Yet another company with harassment issues.
Batman: Arkham Knight

It seems all too common these days: A widely regarded game studio is accused of gross sexual harassment that stretches across the entire company. Today, the studio in question is Rocksteady, the development studio responsible for the recent Batman: Arkham games.

According to a new report by The Guardian, female staff at Rocksteady had sent a letter to management back in 2018 complaining about sexual harassment. Allegedly, not much has been done to fix the toxic culture at the studio since then.

The letter was reportedly signed by 10 out of the 16 women that were under employ at the time. They noted a number of repeated issues that include sexually explicit remarks about women, derogatory terms used against women, and even transphobic slurs. Perhaps most egregious is the claim that there was sexual harassment that included "unwanted advances, leering at parts of a woman's body, and inappropriate comments in the office."

Sources for The Guardian's piece says that there was a single, hour-long training seminar conducted to try to address the issues. This was the only thing done as a result of the complaint filed by those ten women. The source says that it did very little to change the company culture, and that it was merely a "way for them to cover their arses."

Rocksteady told The Guardian that they have indeed received complains about sexual discrimination and harassment.

“From day one at Rocksteady Studios, we set out to create a place where people are looked after, a place fundamentally built on respect and inclusion,” a spokesperson said.

“In 2018 we received a letter from some of our female employees expressing concerns they had at that time, and we immediately took firm measures to address the matters that were raised. Over the subsequent two years we have carefully listened to and learned from our employees, working to ensure every person on the team feels supported. In 2020 we are more passionate than ever to continue to develop our inclusive culture, and we are determined to stand up for all of our staff.”
After being contacted by The Guardian, Rocksteady apparently held an all-staff meeting where they discussed the letter "for the first time." This meeting was held just this past Thursday on August 13th. The studio has reportedly pledged to take further steps to address the issues, but did not specify what those steps were.

The fact that these issues weren't addressed when the letter was first written is very telling. It is also very telling that the studio did not take sufficient action until they were contacted by a media outlet prior to this news going public.

This news comes mere days before Rocksteady is set to reveal their next game, Suicide Squad.