Lab Zero, the studio behind famous games like Skullgirls and Indivisible, has found itself in big trouble now as multiple employees are quitting the company.
The problem
Mike ‘Z’ Zaimont, the owner of lab zero has been accused of sexual misconduct, racial comments, and inappropriate DMs. The owner earlier said that he would resign but has now changed his decision and is not ready to quit.
Employees response
Following Mike Z’s decision to not resign, several employees have quit their job at Lab Zero. Everyone has their own set of grievances and have made it public on their twitter account
Kinuko, an employee, tweeted, “The thing is… I’ve been subject to harassment by him too. I tolerated years of sexual comments about my body and clothes, uncomfortable jokes, unwanted hugs. He once suggested that I masturbate when I told him I couldn’t sleep, and on another occasion suggested I ‘help’ him with his unfulfilled sexual needs. I made a complaint about him during my time at Reverge Labs back in 2011. I did try to talk directly to him about how I was uncomfortable in 2017, and in return, he called me a hypocrite and blamed me for how I dressed. He said he didn’t want sexual harassment training. If I wanted to keep my job, I felt like I had to just deal with it.
And to be totally honest – if it was just me, I probably would’ve kept dealing with it. But I’ve learned that it’s not just me. He’s done this for years, to multiple people, and I can’t continue protecting him by staying quiet about it anymore.”
Another employee, Persona tweeted, “Instead of leaving Lab Zero peacefully. Mike refused to listen and has decided that everyone in the company. including people he’s victimized. are wrong. His actions are insulting and unacceptable.
Lab Zero has always been about the great team working together to create amazing work. But Mike has taken advantage of and hurt that team, and I can no longer stay in a company that includes him.”
These are only two of the tweets from ex-employees of Lab Zero, there are several others who have quit and have issued their statement on Twitter. But still, there is no response from Lab Zero or Mike Z.
Don’t boycott the games
Despite all the news mentioned above, we urge you to not stop playing these games as several people have worked hard on these games. And also, Lab Zero doesn’t hold the IP for these games. Autumn Media has the IP for Skullgirls and 505 games hold the IP for Indivisible. Autumn Media has also issued a statement saying they support the employees and won’t be working anymore with Lab Zero Games or Mike Zaimont.
