News Dangen Entertainment Allegedly Not Paying Indie Devs?

[Theswweet]

Posted this on Era, but figured it was worth a nod here too.

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So... this appears to be developing, but at least one Indie developer, and allegedly others, aren't being paid royalties for their games published by Dangen Entertainment. A post went up on r/games earlier today, but also the developers for Devil Engine Ignition have not-so-subtly been claiming it themselves on Twitter:


So far only one developer has alleged this, but they're claiming that they've been in contact with other developers that have had the same happen to them. Obviously, this is a developing story - hoping this isn't what it looks like...

 

[lashman]

that's fucked up

 

[sauce]

Super disappointing. I hope the devs get sorted

 

[Blizniak]

Scummy publisher stories popping left and right lately

 

[Rando10123]

So Dangen is on the same level as Nicalis now, huh? Man, indie devs can't catch a break when it comes to shitty publishers. The tweet was deleted, what did it say?

 

[lashman]

So Dangen is on the same level as Nicalis now, huh? Man, indie devs can't catch a break when it comes to shitty publishers. The tweet was deleted, what did it say?

basically "the new DLC is delayed because of legal reasons" with a message hidden inside which read "DANGEN ROBBED US"

 

[Rando10123]

basically "the new DLC is delayed because of legal reasons" with a message hidden inside which read "DANGEN ROBBED US"

Yeah, just got that on his reddit post. The fact that Dangen was holding back the release of Ignition and the PS4 port makes them scum. Why the fuck are they doing this? Sinoc also said that rdein (dev of Momodura/Minoria) had problems with his Minoria release. I wonder if Matt Mcmuscles will talk about it too considering his game is also being published by Dangan? Also reading that 4chan post, I did not know Ben Judd was the CEO (guy who helped Inafune with MN.9 kickstarter), which explains how scummy and shitty the company is.

 

[prudis]

damn sad to see, Dangen has quite nice selection of indies

 

[Eferis]

A Dangen employee addressed the accusations on Era (not sure why an Internet board is now the official way to handle this kind of things but whatever)

Devil Engine devs replied, on Twitter

 

[Durante]

Seems like there is, at the very least, a severe lack of professionalism (and simply knowing how to do your job) on both sides there.

 

[Deleted member 113]

Seems like there is, at the very least, a severe lack of professionalism (and simply knowing how to do your job) on both sides there.

Yeah.
And it's disappointing to see, as someone who enjoys both Dangen's releases, and Devil Engine in particular.

Hopefully the problem is indeed "incompetence", and other developers aren't affected.
Also, while social media is a popular way of handling things nowadays, I really don't think it's the right channel to solve business disputes.

 

[Durante]

One thing I have to say, as someone who does contract work, I can fully understand why the developers are angry if a payment they were supposed to get several months ago still hasn't reached them.

If you hire someone to do anything (or have any contract with them that obliges you to to pay them for any reason) then you absolutely need to make sure that you pay them fully and on time, regardless of any other circumstances. That's the bare minimum, and until you are certain that you can ensure that you shouldn't sign the contract.

 

[Swenhir]

I'm reluctantly with Durante on this one. Neither the post on twitter nor the one on Era particularly ooze good form. I can't blame them for wanting to defend themselves if they are indeed in the right and he's abusive (and/or a liar) but the fashion in which they did so wasn't the best.

I'd take a jug of salt with me and keep it handy whenever either of these parties say anything.

 

[Rando10123]

This just got released and has tons of information about what Dangen did. This honestly feels like it's Dangen's fault and other devs have been patient enough but keep getting screwed over by Ben Judd and his cronies

 

[Chris]

Get the auditors in, they'll be pocketing money.

 

[Panda Pedinte]

That Medium article was wild. The person who wrote it also backed their claims with screenshots of various conversations. It paints Dangen as being very inefective and amateurs if not incompetent.

 

[Parsnip]

That's hella damning.
At its best it's gross incompetence and at worst... yikes.

 

[gabbo]

God lord that was alarming. Some of the things Dangen has done have to be illegal, right?

 

[Durante]

What a shitshow.

 

[Kvik]

After reading that Medium article and finally be able to put thetrin's ERA post in context, I don't blame Devil Engine's dev to be angry at them. I mean, Dangen is screwing with their livelihood right there. They're operating a business in Japan for the better part of the decade, yet still managed to fuck up their taxes and not paying developers on time.

