French Kickstarter game developed illegally by unpaid interns

French videogame Kickstarter ‘Lynn and the Spirits of Inao’ has been accused of being illegally developed by unpaid interns. Former interns have accused developer Bloomylight Studios of bullying, harassment, and intimidation.

In France, it is illegal to have unpaid internships that last more than two months, and many of the interns on this project worked between 3 and 6 months, with many being forced to sign legal documents that said they had been paid so they could continue past the 2 month period, when they had received nothing. The company, Bloomylight Studio, may also receive tax benefits from the fraud.

In addition, none of the approximately 20 interns were mentioned on the now cancelled kickstarter by name, alluding that their involvement in the project was being entirely hidden by founder and project leader David Tollari.

Most of the interns that worked at the studio were working the 4 months internship that is part of the end of their bachelors degree in video game development. Many of the interns testimony claim that the studio was simply a Mr Tollari’s apartment, and that he didn’t know a single thing about video game development, simply forcing the unpaid interns to do all the work. When any would speak out at the working conditions, he would threaten them by saying he would give them a bad evaluation at the end of their tenure, which would cause them to fail their degree.

The game itself did look quite attractive, with a faux Miyazaki art style and interesting platform based gameplay.

The story broke with the testimony of ‘Laureine Sautereau’ on Twitter, and many other interns have now come forward. According to the latest updates from journaldugamer, they are considering legal action against their former ’employer’.

The story is already causing controversy in France, creating a debate not only in working conditions for video game developers, but for students and interns in general. Many on social media are hoping that this will begin a process that will create equity between people working in digital industries, and the rights enjoyed by workers in more traditional sectors.

The French National Video Games Syndicate (SNJV) has released the following statement

“The SNJV has begun to redact an Internship and Interns Charter aiming to firmly establish the rules allowing for intelligent, respectful, and lawful collaboration between Interns, Studios and Schools. This work in progress will be put in place for the 2016 School Year. The recent news concerning the supposed methods used by a studio and largely discussed on social media do not reflect the practices put in place by our industry in France.”

The game was cancelled, with this message being posted by the developer –

More on this story as it develops.

[GARD]

Sources – journaldugamer, Reddit, Kickstarter