“Can’t I simply say what occurred?” A tall man in a flat cap asks, wanting across the sparse assembly room. “Isn’t reality an absolute protection?” That is Doug Costello, the CEO of Wyrmwood Gaming. “It’s,” says head of HR Bas Antoine, “when you’ve got the entire story.” The 2 shuttle, brainstorming a response, Costello repeatedly wanting right into a digital camera as he dramatically recounts allegations of sexual assault. “The one that was allegedly raped by no means labored on the firm,” he says, eyebrows raised. “I don’t know her title.”
The scene is from a fourteen-minute video titled “Wyrmwood Responds to SA Allegations,” a document of a gaggle of males discussing what to do about recently-surfaced allegations of sexual assault at their firm. All through the video, Costello makes statements like: “You need to get police concerned.” He mentions alcohol as an element within the allegation. In a part of the video, Wyrmwood’s lawyer, Frank E. Biedak, provides the go forward to share the video on their YouTube channel, alongside a written assertion.
Wyrmwood Gaming is an unusually clear firm; whereas its core enterprise is making luxurious wooden merchandise for tabletop players, together with cube trays, deck containers and gaming tables, its executives appear equally involved with the manufacturing of Wyrm Lyfe, a YouTube-based actuality present targeted on their each day actions on the firm, filmed with handheld cameras and uploaded two to 3 instances per week.
This system has over 100,000 subscribers, and followers often reply to new movies with reward or earnest questions. However the sexual assault dialogue was not Wyrmwood’s ordinary content material. Feedback on YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter decried the video as a “tone-deaf” and “dangerous” solution to deal with severe allegations. A number of company companions, together with Dispel Dice and the psychological well being group Take This, introduced they might finish their relationships with Wyrmwood. The corporate took the video down from YouTube in lower than two days.
In a press release addressing the allegations, Wyrmwood mentioned: “We take any allegation of inappropriate conduct, together with, however not restricted to, sexual assault, sexual misconduct and questions of safety, very critically. We take into account the security and well-being of our workers a high precedence. To that finish, we’ve made very important investments in HR and Security and can proceed to take action.”
However after io9 reviewed a saved copy of the video and started to research, it turned clear this incident is emblematic of an organization that seems to prioritize the picture and ego of its executives over the individuals who work for it. Over the course of this investigation io9 spoke to almost fifty sources, together with present and former workers, who shared tales that included allegations of rampant misogyny, bullying, harmful working situations, and sexual harassment and assault.
Doug Costello declined to reply to these allegations by way of cellphone or e mail; he invited io9 to go to one of many firm’s outlets, however we had been unable as a result of time constraints. io9 supplied to interview any consultant of the corporate instead; Costello declined to go the provide alongside. The one present government of Wyrmwood Gaming who spoke to io9 on the document for this text was Bas Antoine, head of HR.
Whereas Wyrmwood Gaming needs to persuade audiences that it’s only a cool bunch of goofballs doing their finest, there’s rot on the firm extending deep into the heartwood of its construction. At its middle: co-owner/co-founder and CEO Doug Costello.
What’s Wyrmwood Gaming?
Wyrmwood Gaming is a Taunton, Massachusetts-based wooden store and manufacturing firm that produces luxurious gaming furnishings and equipment. Established in 2012 by brothers Doug and Ian Costello, the enterprise was primarily based out of a pastime woodshop of their dad and mom’ barn, and offered its wares at native gaming shops. Inside months, the pair teamed up with native players and woodworkers Eric Dupuis and Ed Maranville.
In October 2013, Wyrmwood launched its first Kickstarter, to fund the development of handcrafted wood cube vaults. The marketing campaign accomplished after 27 days, having raised $84,460 from 1,423 backers. (So far, Wyrmwood has efficiently accomplished 24 Kickstarter campaigns; its newest, concluded on March 17, raised $1,923,029, with greater than 5,000 backers making $299 deposits for tables that might price anyplace from $1,700 to upwards of $10,000, relying on wooden and configuration.)
Quickly after, Wyrmwood expanded to a mid-size store, then to the present location in Taunton, and most just lately by buying Keystone Furnishings in Pennsylvania to behave as a end store.
Throughout each progress spurt, Wyrmwood skilled rising pains. John Savage, a woodworker who was on the firm for 3 years beginning in 2015, recollects that rising manufacturing to satisfy Kickstarter orders confirmed a “lack of planning… [management] informed us we might be capable of make a product in a sure manner after which once we tried to deliver it to scale, we might discover main flaws within the manufacturing.”
