Trans dev who left Guardians of the Galaxy team praises Eidos for crediting her - and doing so correctly
Despite leaving studio prior to release.
A trans developer who worked on Guardians of the Galaxy but left developer Eidos before the game's release has praised the studio for crediting her despite her departure - and for doing so with her new name.
Cloé Veilleux worked on the game for three and a half years and was promoted to Technical Level Design Director before leaving Eidos a year before the game was released.
It follows recent news that some developers on Metroid Dread were not credited in the game after leaving, despite their work appearing in the game.
Veilleux's expectation, by industry standards, was that her name should have been included in Additional Thanks rather than with her specific role - a role that she took over from two predecessors.
"It makes me feel like there was a conscious decision to keep my name in that role, and I do not know who I have to thank for this," Veilleux told Eurogamer. "I expected little, and was given a lot more recognition. It certainly made me happy to see that."
Veilleux legally changed her name just ten days before leaving her role, meaning most of her colleagues knew her by a different name. "The vast majority of the time I was there, I was Deadname, and not even out to myself," she said. "Seeing my name there in this screenshot was an unexpected surprise."
What's more, she feels relatively unknown in the industry since transitioning because of the name change. "I really never expected this Tweet to be shared across the globe. Thousands of people, most of them devs, liking or retweeting it, from studios all over? This is crazy!"
"I have only good things to say about this industry," says Veilleux on her transition. "During my years at Eidos is when I came out to myself, and then to the whole studio (after agreeing on a plan with HR). I have been supported by everyone from the start, and I began my transition there and then, pretty much bringing everyone with me on this journey (rather than wait a year or two before changing my presentation).
"It couldn't have been easy for everyone, and I know I had many allies who took my defense when I was off-camera. One of the benefits of forming meaningful relationships with your coworkers."
Veilleux now works as Senior Technical Designer at Relic.
Guardians of the Galaxy released this week across PC, Switch, Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Despite its flaws, it's "a wonderfully accessible adventure wrapped up in family-friendly packaging," we said in our review.