The Japanese mobile publisher gumi liquidated the European office. Gumi Europe employed 32 employees who complained about their management before and after the studio closed.
The office of gumi Europe in Paris was engaged in the development of the mobile game Brave Frontier: The Last Summoner. The game was released in September last year. Now it is also closed.
According to Gamasutra, from last October to April of this year, a “demotivating, unstable atmosphere” reigned in the studio. Gumi Corporation decided to close the studio in the fall, but its decision was made only in the middle of spring. 20 employees did not wait for the official announcement and left the studio: some did not renew their contracts, and others had no desire to work.
Due to the mass departure of employees in the last six months, the departments of gumi Europe have been working intermittently. So the studio could not properly develop the game project. For example, since February she has been working in the complete absence of a marketing department.
Now dismissed employees complain about the lack of minimum compensation from gumi and its unwillingness to find them a new job before layoffs. According to them, gumi destroyed jobs in the studio, which was financed, among other things, with the use of a state tax benefit of €1.5 million.
According to the French gaming union STJV, former gumi Europe developers are asking the parent company to provide the necessary assistance to the dismissed. Otherwise, they threaten to sue.
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