Open Roads Team Splits From Fullbright After ‘Toxic’ Workplace Allegations

The Open Roads Team is no longer a part of Fullbright after splitting with the company.

According to Fullbright co-founder Steve Gaynor , the team — now known as The Open Roads Team — will continue to work with Annapurna Interactive, but is no longer connected to its former studio.

“After a great deal of consideration, it’s just no longer Fullbright’s place to represent Open Roads publicly going forward,” he confirmed. “It will be credited to The Open Roads Team at launch.”

It’s been almost two years since Gaynor stepped down as creative lead on Open Roads following accusations of creating a “toxic work culture”.

“I stepped away from the project,” he reflected. “Not much was shared about what we were working on. I did my best to reflect and reconsider how I worked with people and what the best role was for me. And now two years have passed.”

His behavior reportedly led to 12 staff members exiting the studio, with women “repeatedly broken down by microaggression” according to reports.

“My leadership style was hurtful to people that worked at Fullbright, and for that I truly apologize,” he later said in a statement via Twitter. “Stepping back has given me space and perspective to see how my role needs to change and how I need to learn and improve as part of a team, including working with an expert management consultant, and rethinking my relationship to the work at Fullbright. I care deeply about Open Roads and the Fullbright team. I’m sad to have stepped back from day-to-day development of Open Roads, but it’s been the right thing to do. The Open Roads team has my full faith and support as they bring the game to completion.”

While the Open Roads Team continues to work on the tile, it looks as though Gaynor will be continuing on with Fullbright . The studio’s next title will be a solo endeavor.

“I was increasingly unhappy in that higher-level role, and I let that affect how I acted towards people at the studio,” he said about his time on Open Road. “It’s something I really regret and should have managed to address sooner. But that didn’t happen, and that’s on me.”

Want to read more about Open Roads? Check out the original Open Roads announcement trailer as well as how the game builds on its predecessors in terms of storytelling.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.