Not to mention thetrin's gross incompetence in handling Devil Engine's account. Because of them, Devil Engine's dev missed out on Golden Week sale. It was a great sale since I remember most Japanese games were at their historical low during the sale, and it was a golden opportunity to make some sales. I suppose thetrin was too busy posting on ERA or playing Destiny instead of doing their job.

 

[Swenhir]

The more I read of that medium article, the more horrified I get. The picture of Ben that it paints is one of a rather narcissistic, abusive person. What a shitshow indeed.

 

[m_dorian]

Doesn't look good for some people there in Dangen even if the half of this article is true.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

A Dangen employee addressed the accusations on Era (not sure why an Internet board is now the official way to handle this kind of things but whatever)

Devil Engine devs replied, on Twitter

We are in the era (ha!) where it's more about getting your side of the story out there, even if it's wrong, to shape public opinion.

Because free speech, yo. Everything is fair game now.

 

[Anteater]

 

[Kvik]

The archive.is links are down as well.

 

[lashman]

The archive.is links are down as well.

no, it's not ... it's just not available in the EU (and possibly a few other places)

they'd rather block the entire EU than comply with GDPR

 

[Kvik]

no, it's not ... it's just not available in the EU (and possibly a few other places)

they'd rather block the entire EU than comply with GDPR

Ah, you're right my friend. The page returned 404 when viewed from an .au-based IP address. I VPN'd to an .sg IP address and I managed to see the article.

 

[Digoman]

Strange, I'm in Brazil but the .is domain is also blocked.

This works:

Attention Required!

 

[lashman]

Ah, you're right my friend. The page returned 404 when viewed from an .au-based IP address. I VPN'd to an .sg IP address and I managed to see the article.

you're welcome

 

[Rando10123]

I wonder what's gonna happen to Dangen if this keeps going. They don't have something like Nicalis holding the Cave Story IP hostage to leech off to and not worry about anything financially.

 

[gabbo]

I wonder what's gonna happen to Dangen if this keeps going. They don't have something like Nicalis holding the Cave Story IP hostage to leech off to and not worry about anything financially.

lawsuits - close up shop - reform under new moniker - repeat

 

[lashman]

lawsuits - close up shop - reform under new moniker - repeat

capitalism™

 

[Eferis]

It may (not) be unrelated, but the devs behind Renaine have also parted ways with Dangen.

 

[Anteater]

Part 2

 

[prudis]

seems like noone posted the Dangen's reaction to the first one ... so for completion's sake



what a mess incompetent fucks everywhere and instead of solving shit intrnaly or through courts .... they will rather battle it out on social media to capitalize on toxci fucks on those .... good job

let it burn .... let it all burn ... let this whole industry world burn

 

[Ascheroth]

I haven't yet read everything, but still.

Damn.
Dangen look like colossal incompetent pieces of shit.

 

[Durante]

The part where they (allegedly) repeatedly claim that things are much more complicated than they actually are to justify their (mostly useless) middleman position is something I've observed far too often.

 

[Parsnip]

As if the first post wasn't damning enough, this second one is just wow.

 

[Anteater]

Did they take down the medium articles again?

Dangen's response only addressed like a few points. The first thing they did was playing victim calling the developers "toxic", when the devs were rightfully angry over Dangen's own incompetence, and they now try to push the narrative that the writer is the bad guy with an agenda to take them down. There are way too many receipts from the writer's side to not believe them.

Although I've only read part 2 and worked my way backwards I didn't read some of the Ben Judd stuff (Not to mention they didn't really respond much to the allegations) because that shit makes me uncomfortable, but I get the gist of it.

 

[Rando10123]

Attention Required!

In case anyone missed out on reading the second article

 

[Ascheroth]

It looks like they took Ben Chudd and Nayan from the website
Now: DANGEN | Team
Previously: DANGEN | Team

I wonder what their intention is here? Chudd is the boss right? I doubt he fired himself.

 

[gabbo]

seems like noone posted the Dangen's reaction to the first one ... so for completion's sake



what a mess incompetent fucks everywhere and instead of solving shit intrnaly or through courts .... they will rather battle it out on social media to capitalize on toxci fucks on those .... good job

let it burn .... let it all burn ... let this whole industry world burn

All I see is a blank white box, what was in this prior?

