Yesterday, it was announced that Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga would in fact be launching on April 5, 2022, after multiple delays pushed the title out of its 2020 and 2021 release windows. However, shortly after that announcement was made, a new report surfaced revealing that the studio faced a serious crunch to get the title ready for launch.
Coming in a lengthy article from Polygon, it has been alleged that developers experienced a "very soft-spoken blackmail", with an employee going as far as saying the feeling in the developer was that "If people don't start doing overtime, there's going to be problems".
But that wasn't all that was mentioned, as the report notes that crunch didn't necessarily start with The Skywalker Saga, but that it began with TT Games' decision to release a new Lego game every year.
With this in mind, it's also noted that this release schedule wasn't helped by TT Games' choice to create The Skywalker Saga with a new engine called NTT, as the system led to more problems and issues to resolve, despite the fact that the engine was promised to help alleviate crunch.
In the report, multiple QA Testers have been quoted to say that the working conditions at TT Games "were among the worst they had ever experienced in the games industry" and that "People were worn out, worked down, mentally and physically ill because of the pressure."
Furthermore, a culture that is hostile to women has also been alleged, with female employees "subjected to bullying, comments about their appearance, and withheld promotions and contracts."
To add to this, six former employees have stated that TT Games co-founder, Jon Burton, would routinely "yell at staff to return to their desks if they tried to leave work on time", and that he often expected staff to put in extra hours.
The full report by Polygon shines a light onto a very alarming culture. You can check out the full article and the alleged information from employees here.
As for when Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will debut, the game is set for an April 5 release, and you can check out the latest trailer below.