Things seem to be going smoothly for the release of upcoming PS4 exclusive Detroit: Become Human, with a demo scheduled to be released ahead of its May 25th release date. However, it seems there may be some turmoil going on within the offices of developer Quantic Dream.

The French development studio behind Detroit: Become Human has recently seen its share of controversy with some reports claiming a toxic work environment. The company now seems to be firing back at the French media outlets that initially ran the stories that accused both studio head Guillaume de Fondaumier, along with game director and script writer David Cage of displaying toxic behavior. Quantic Dream is in the process of suing a few of the outlets and the reporters that ran the stories.

detroit become human

For those unaware, a few months ago, allegations surfaced about Cage and Fondaumier displaying inappropriate behavior at the company. The allegations against Fondaumier accused him of sexual misconduct towards female employees. It was stated that Cage had made racist remarks directed at staff members and there were also reports that doctored images of employees were circulating around the office. The alleged images portrayed employees in different inappropriate ways and some were reportedly homophobic.

This may mark one of the first times a gaming company has actually fought back against allegations like this, at least to the level of taking media outlets to court and suing. The outlets responsible for the stories were Le MondeCanard PC, and Mediapart. As of right now, it has only been confirmed that Le Monde and Mediapart, along with some of their journalists, have actually been named in the case.  Canard PC stated they have received "threatening letters", but are yet to actually be one of the parties being sued.

One of Le Monde's journalists, William Audureau, has already faced repercussions over the stories. While it was not legal backlash, he found out that he had been blacklisted by Sony. The company itself didn't notify him directly, it was only through other sources within Sony that Audureau found out.

It is unknown what this will mean for the development of Detroit: Become Human. The game is currently set to launch on May 25th.

Detroit: Become Human will release on May 25th exclusively on PS4.

Source: Kotaku