This story includes content some readers may find disturbing.
Previous workers at Brandoville Studios, a closed Indonesian studio that collaborated on Assassin’s Creed Shadows, have asserted that they endured psychological and bodily mistreatment during their work on the game. Subsequently, Ubisoft has addressed these allegations.
A Ubisoft representative shared their concern about the current issues at Brandoville Studios, which they learned from recent reports. They unequivocally denounce any form of mistreatment, and their sympathies lie with those employees who have been impacted by these unfortunate events.
The initial reports of abuse were shared by People Make Games, through a 50-minute YouTube video they posted this week. In this video, ex-employee Christa Sydney asserts that she endured several types of mistreatment at the hands of Kwan Cherry Lai. Notably, Kwan Cherry Lai is the spouse of Brandoville CEO Ken Lai and managed the day-to-day operations of the studio prior to its closure.
As reported by Sydney, Cherry Lai is said to have fostered a hostile work environment through the use of gossip to isolate colleagues and excessively controlling employee schedules. However, her suspected misconduct went beyond this—Sydney claims that in the days leading up to the 2022 External Development Summit conference, Cherry Lai required her to stay awake for extended periods, granting only brief moments of sleep over four consecutive days. Furthermore, Sydney alleges that Cherry Lai compelled her to participate in Christian religious activities, imposed writing as punishment, and requested approval photos of Sydney’s daily work attire before entering the office.
Sydney described Cherry Lai’s plan as requiring employees to wake up at 5:30 AM, pray, exercise at 6:00 AM, shower at 8:00 AM, arrive at the office by 9:00 AM, drink water at specific times, eat meals according to a schedule, and go to bed at certain hours.
Sydney asserted that what transpired was merely the beginning, and Cherry Lai’s actions would progressively intensify to involve physical violence. According to Sydney, she was compelled to record a video where she struck herself 100 times as a form of punishment, and further alleges that she was instructed to bang her head against a doorframe multiple times before being made to apologize for perceived errors.
In Sydney’s discussion on People Make Games, she revealed that the earliest evidence she could find was a recording of an incident where she accidentally hit herself in the mouth hard enough to cause bleeding. Later, she was asked to take a photograph of the blood inside her mouth as proof.
In a 2021 conversation with People Make Games, Sydney earlier disclosed her past experiences. She asserts that Lai compelled her to record a video in which she withdrew her allegations.
Besides other ex-employees of Brandoville, additional allegations of abusive practices have surfaced. For instance, Caesarion Balthazar, a former employee, asserts that Cherry Lai unlawfully withheld substantial portions of his wages, totaling approximately a month’s salary. Furthermore, when he attempted to depart the studio, he was informed he owed Lai money for training programs he hadn’t attended. However, Syifana Afiati, who worked at Brandoville from 2019 until 2024, declared that she was overworked during her pregnancy and was denied time off following the passing of her newborn child.
Following the dissolution of the studio in 2024, Cherry and Ken Lai established a fresh venture known as LaiLai Studios. Sydney joined them too, but eventually departed following an unfortunate event involving Cherry that proved to be more than she could handle.
Sydney expressed, “She was provoking me, essentially,” she explained. Pondering within herself, ‘She’s left without any other assistants,’ she reflected. With no one else but me around, and still she continued to tease me. But this time, I felt exhausted, it was close to 2:00 AM. I considered calling a taxi to go home. When she understood that I wasn’t returning to her, she became anxious.
As a devoted follower, I’d rephrase it like this: For years, Sydney had been enduring abuse from Cherry. Finally reaching my breaking point, I decided I wouldn’t tolerate it any longer. I stood up for myself, speaking out about the mistreatment and sharing compelling evidence such as videos, photos, and text messages. My story eventually caught the attention of numerous news platforms and social media networks in Indonesia.
While Ubisoft has publicly distanced itself from Cherry Lai’s alleged misconduct, I must confess that her reaction to being approached by People Make Games for comment was quite intriguing, to say the least.
In a nutshell, Cherry Lai expressed that the significance of her role in the story is insignificant compared to ensuring her team’s well-being and safety amidst the allegations. She chose not to offer additional comments on the matter.
According to interviews conducted by People Make Games, while CEO Ken Lai didn’t personally mistreat his employees, they claim he allowed his wife’s inappropriate behavior. As of now, Ken Lai has not publicly responded to these accusations about his wife’s alleged misconduct. At the time when the abuse allegedly occurred, Brandoville Studios team members were working on Age of Empires IV. However, Microsoft has yet to issue a statement regarding the People Make Games video or address the claims made against Cherry Lai.
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2025-01-08 22:39