It looks like they took Ben Chudd and Nayan from the website
Now: DANGEN | Team
Previously: DANGEN | Team

I wonder what their intention is here? Chudd is the boss right? I doubt he fired himself.

Try to divert attention away from themselves and back onto the company 'so work can continue'. That's the usual spiel

 

[prudis]

All I see is a blank white box, what was in this prior?

Dangen's reaction (iirc mostly just Judd) to the first blogpost

 

[Anteater]

Removed names, articles, they're just waiting for it to blow over, which seems to be working so far, it's not getting much talk, and barely any articles were written about them, resetera user Thetrin (Nayan from Dangen) didn't bother responding and is still active/posting in other threads like nothing happened.

So yeah.

 

[Rando10123]

It's not surprising that not many talked about Dangen since youtubers/websites think a small time publisher like Dangen don't generate enough outrage clicks or views. It also doesn't help that Japanese outlets like Famitsu are quiet because they have some close relationship with Dangen. The games they published are pretty niche and not that big sellers to have people notice them, but that's also why it might spell big trouble for them if enough developers refuse to work with them and they lose money in the process.

Also, I don't think anyone noticed, but on the publisher page, they removed Devil Engine from their list, even though it's still published by them. Seems like they're outright gonna drop the support later?

Steam Publisher: DANGEN Entertainment

DANGEN Entertainment is an indie publisher based in Japan, bringing rad video games from around the world, straight to your face.

store.steampowered.com

 

[prudis]

Ben Judd's Statement

Over the past few days, it's become clear that I personally caused an ex-partner, Alex, a great deal of pain from my actions while we were together six years ago.
Many things I didn't recognize about power dynamics I now see for the harm they can and did cause; for that and my related reckless and inappropriate behavior I am truly sorry.
There are many things I now see I must work and improve on. Some of them will require difficult choices, but it's my sincere hope to learn from this and become a better person, for myself and for my family, and for everyone.
Redemption won't come with an apology, it must be earned through action and I plan to do my best to show people I mean everything I'm saying. I hope there is a day where my actions can allow Alex to forgive me some day.
I've caused a great deal of pain to not only Alex, but my friends, co-workers, and business relations and I am deeply sorry for that.
In order to take responsibility and give myself time and space to work on this, I will be stepping away from Dangen and Bitsummit and taking leave from my other industry endeavors.
For the foreseeable future, I will be focusing on fixing some of the issues that have come to light as well as spending time with my family. They believe in me and I want to work hard to grow in a way that justifies that faith. I am truly sorry.

Ben Judd

DANGEN | Ben Judd's Statement

Publisher.

dangenentertainment.com

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Dangen Company Restructuring

Dangen stands by our mission to promote and support indies in Japan and all over the world. We have always had our developers' best interests at heart. And while mistakes have been made, we have always acted in good faith to resolve them fairly.
We feel that we have given sufficient evidence to support our rebuttal of the claims made against us. However, in the interest of protecting our current employees and clients from further trouble, we are making the following changes:
・In light of Ben Judd, CEO, exiting the company and effective as soon as possible, ownership of the company will be transferred to Dan Stern, who will take over as the interim CEO until we settle on a long-term management solution.
・In talking with Nayan Ramachandran we have decided together it would be best if he stepped away as a full-time employee. He will facilitate work on his projects on a freelance basis.
・Dangen will continue to honor its financial obligations. We request that any developer who has received a sales report and has yet to invoice us, please do so accordingly.
Dangen is staffed by passionate gamers. We love the projects we are working on and we remain committed to supporting the developers and their games.
Thank you very much for your support and understanding during this transitional period.

DANGEN | Dangen Company Restructuring

Publisher.

dangenentertainment.com

 

[Rando10123]

Funny how they completely ignored the DE developers and did not bother to even mention them. What a joke, I hope this doesn't end like this.

 

[Anteater]

Yeah Ben Judd is just staying away from public spotlight, nothing much really changed from the sound of that.

 

[gabbo]

Yeah Ben Judd is just staying away from public spotlight, nothing much really changed from the sound of that.

Yep, Seems like it might work, but even his handling of this is likely to have adverse effects on the company. It's not 1997, yo can't simply hide from bad press like you used to. especially not such specific, terrible press

 

[Anteater]

Dangen warning writer made a post on Resetera, read the full post there:

Dangen Entertainment Allegedly Robbing Indie Devs? (Update: Medium article with more info; Dangen responds; 2nd Medium article -- See Threadmarks)