“Doug is the kind of person who throws stuff on the wall, says co-founder Eric Dupuis. “He essentially doesn’t imagine in competency.” In an episode of Wyrm Lyfe, after Costello boasts that his skillset is in entrepreneurship, not “managing a big firm with correct financials,” Wyrmwood social media supervisor turned actuality present producer Bobby Downey chimes in, saying “and we’ve been faking it fairly good.” No one contradicts him.
In 2020, Wyrmwood’s Modular Sport Desk crowdfunding marketing campaign turned probably the most profitable fundraisers Kickstarter ever hosted, bringing in almost 9 million {dollars} and massively rising demand on the store. Throughout this era of speedy growth, and whereas coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, the corporate jumped from 50 individuals to almost 120, and expanded right into a second store location in Pennsylvania.
It was throughout this transition that Wyrmwood introduced in Mike Saltzman, who started to take over quite a lot of the chief day-to-day operations of the job. Saltzman declined to discuss the issues on the firm as a result of contractual restrictions, however mentioned in a written assertion to io9 that he left shortly after becoming a member of the corporate, following an argument “that highlighted important skilled variations, primarily between Doug [Costello] and myself.”
Regardless of the high-pressure atmosphere, lots of the workers of Wyrmwood–the individuals making the cube trays and towers and vaults and tables–mentioned they cherished their jobs. “I wished to be an proprietor at one level,” mentioned Savage, talking about how a lot he loved the work. “I nonetheless have pals there.”
That angle may be traced, partly, to how Wyrmwood employed a bunch of nerdy players to make stunning, nerdy gaming merchandise. It’s additionally a results of Wyrmwood recruiting from throughout the prolonged circle of family and friends that already labored on the firm, creating an intimate and tight-knit office.
However workers say that at present, that sense of camaraderie has gone lacking. “Working there’s like being in a cult,” one former worker mentioned, describing how they felt about their former colleagues. “Just about [everyone who works at Wyrmwood] are nice individuals,” acknowledged one other former worker beforehand in center administration, “However let me simply be blunt about it. I like everybody on the firm apart from Doug Costello.”
Dangerous conduct on the highest ranges
The primary exterior indication that one thing was unsuitable inside Wyrmwood got here in 2020, when Doug Costello publicly resigned as CEO after a battle over COVID security measures. The incident blew over quick, and Costello returned to the place in 2021.
Extra troubles turned public in early 2023, when accusations of sexual assault on the firm started to floor on Twitter. These accusations went viral in gaming communities, as Wyrmwood Gaming is a recognizable title they usually had simply begun their twenty third Kickstarter. Just a few days later, former worker Andrew Oberbeck said on Twitter he was the whistleblower, and he had been fired by Doug immediately. Then Wyrmwood Gaming launched their video concerning the scenario.
However this incident shouldn’t be the one allegation of misconduct made in opposition to Wyrmwood workers. io9 spoke to a number of individuals who allege they’ve been assaulted or harassed by former and present workers at Wyrmwood Gaming: One in every of these sources retracted their assertion out of worry of retaliation, however two others attest that head of media Bobby Downey had sexually harassed them whereas they had been both workers of Wyrmwood or concerned in a enterprise partnership the corporate. Downey didn’t reply to io9’s request for remark.
One alleged sufferer, a former worker in Wyrmwood’s woodworking division who requested to not be named, recalled an incident that occurred in 2019 after she’d been casually flirting with Downey, however then determined to interrupt it off: He was her oblique boss, and a part-owner of the corporate, so she didn’t really feel snug pursuing a relationship with him, she mentioned. After just a few days of giving Downey a chilly shoulder, he insisted they meet up. After they had been alone, in line with the supply, Downey unzipped his pants and uncovered himself. He took his penis out and requested if she was “going to depart him with blue balls.” When the girl refused, he requested if he might handle it himself. The girl, not understanding what to do, mentioned sure. He masturbated in entrance of her, dropped a used tissue, and left.
Selina Heinen, a model consultant who labored with one in every of Wyrmwood’s enterprise companions, described “barrages of flirty textual content messages” from Downey, who finally informed them, “I believe we must always have intercourse.” Heinen says they informed Downey no, and that they didn’t wish to date throughout the trade for worry of being judged unfairly by colleagues, however Downey promised that having intercourse with him wouldn’t affect Heinen’s popularity. Heinen refused once more, however felt pressured to maintain a cordial relationship with Downey due to their skilled connections.
