Video game firm’s staff photo goes viral for the wrong reasons

Raccoon Logic’s staff photo went viral for its lack of diversity, as its co-founder promised to hire more women and people of colour

This photo of the staff at Raccoon Logic showing an all white male staff went viral (Raccoon Logic)

A new video game company is facing a backlash for a lack of diversity after a photo showing its all white, male staff went viral.

Raccoon Logic, based in Montreal, was forced to defend its recruitment policies and pledged to hire more women and people of colour.

It comes amid an industry-wide revolt against discriminatory practices that led employees of gaming giant Activision Blizzard to stage a walkout last month.

It's pretty wild that in 2021 a new game studio still looks like this https://t.co/klV0FbvG8s pic.twitter.com/m9NVFILGYj

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) August 11, 2021

Raccoon Logic co-founder Alex Hutchison told Axios he could understand the criticism, adding there were two “important caveats”.

“One being that diversity extends beyond gender, and I’m proud that we have LGBTQ members on our team, but also that this is just Raccoon Logic’s starting point, not the endgame.”

He said Raccoon had one female employee who hadn’t been able to make the photo call.

“It’s not hard to grasp that a diversity of opinion and expression — as well as people who have just led different lives and have different life experience — just leads to better games,” Mr Hutchinson told Axios.

The staff photo went viral after it was posted to Twitter by Bloomberg reporter and author Jason Schreier.

“It’s pretty wild that in 2021 a new game studio still looks like this,” he wrote.

Mr Hutchinson responded by saying: “You know you’ve really started your new studio when Jason Schreier is already trolling.”

You know you've really started your new studio when Jason Schreier is already trolling.

— Alex Hutchinson (@BangBangClick) August 11, 2021

Last month, dozens of staff at Activision Blizzard walked out of the company’s headquarters in Irvine, California, in protest at its response to a sexual harassment lawsuit.

California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) alleged the company has “fostered a pervasive ‘frat boy’ workplace culture”, using a phrase commonly associated with “boisterous or foolish” behaviour in college fraternities.

The lawsuit added that female employees are assigned to “lower paid” jobs and have faced assault, discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

Staff were dismayed at Activision Blizzard’s response which hit back at the “distorted” picture painted by DFEH as not being the “Blizzard workplace of today”.

On August 3, it was announced the president of Activision’s Blizzard Entertainment J. Allen Brack would be leaving the company in a letter from Activision Blizzard President and COO Daniel Alegre to employees.

Around 75 per cent of Raccoon Logic’s staff have come from Typhoon Studios, which created the game Journey to the Savage Planet.

Mr Hutchinson had previously worked at Ubisoft, where he was creative director for Assassin’s Creed 3.