Audit Of Darwin Project Dev's Harassment Claims Reveal No Additional Misbehavior But Cite "Lack Of Transparency"

Back in January, the co-founders of Scavengers Studio, makers of defunct F2P battle royale Darwin Project, faced allegations of fostering a hostile workplace environment. The company's CEO, Amélie Lamarche, temporarily stepped down from her position and its former CEO, Simon Darveau, was indefinitely suspended while an independent firm conducted an audit of its business practices.

That audit was completed recently, and Scavengers Studios reported its results on Wednesday. 85% of the workforce participated in the audit, which was conducted by Solertia Consulting Group. Its primary conclusion: "While there are workplace behaviours that still require improvement, the audit did not find the presence of systemic sexual or psychological harassment at the Studio."

The report re-iterated that, following allegations of inappropriate conduct in 2019, Darveau stepped down from his position as CEO, to be replaced by Larmarche. It acknowledged that "the absence of clear communication from management" regarding this situation may have led some employees to believe that no significant actions were taken, which was "regrettable." That "lack of transparency created an atmosphere of uncertainty. This was not a small mistake." (emphasis theirs)

The audit did not find any additional instances of misconduct since 2019, and Darveau was "cooperative in the process and accepted responsibility for his actions." He has been conditionally reinstated, accepting a "smaller, non managerial role, prototyping a Research and Development project."

Lamarche has also been reinstated as CEO. She offered her condolences for the situation in a statement, accepting that "There are still areas for improvement" and encouraging former employees to reach out to Solertia if they deem it necessary.