple employees said that during this transition period, there was a stressful environment at the studio from a number of leads concerned that Darveau would start working on Season -- a concern that even those outside of the Season team became aware of. Some were simply worried about the difference in philosophies: Darveau liked "more gameplay-oriented, fast-paced things" while Season was a narrative-driven title, and they didn't feel he would be a good fit. Others were concerned he would take over key aspects of the project and hand them off to his favorites, or override decisions that had already been settled on with his own ideas. Still others said that working with him on Darwin Project had been a stressful experience, and they didn't want to repeat it.
Ultimately, the most heinous problems that sources described from their time at Scavengers are at least two years old. And when we asked the studio to comment on the allegations brought against them, Scavengers admitted that at least at one point, it had some clean-up to do.
"Scavengers Studio appreciates that there have been situations during its rapid growth and takes the position that any type of harassment is unwelcomed and unacceptable and takes any complaints in this respect very seriously," the company said in a statement. "You should note that Scavengers Studio has taken positive steps to look into its culture to see what aspects need to be adjusted.
"In early 2019, Simon Darveau was replaced as CEO by Lamarche who took full control of the company. As a new female CEO, Lamarche started to build a mid-management team composed of competent team members to continue to lead the company in its mission of creating new gaming experiences with very strong and innovative empathetic twists. The new management team has since then recreated a sense of calm and happiness in the workplace where talents are gathered around interesting and dynamic projects and where differences are embraced."
The company outlined a series of actions it said Lamarche had put in place to "prevent harassment situations and maintain a safe environment," many of which correspond to measures our sources told us has been put in place but had either been unclear or ineffective. The actions were described by the company as follows:
Set up of the policy for prevention of harassment;
Harassment prevention training and compliance training provided by a third-party HR Professionals;
A process for handling complaints and reports with two designated trained employees;
A director of operations has been hired to drive HR process management ensuring HR operational rigor and standardization;
A third-party HR consultant that supports the studio and its employees through various training and our current initiatives;
A Wellness Committee was put in place which goal is to reflect on various initiatives and ideas to maintain a safe and pleasant working environment;
A yearly anonymous survey to probe the needs to keep a healthy and safe environment and also give an opportunity to raise issues that have not been raised through our normal channels in order for them to be addressed in a structured and rigorous way
Additionally in its response, Scavengers asserted that "Certain elements in your assessments are false, somewhat blown out of proportion or lacking important pieces." Scavengers declined to comment further on the allegations "for privacy concerns."
Almost every source we spoke to described Scavengers as an environment hostile to women -- a "boys' club" culture that was largely permitted by its co-owners or, in Darveau's case, actively led by. Several said women were frequently degraded by male employees including Darveau, or infantilized and treated as if they did not know what they were talking about even when speaking from a position of expertise about their own work. This was said to have happened in casual conversations, public team meetings, and on the studio's work Slack.
Several also said that beyond being degraded, many women at the studio were victims of sexist remarks and behaviors, both from Darveau and from a handful of other male employees. Multiple women described having numerous inappropriate comments made about their appearance and outfits, with one saying a male employee repeatedly made remarks asking if she was attracted to him or if she would marry him.
As Scavengers was a smaller studio -- around 30 to 40 people over the last couple of years -- there was no dedicated HR. This meant that Lamarche was the go-to person for conflict resolution, even if (as it was in many cases) that conflict was with Darveau, with whom all our sources said she was in a romantic relationship up until the last few years. All those we spoke to also pointed out that they felt this at minimum impacted her ability to be impartial when issues arose, and several said it dissuaded them from reporting problems.
One major incident that many we spoke to were aware of occurred in mid-2018, and involved an employee who one day simply stopped showing up to work. Sometime later, an office meeting was called in which it was announced that she wouldn't be returning. Employees who spoke to Lamarche later told the story around the office: Darveau allegedly had an affair with the employee, and Lamarche had found out. No one was able to confirm whether or not the employee had left of her own volition following this incident.
One source said that Darveau later explained his behavior to others by comparing himself to a dog in heat -- unable to control himself.
The studio's problems with treatment of women came to a head during a company party in January of 2019. Up to that point, sources said, Scavengers parties typically included alcohol, and Darveau especially would often become drunk and loud. At this one, he was especially drunk, and multiple sources claim they saw him inappropriately touch and grab multiple female employees. One employee who was there described Darveau as "in full predator mode."
