Systemic issues with AAA development in the video games industry have come to the surface with greater force than ever before in recent times. From the likes or Riot Games and BioWare to others like Rockstar and Epic Games, issues with the internal workings of several studios have come to light, and said surfacing of issues has blessedly empowered other members of the industry to speak out about their own experiences.

Recently, several former employees and contractors who worked with NetherRealm Studios on several projects, including Mortal Kombat and Injustice, have taken to Twitter to speak about the issues at the studio, and their accounts paint a bleak picture, from crunch to harassment to poor working conditions.

James Longstreet, former programmer at NetherRealm Studios, spoke about his work on Mortal Kombat 9, where he described overbearing crunch conditions, which saw crunch not as something voluntary that employees would volunteer for, but something that was mandatory. “This was not a wink-wink-nudge-nudge ‘passionate hardworking’ thing,” he wrote. “This was a mandate.”

Longstreet says that the Mortal Kombat team sees crunch as necessary, and as something that has always worked for them in the past, in light of which they see it as “clearly the right thing to do”. He also describes poor working conditions for contractors, saying the studio hires “as many contractors and interns as they can, pay them s**t (much less than I started at 12 years ago), and work them to death”.

Beck Hallstedt, a contractor concept artist who worked on Injustice 2, also recounts her own experiences during the five months she spent working at the studio, calling their practices “predatory and abusive”. She describes poor infrastructural issues and a culture of harassment, such as contractors being stuffed into small workspaces with not enough room to work, female contractors being paid less than the usual rates, female employees not being allowed into certain meetings, contractors getting treated poorly and blamed for several issues by the higher-up employees, and them not getting credited with the nature of the work they are doing.

Her accounts are backed up by former QA analyst Rebecca Rothschild, who says she can “confirm everything” described by Hallstedt, before saying there are “lots of amazing people work at NRS [NetherRealm Studios], but there are serious, systemic issues that need to be addressed.”

You can read the aforementioned accounts in the tweets below. One can only hope that with such issues having come to light, NetherRealm Studios will be forced to take action and get to work on fixing these internal issues, which are clearly not sustainable or healthy in any way. Accounts don’t mention whether similar issues have persisted with the development of their most recent project, Mortal Kombat 11, but in the absence of evidence to the contrary, in light of what’s surfaced, it would be hard to assume that anything has changed- not until change is forced, at the very least.

on MK9 crunch officially began after new years day 2011. of course, we did a bit of pre-crunch before that, just to make sure we were in a good spot for crunch. this was on schedule documents. this was not a wink-wink-nudge-nudge "passionate hardworking" thing, this was mandate.

— Jiminy Snackmouth 1 (312) (@jlongstreet) April 23, 2019

i took one day off between jan 1 and the day the day1 patch was approved. it was my birthday, and it was on a sunday, so it was ok if i was just on call. i was allowed to go to a friends' wedding (on call of course) on a saturday night, after working an 8 hour shift first

— Jiminy Snackmouth 1 (312) (@jlongstreet) April 23, 2019

those were the only two days i didn't work from at least 10 am to at least midnight. we were all doing this. i mean, except the bosses, of course, who would leave after dinner

— Jiminy Snackmouth 1 (312) (@jlongstreet) April 23, 2019

from what i've heard the crunch cycle has gotten worse since i've left. a friend i talked to in september said they were crunching already. they hire as many contractors and interns as they can, pay them shit (much less than I started at 12 years ago) and work them to death

— Jiminy Snackmouth 1 (312) (@jlongstreet) April 23, 2019

the MK team's stance is that crunch works, and MK games are always profitable, so it's clearly the right thing to do. it's wrong — crunch doesn't work, the workers don't see the profit (bonuses at WB games are capped to a small percentage of salary), and it ruins lives

— Jiminy Snackmouth 1 (312) (@jlongstreet) April 23, 2019

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121119595279077376

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121120822956105730

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121121981129199616

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121122835005628422

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121125042719547393

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121126497190805504

https://twitter.com/beckhallstedt/status/1121129316711063552

https://twitter.com/RBonksR/status/1121253077716275206

It looks like NetherRealms and Warner Bros. may be readying themselves to launch a sequel to their hit DC Comics based fighter- according to a rumor posted on GameBlog.fr, translated by NeoGAF, it sounds like Injustice 2 will be releasing some time in 2017- and that it will be launching on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

According to the rumor, the game will be announced some time between now and E3 next month. An E3 reveal, however, seems to be the likeliest here, possibly on Sony’s stage, since Warner Bros. usually partner with PlayStation for their games these days.