Accounts of Downey’s alleged unhealthy conduct had been repeated by dozens of sources. “Bobby Downey is the worst one that may very well be representing our firm,” mentioned a present worker who requested anonymity. Based on one other supply who has attended conventions with Downey, he regularly will get blackout drunk at trade occasions: “I’ve by no means felt snug round Downey,” they mentioned. And one other former worker acknowledged that they’ve seen Downey use cocaine, and solicited ladies for sexual favors at company-sponsored meetups. One other former worker recalled having to “tear him off a girl” that Downey had cornered at a celebration.
The sensation that Wyrmwood shouldn’t be a welcoming office for ladies extends past accusations of outright sexual harassment. Bas Antoine, Wyrmwood’s head of HR, mentioned that the corporate employs an “above common” variety of ladies and nonbinary individuals. Antoine mentioned Wyrmwood employs 23% extra ladies than trade normal. However you wouldn’t comprehend it from watching Wyrm Lyfe, the place they have a tendency to seem in occasional cameos. Wyrm Lyfe was below Bobby Downey’s direct supervision for years, and extensively thought-about “his self-importance venture,” in line with former and present workers. (Antoine mentioned that Downey has shifted away from the venture.)
“The [lack of women] had been dropped at [Downey’s] consideration a number of instances,” mentioned Ted Bumpus, a former worker at Wyrmwood. Based on sources, Downey’s excuses for not together with extra ladies embrace statements like “ladies aren’t as humorous as males,” and “the ladies at Wyrmwood are too awkward and aggressive to be on digital camera.”
“He doesn’t deal with ladies like individuals in the event that they aren’t enticing to him,” mentioned one former worker. One other worker, a non-binary woodworker named Jamezie, who requested that their final title be withheld from this text, recalled being lower out from movies, and having their phrases repeated once more, to digital camera, by chief operations officer Ian Costello.
Sources say ladies at Wyrmwood are hardly ever promoted, and plenty of have been handed over for promotions in favor of males they helped practice. “Girls have the least vertical motion within the firm,” mentioned a present worker. “I noticed a number of ladies fail to maneuver up regardless of being the very best craftspeople,” acknowledged one former worker. Antoine says this solely occurred as soon as that he is aware of of since his tenure started in mid-2021, and cited efficiency points as a trigger for the disparity.
However Costello’s views on gender roles and household life could be another excuse ladies aren’t getting promoted. Based on Ted Bumpus, Costello has described himself as a “natalist” —a time period referring to an ideology that claims the purpose of human existence is copy, and lately, a motion that promotes the thought of bettering the world by spreading superior genetic materials. What’s extra, Bumpus says, Costello permits these beliefs to affect administration selections.
“He as soon as gave a younger man who acknowledged his need to have a household an enormous increase with the intention to help that,” Bumpus mentioned. “He ended up making extra money than his supervisor on the time. It brought on an enormous ruckus.”
One other former worker attests that Costello has mentioned that “ladies ought to aspire to having youngsters,” and implied that for those who don’t have youngsters, you’re a nasty particular person.
John Savage recollects a time when he wished to turn into the corporate’s conference supervisor, and approached Costello relating to the emptiness. “He mainly mentioned… that as a result of I had a spouse and youngsters, he couldn’t in good conscience take into account me for that place due to the quantity of journey that it could require.” Costello himself has 5 youngsters.
Dupuis recollects an incident with Costello in 2017 that brought on him to step away from Wyrmwood. “We had been at a conference and we had a feminine worker–who’s snug having her story shared–and we weren’t being let in early. The worker voiced her frustrations to the safety guard and Doug grabbed her by the arm like she was a baby and yelled at her.” The incident disturbed Dupuis sufficient to persuade him to take away himself from an organization he had constructed up for almost 5 years.
He mentioned it was inevitable. “You get to a degree the place any individual disgusts you as an individual. And there’s no manner you may actually have a relationship with them.” Dupuis left Wyrmwood in 2019 and offered his shares.
Former Wyrmwood woodworker Alley Livingston recalled the day earlier than she stop her job on the firm. In late 2022, the identical week that an worker almost burned their finger off on an allegedly faulty machine, Wyrm Lyfe posted a video the place Costello states “security slows you down,” and disparages OSHA. Livingston quoted the video within the firm Discord–their typical mode of communication. The following day, Costello introduced Livingston and her direct supervisor right into a small workplace.