This incident was enough that studio leadership did take action. An external investigator was brought in, but those who were there at the time said that the results of the investigation were never fully made clear to employees. There was one new policy: Scavengers would be greatly cutting back on alcohol available at work events, and Darveau would not be drinking at work functions at all. One employee recalls the incident very much being pinned on the role of alcohol, with Darveau excusing his behavior on his drunkenness.
"It felt very frustrating to put that on the back of people being drunk, because Darveau was still pretty shitty before he drank," said one employee who was at the meeting. "It felt like an excuse."
Some of those we spoke to drew a direct connection between this incident and Lamarche's appointment as CEO of Scavengers later that year, taking on the role previously held by Darveau and occupying more of a front-facing position for the studio. However, if this was a direct consequence of his behavior at the party, it was never made clear to the employees, and Darveau still remained in a position of power as creative director and co-owner.
"They said, 'You can talk to us,' but in the end everybody knows you can't really say anything against the founders, otherwise you're fucked," said one person who was at the meeting.
Following this event, those who were at the studio then said that some of the sexism they had been dealing with up to that point did improve for a time. Darveau, they said, seemed to be at least somewhat ashamed of what happened. However, it didn't fully quell the "boys' club" culture that multiple sources described -- sexist remarks and dismissal of the studio's women still continued and went unchallenged.
Many of the worst complaints about Darveau stem from his time as creative director on Darwin Project, which Scavengers launched in 1.0 at the beginning of 2020 and announced it was shutting down just four months later. Officially, its servers were meant to be shut down at the end of 2020, though at the time of this piece's publication some servers remain online, with the studio saying it will no longer fix bugs, monitor voice chat or the official Discord, issue bans, or otherwise support the game. Sources told us that a small number of layoffs occurred following the wind-down of Darwin Project, though the specific number impacted was unclear.
With Darwin Project in the rearview in 2020, the studio's focus began to turn fully to its next project, Season. Officially, Season's development is being headed up by creative director Kevin Sullivan, with the initial intention being for Darveau to begin work on a third, unannounced project within the studio following Darwin.
Multiple employees said that during this transition period, there was a stressful environment at the studio from a number of leads concerned that Darveau would start working on Season -- a concern that even those outside of the Season team became aware of. Some were simply worried about the difference in philosophies: Darveau liked "more gameplay-oriented, fast-paced things" while Season was a narrative-driven title, and they didn't feel he would be a good fit. Others were concerned he would take over key aspects of the project and hand them off to his favorites, or override decisions that had already been settled on with his own ideas. Still others said that working with him on Darwin Project had been a stressful experience, and they didn't want to repeat it.
Ultimately, the most heinous problems that sources described from their time at Scavengers are at least two years old. And when we asked the studio to comment on the allegations brought against them, Scavengers admitted that at least at one point, it had some clean-up to do.
"Scavengers Studio appreciates that there have been situations during its rapid growth and takes the position that any type of harassment is unwelcomed and unacceptable and takes any complaints in this respect very seriously," the company said in a statement. "You should note that Scavengers Studio has taken positive steps to look into its culture to see what aspects need to be adjusted.
"In early 2019, Simon Darveau was replaced as CEO by Lamarche who took full control of the company. As a new female CEO, Lamarche started to build a mid-management team composed of competent team members to continue to lead the company in its mission of creating new gaming experiences with very strong and innovative empathetic twists. The new management team has since then recreated a sense of calm and happiness in the workplace where talents are gathered around interesting and dynamic projects and where differences are embraced."
The company outlined a series of actions it said Lamarche had put in place to "prevent harassment situations and maintain a safe environment," many of which correspond to measures our sources told us has been put in place but had either been unclear or ineffective. The actions were described by the company as follows:
Set up of the policy for prevention of harassment;
Harassment prevention training and compliance training provided by a third-party HR Professionals;
A process for handling complaints and reports with two designated trained employees;
A director of operations has been hired to drive HR process management ensuring HR operational rigor and standardization;
A third-party HR consultant that supports the studio and its employees through various training and our current initiatives;
A Wellness Committee was put in place which goal is to reflect on various initiatives and ideas to maintain a safe and pleasant working environment;
A yearly anonymous survey to probe the needs to keep a healthy and safe environment and also give an opportunity to raise issues that have not been raised through our normal channels in order for them to be addressed in a structured and rigorous way
Additionally in its response, Scavengers asserted that "Certain elements in your assessments are false, somewhat blown out of proportion or lacking important pieces." Scavengers declined to comment further on the allegations "for privacy concerns."