The original Injustice was made available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii U, with versions also made available for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4. It was well received, with the single player modes in particular gaining a lot of praise and attention. Hopefully the sequel can build from what the original game, and capitalize on its strengths, while addressing its weaknesses.

Many people were hoping for Scorpion to appear in Injustice: Gods Among Us and now Warner Bros has announced that it will be happening. The last two downloadable characters for Injustice: Gods Among Us were Lobo and Batgirl which makes Scorpion the third.

Scorpion will cost 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live Marketplace for Xbox 360 and £3.99 via PlayStation Network for the PS3.

Mortal Kombat fans feel free to rejoice as your favorite character is now making a comeback in NetherRealm Studios’ latest game.

Let us know if you’re excited for Scorpion’s return in Injustice: Gods Among Us in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for more updates.

Which is not quite something that a certain Dark Knight would abide by. There will be other characters involved with The Flash, Wonder Woman, Doomsday, The Joker and many more all throwing in their lot in this epic battle. Of course, there will be more to Injustice with competitive multiplayer modes, challenge modes and much more.

The game utilizes an altogether different combat system from NetherRealm’s previous efforts, with interactive and multi-tiered environments that can be used in fights. Injustice: Gods Among Us will be releasing on April 16th in the United States and April 19th in the UK for PS3 and Xbox 360.

With the combat system, players will be relying as much on the environments as their own supermoves to do damage. To that end, you can use objects in the environments to smack your enemy with or knock them through a stage’s multiple tiers to cause extensive hurt.

Injustice will also feature multiple costumes for each character, giving them the new DC52 look along with the classic DC look. There will also be 240 S.T.A.R. Labs missions, which allow you to complete various challenges with specific characters. The stretch across a wide range of genres including SHMUPS and platforming.

Injustice: Gods Among Us releases on April 16th for North America and April 19th for Europe on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U.

Warner Bros has sent out word that it’s offering a piece of the pie early. A demo for Injustice: Gods Among Us will be landing on PSN on April 2nd, and on Xbox Live a day later. Sorry Wii U owners, you’re out of luck here. There was no mention of the contents of the demo, but we expect them to throw in one or two characters and stages.

For the unacquainted, Injust: Gods Among Us is a 2D fighting game which pits some of the most prominent figures in the DC Universe against each other. It’s being developed by the same minds that’s responsible for the Mortal Kombat franchise. It bears a lot in common with 2011’s Mortal Kombat reboot, which is evident in the developer’s signature bloody and brutal combat. One neat addition is interactive environments. Successfully landing a heavy blow near the edges of the stage will launch the opponent into another part of the level. Not to mention, they are quite spectacular to watch.

Injustice: Gods Among us will be available for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U on April 16th in North America, and on the 19th in Europe. A iOS version was also announced, but details are scarce at the moment.

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]]> https://gamingbolt.com/injustice-gods-among-us-demo-dropping-on-april-2nd-new-trailer-released/feed 0 147041 https://gamingbolt.com/injustice-gods-among-us-dev-diary-looks-at-special-moves https://gamingbolt.com/injustice-gods-among-us-dev-diary-looks-at-special-moves#respond Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:15:16 +0000 http://gamingbolt.com/?p=120715 When one of the creators of Mortal Kombat is involved in a fighting game, you know it’ll have that extra hint of brutality. NetherRealm Studios’ Injustice: Gods Among Us seems to push harder for that level of savagery that was missing from Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, as this new development diary showcases many of the special moves the characters – like Flash, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman – can pull off in the game.

And that’s not even the half of it, as you can literally punch your foes through skyscrapers and their adjoining floors, into different dimensions, utilize the environment and even change styles during play, moving into weapon-based combat or bare handed as Nightwing showcases. It may be a bit of an oddity but it looks like a bloody good time which gamers can sink their teeth into when it releases in April 2013 for Playstation 3, XBox 360 and Wii U.

Source: Siliconera

Set in a world where the lines between good and evil are blurred, players will experience heroes and villains engaging in epic battles on a massive scale.

You can check out more screenshots and info about the game over here. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

The footage was shown (via IGN) at EVO 2012; which is a current tournament held to promote fighting games and reward good players. This game will be released next year for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.