Within the workplace had been a gaggle of workers, together with John “Johnny” Paquette (Livingston’s direct supervisor, a cousin of the Costellos, and a partial proprietor), Ian Costello, one other supervisor, an HR consultant, and Doug Costello. “Doug stood perhaps 4 toes in entrance of me and yelled at me,” Livingston recalled. “He mentioned that if he wished to have his shallowness hit he’d go learn feedback in Wyrm Lyfe.” All Livingston had performed was repeat, verbatim, what Costello had mentioned within the publicly-available video; for that infraction, she was introduced into his workplace and screamed at for ten to twenty minutes, in line with a number of sources who overheard the incident.
Livingston mentioned that she didn’t reply to the yelling, which appeared to encourage Costello to proceed berating her. “Nobody stood up for me. No one helped me. No one intervened. I form of shut down… as a result of what else are you going to do?”
When Livingston finally apologized—simply to get out of the workplace, she says Costello instantly stopped. “He’s like, ‘okay, I’m good. Are you good?’ And we shook arms. As if nothing had occurred.” Livingston stop the subsequent day. The HR consultant who was close by stop shortly after. One former worker mentioned the consultant was “annoyed by the insurmountable HR issues” that Costello introduced.
Wyrmwood’s board of administrators is presently made up of the three majority house owners; brothers Doug and Ian Costello, and Ed Maranville. Girls who could be promoted don’t have any feminine allies among the many higher administration and government workforce, and the sources declare that the top-down misogyny has made it unattainable for center managers and craftspeople to fight sexism, even once they try and elevate or promote ladies. At present, solely 4 ladies out of an organization of 170 are in administration positions. There may be one girl on the chief workforce, however she shares the title “co-manager of conventions” with a person.
“In case you’re a girl at Wyrmwood, you realize your home within the firm,” mentioned Mary Antanavica, a former woodworker who left after she felt her reported harassment claims weren’t taken critically. “And it’s not on high, and even within the center.”
Disrespect for craftspeople
Regardless of the numerous income pushed by Wyrmwood’s record-setting Kickstarter campaigns, workers say the corporate didn’t share the wealth with most employees.
Based on documentation reviewed by io9 describing the corporate’s insurance policies for raises, earlier than 2020 Wyrmwood operated on a tier-based system the place workers might evaluate how a lot everybody on the firm made, and see a transparent path for methods to transfer up within the firm. This modified in 2020, when tiers had been eradicated, and workers had been evaluated and given raises on a person foundation.
Whereas the employees on the store ground had been barely making a greenback or two extra an hour over minimal wage ($15/hour in Massachusetts), many of the exec employees and managers had been making $45-70,000, and eight executives, together with the founders and Bobby Downey, had been making $100,000.
Antoine states that presently, Wyrmwoods craftspeople make round $20 an hour, which quantities to roughly $42,000 yearly. In distinction, the typical wage of a union journeyman carpenter in Massachusetts is $66,000.
Raises, once they do happen, are sometimes applied months after the corporate tells their employees to anticipate them. In 2022, the corporate laid off 23 individuals simply earlier than Christmas, some sources suspected, to keep away from paying vacation PTO. Antoine mentioned that these layoffs had been “unlucky” and that the timing was “tremendous shitty.”
Promotions are additionally onerous to get, in line with a number of sources, until you’re one in every of Costello’s “favorites.”
“[Costello] tried to deliver me into the interior circle at first. So I bought issues that quite a lot of different individuals on the firm didn’t,” Bumpus mentioned. “He rewarded me financially in a short time and helped transfer me up.”
Accusations of nepotism are widespread, and have even been addressed publicly on an episode of Wyrm Lyfe, the place the media workforce’s numerous connections had been laid out. Antoine informed io9 that the media workforce and firm at giant is much less nepotistic now, however admitted that inside a month of arriving at Wyrmwood in 2021 he was promoted to move of HR, regardless of having no particular {qualifications}. He says this is because of his “work ethic.”
