While Mortal Kombat 11 launched to critical success, developer NetherRealm Studios has recently been met with accusations of a crunch culture forcing employees to work 100-hour work weeks. These Mortal Kombat 11 crunch culture accusations are seemingly being taken seriously, as NetherRealm is indeed investigating these claims. This much has been confirmed by current employees, but there seems to be a concern that things will revert back to normal.

Speaking to Variety, a current employee confirms that the studio is currently gathering worker concerns and has reportedly cut overtime in the past week. A studio-wide meeting took place following the initial accusations, with the developer addressing how it intends to move forward. The first step is a survey for employees to fill out that will then be sent on to Warner Bros., the parent company of the Mortal Kombat 11 developer, which will reportedly be used to create focus groups to further address complaints.

NetherRealm also gave an official statement on the matter, stating that it is looking into "all allegations" and wants to create a "positive work experience." Presumably, these allegations not only include the crunch culture but the accusations of gender discrimination within the Mortal Kombat 11 workplace as well, but in the meantime, it appears that NetherRealm is intending to act on the aforementioned accusations.

An employee wrote to Variety that, following the statement, "we were given the weekend off and have not yet gone past 6 p.m. this week." Attempts to cut overtime back are also underway, though the employee expressed doubt that it could last due to an upcoming Mortal Kombat 11 patch.

mortal kombat 11 dev crunch culture

While many of these changes are welcome and have likely increased workplace morale, many seem to be cautious concerning the potential changes within the studio. The employee wrote, "they seem to appreciate [the changes] and are looking forward to it, but are wondering about what's coming up." This is likely due to current plans for the fighting game, as "years of content" has been promised, and a slew of Mortal Kombat 11 DLC characters are expected to roll out in the coming months. Hopefully, the developer can find a balance between a consistent stream of content and overworked employees.

Mortal Kombat 11 is out now for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.

Source: Variety