Batman Arkham developers Rocksteady have disclosed a letter from its employees, and called out the “misrepresented” claims of the studio mismanaging toxic work culture.
In the full letter, the studio claimed a recent coverage by The Guardian had revealed private information around an internal memo written by female staff in 2018. Ten signed the letter and accused Rocksteady staff of sexual harassment and making “inappropriate comments in the office” during production of superhero action adventure game Batman Arkham Knight. Senior staff were also accused of groping, while many of the claims were only addressed in a single seminar before the cases were ignored. The letter was sent to Rocksteady’s bosses for accountability and in doing little to prevent toxicity in the workplace. The letter was also kept private on behalf on all ten employees, who are also anonymous to protect their identities.
Now, eight of the ten staff signed a new letter to defend Rocksteady on the extent of their management. They claimed the studio took more immediate action to address sexual harassment across “a series of meetings with the women of the studio to allow us a safe space” while implementing strategies to foster a no-tolerance environment. The staff also cited misinformation on The Guardian’s article, which claimed Rocksteady had disregarded the 2018 letter and paid little to no attention.
“We feel that the anonymous source or sources attempted to speak on behalf of all women at Rocksteady, and we do not feel that this article is a fair representation of us, the events at the time or since the letter was received,” the new letter wrote, adding the secrecy was also compromised from The Guardian’s story. “This has left us feeling that we have been violated by the source or sources as it was kept private for personal reasons to all involved, not due to industry secrecy.”
The eight of ten staff then reassured Rocksteady was taking the matter seriously, while it continues to do so during its drafting of a response to the 2018 claims.