Antoine joined Wyrmwood after what one supply described as a “quarter life disaster” whereas engaged on Wall Avenue throughout the pandemic. Antoine acknowledged that he labored on the store ground for lower than a month in 2021 earlier than getting shortly promoted to the chief workforce. His titles presently are; Head of HR, Chief of Enterprise and Gross sales Officer, and VP of furnishings, which incorporates overseeing the luxurious sport desk manufacturing. He has no earlier woodworking or HR expertise, though he acknowledged that he works with consultants with the intention to assist set up methods for worker administration on the firm.
“Security slows you down”
In summer season of 2020, throughout the top of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wyrmwood started requiring workers return to its Massachusetts manufacturing facility. As soon as on website, employees started to note what they seen as probably harmful lapses in office security relating to COVID precautions and hearth prevention. Quickly after, a body of workers went to Costello immediately and requested about bettering requirements. Costello mentioned that he wished them to ship a formalized doc with their requested adjustments, however added that they higher “make it good” or they might be the primary fired if something went unsuitable.
When employees had been able to current their proposal, 18 individuals signed out of the roughly 50 individuals working on the plant. Based on sources, an estimated 15-20 extra individuals wished to signal, however feared retaliation from administration. One supply mentioned that they wished to signal and voiced their help to the organizers however “didn’t wish to find yourself homeless.”
When introduced with the proposal forward of the agreed-upon assembly time and deadline (throughout which Costello was scheduled to fulfill with a small group of employee representatives), Costello modified the phrases; there could be an announcement, not a gathering.
This announcement was filmed and revealed by way of Wyrm Lyfe, in a video titled ‘Wyrmwood Goes Corporate.’ On this heavily-edited 17-minute clip, Costello bemoans the employees’ calls for for “security” and “HR,” saying that such issues are “company” and can “take away from enjoyable.” He’s unmasked in the midst of the pandemic, yelling at a bunch of masked employees who’ve requested for safer working situations, together with his ordinary gang of executives, together with Ian Costello and Bobby Downey standing behind him. He ends by stepping down as CEO. Two workshop workers resigned later that week in protest. Doug Costello returned to the CEO place lower than a 12 months later.
The revealed video solely reveals Costello talking, however io9 obtained a recording of the announcement that had not been edited. The total announcement took half-hour, and employees had been speaking again and pushing in opposition to Costello’s tirade your complete time. One employee stops him, saying that “we wished a easy assembly and also you’ve turned it right into a circus. Now you may have the shitshow you need.” One other says, “no one requested on your soapboxing.” In direction of the top of the recording, Downey says “we’ve bought some modifying to do.” An worker may be overheard saying “I guess you do.”
There have been different worker issues over COVID security. Costello and Jason MacDonald–the present lead designer and CEO throughout Costello’s step again from the place–typically traveled interstate between Wyrmwood outlets and didn’t endure government-recommended quarantine. Masks coverage additionally diversified relying on the chief workforce’s “private emotions” concerning the state of the pandemic, in line with a number of sources.
Costello claims he’s very involved about security, and has mentioned so a number of instances on Wyrm Lyfe, however typically in the identical breath that he begins to disparage the U.S. Occupational Security and Well being Administration (OSHA) as overbearing. He describes OSHA rules as “removing agency and adulthood” from workers.
“OSHA has come by the store a number of instances,” mentioned Livingston. “I used to be contacted by OSHA after I reported an incident, they usually informed me that Wyrmwood had been reported so many instances that they had been going to attempt to high-quality them on as many issues as they might.”
Wyrmwood has a number of OSHA violations on file. They’ve obtained five serious safety infractions since 2020, together with violations for noise security and improper operation of a forklift. The corporate presently owes or has paid almost $30,000 in fines. Wyrmwood states that it’s presently in compliance with OSHA requirements, they usually work with OSHA consultants to ascertain security rules on the store.
“The corporate is decided to do issues in a manner that maximizes pace,” continued Livingston, “they usually accomplish that in a manner that violates security requirements.” A number of sources acknowledged that Wyrmwood doesn’t repair issues until it stands to price them one thing in the event that they don’t repair it.
“I’ve seen an increasing number of accidents as [Costello] pushes the employees to work sooner,” mentioned one present worker. Office accidents described to io9 embrace easily-avoidable errors brought on by an absence of security tools or coaching. Sources report that no one is sufficiently skilled on the tools; workers are employed with little to no woodworking expertise and skilled to be “simply sufficient sufficient.”
