Horrific abuse of workers at Indonesian external development studio revealed in new report
"No viral, no justice."
A new report from People Make Games has detailed disturbing allegations of abuse towards employees at Indonesian studio Brandoville, a company used for art and animation support in games such as Age of Empires 4 and Assassin's Creed Shadows.
In 2021, People Make Games reported on crunch culture and the industry's reliance on outsourcing to external developers in order to meet deadlines. Brandoville Studios was one such developer. Little has changed in the industry since that report, but Brandoville's closure a few months ago has lead its employees to now share further stories of their experiences at the studio.
At the centre of this report is Christa Sydney, who worked at the company from 2019 until 2024 and says she was subjected to mental and physical abuse by commissioner Kwan Cherry Lai, wife of Brandoville CEO Ken Lai, who ran day-to-day operations.
The full report can be watched in the below video, though please note it contains some incredibly harrowing content and footage.
Sydney describes how Cherry Lai took her under her wing following a dispute early in her career, but how this led to toxic abuse. Initially, Lai imposed a strict working schedule on employees and would purposefully divide employees through gossip and demeaning words, Sydney said.
Sydney was actually part of People Make Games' previous report, but says she was later forced by Lai to film a statement in support of Brandoville against her will. Other employees felt she was being brainwashed, it's reported.
Sydney now says she was then continuously abused by Lai, including during a work trip to the XDS '22 conference where Lai micromanaged her time and only allowed her to sleep for a few minutes over the course of four days leading up to the event. Further abuse included imposing daily Christian worship, forcing Sydney to write lines like a schoolchild, daily check-ins over WhatsApp of her outfits as part of "quality control", and humiliating her in front of colleagues.
Eventually Lai's abuse became physical, forcing Sydney to film herself slapping her face 100 times as punishment, or hitting her head against a door frame until she was concussed before forcing an apology.
Another employee, Caesarion Balthazar, had an arrangement with Lai where she would take part of his salary to assist with his spending habits. This led to her, in Balthazar's words, stealing an amount of money equivalent to a month's salary. Additionally, Balthazar says he was told he owed money for expensive training programmes he hadn't yet taken when he tried to leave the company.
A third employee, Syifana Afiati, also says she was abused by Lai during her time at Brandoville from 2019 to 2024. Afiati fell pregnant, but was repeatedly overworked by Lai. At one point during the pregnancy Afiati says she was taken to hospital due to an issue, but was still asked to come into the office and work - to which she declined. Afiati's son was born two months prematurely and sadly died four months later in intensive care, however Lai still expected her to work and provided no sympathy or support from the company.
In August 2024, Brandoville Studios went into liquidation, though Cherry and Ken Lai convinced a handful of employees to stay and begin a new company: LaiLai Studios. Sydney was one such employee, but says she was subsequently subjected to direct physical violence from Cherry Lai on multiple occasions.
Sydney eventually escaped and compiled evidence against Lai. Media reports in Indonesia went viral, which finally lead to police investigations. This was required due to the local phrase "no viral, no justice", stemming from mistrust in the police and justice system.
In response to the allegations, Cherry Lai issued a statement to People Make Games, bizarrely stating: "To me my part of the story is not important, as long as my team are good and safe now." However, further discussion was declined.
Other employees claimed Ken Lai was Cherry's "biggest enabler" and should've done more to stop this abuse. Sydney and others however say they believe Ken is yet another victim of Cherry's abuse and his silence comes from a place of fear.
The report concludes by noting how the treatment of outsourced workers goes largely unnoticed and unremarked upon by the video games industry due to its discomfort discussing outsourced work, despite it being a crucial part of game development. Eurogamer has contacted Microsoft and Ubisoft for comment on their connections to Brandoville.