Redundancies spark strike at Eden Games

Test Drive Unlimited developer Eden Games is facing redundancies, with 51 of the 80-strong studio facing the axe.

The move by owner Atari has upset the French studio, which is today striking in protest of what it sees as continuous restructuring plans by a parent company that does not communicate with its employees.

"Eden Games pays now for Atari mismanagement," said the studio. "For several years we are witnessing multiple leader changes at its head, they did not hesitate to get rich despite financial difficulties.

"Restructuring plans have been following each others for 10 years at Atari. Each time the recovery project was beautiful and promising, and ended in a failure. We are sceptical about the proposed project."

"Atari does not play the game of negotiations with employee representatives on the redundancy plan measures. Employee representatives of Eden until now have been extremely collaborative, respecting the very tight deadlines of the redundancy plan."

In a show of solidarity, the company is striking and setting out a four point agenda to:

• Communicate and interact with the CEO, Jim Wilson, who has never introduced himself to his employees.
• Have a constructive negotiation on the terms of the redundancy plan, and not one-sided as is the case now.
• Be sure that an employee of Eden Games is compensated the same way as an employee of Atari.
• Have real visibility on the future of the studio after the restructuring, especially in giving us the financial records requested by our accountant.

GamesIndustry.biz has contacted Atari for comment.