One of many store’s worst accidents occurred in 2022, when an worker was working throughout a suspected energy disruption that brought on a machine to malfunction and clamp down on the worker’s hand. As a result of the machine didn’t have an emergency cease, the worker’s hand remained clamped between the machine and the wooden they had been working with for 5 to seven seconds, almost burning their finger off. That worker was rushed to the hospital and needed to endure a number of surgical procedures.
Later within the day, a number of sources say, administration tried to gloss over this occasion in a ground assembly, and tried in charge the worker for the harm, although this machine had been identified to have this difficulty. “I’ve seen this model go off for no motive,” mentioned one former worker. “I’ve seen one of many managers run over when this machine was malfunctioning and should unplug your complete machine with the intention to cease the pneumatic arms with the manufacturers from going up and down.”
The injured worker was alleged to return to Wyrmwood for “mild work,” however earlier than they might return to work, they had been laid off. This worker is now planning to file a office harm swimsuit.
One other former worker, Matt King, additionally says he bumped into issues as a result of well being points: A most cancers survivor with a power sickness, King labored in customer support, and alleges that he was denied some lodging that may permit him to work successfully, together with a fifteen-minute buffer for his cellphone line to permit versatile begin time. King finally resigned throughout a gathering with administration due to the perceived lack of help.
“Equality,” King mentioned, “shouldn’t be fairness. My expertise at Wyrmwood confirmed me that I may not ever be capable of pursue an equitable profession in my life.”
Different questions of safety embrace environmental hazards. Masking shouldn’t be at all times enforced in areas with excessive mud and chemical content material. The spray room was immediately subsequent to the communal lunch desk, and had one industrial fan serving to flow into the fumes, however that fan was blocked by a sheet of plastic.
In a dusty, wood-filled manufacturing facility, hearth extinguishers had been typically lacking, old-fashioned, or uncharged. This could even be seen in a Wyrm Lyfe video, when a security inspector informs Costello of an out-of-charge extinguisher. Costello appears shocked that you’d have to preserve these updated, and laughs when he assessments them and nothing occurs. This video is from two years in the past, however a number of sources reported that fireside security remains to be not taken critically. For years, the de facto response when the fireplace alarm went off was to see if “any of the managers” had been leaving the realm.
Sources additionally say that drug use at Wyrmwood has been an issue, and that workers would smoke marijuana on breaks, and on firm property. Whereas marijuana use isn’t unlawful in Massachusetts, smoking after which working heavy equipment is an clearly unsafe follow. A number of workers described incidents the place Costello would catch individuals smoking, and ship them dwelling for the day, however acknowledged that “there have been no actual penalties for smoking weed at work.” Antoine states that that is now not the case on the firm.
What’s Wyrm Lyfe?
Wyrm Lyfe, the corporate’s YouTube sequence, debuted in September of 2018 as a behind-the-scenes take a look at the workshop, firm tradition, and “occasional drama.” Over the previous 4 years the manufacturing has was a intentionally constructed, dramatic actuality present concerning the employees of Wyrmwood Gaming.
“When Wyrm Lyfe first got here out I assumed it was just a little humorous,” mentioned Savage. “But it surely’s not likely us. It’s alleged to be the store, and it turned this actuality present a couple of bunch of eccentrics who work within the gaming trade however don’t sport.” A number of sources described Wyrm Lyfe as a conceit venture for Costello and Downey.
“Wyrmwood is an leisure firm that sometimes does manufacturing,” mentioned a former worker. “It’s a narcissistic endeavor headed by a raging narcissist who desperately needs to be well-known.”
The result’s much less a picture of a goofy firm using the waves of success and extra of an inside take a look at a enterprise that, in line with a former worker, “fails onerous and quick, doesn’t know what it’s doing more often than not, and refuses to rent anybody with precise expertise operating a enterprise of their measurement.”
Wyrmwood’s media workforce is held to a wholly totally different normal than the remainder of the employees, in line with worker sources. They’re allowed to be late, they receives a commission extra money, and they’re stored separate from the craftspeople; as a result of they act because the de-facto “gross sales workforce,” higher administration considers the media workforce the “cash makers” of Wyrmwood, which signifies that they get much more leeway than the individuals who truly construct the product.
The devaluation of craftspeople in favor of the media workforce has bred resentment on the firm–“everybody hates the media division,” mentioned a former worker–and has instilled a way of vanity within the media workforce.
In the meantime, inside communication is so unhealthy at Wyrmwood that the store workers discover out information about Wyrmwood from watching Wyrm Lyfe, in line with a number of sources. “It occurred on a regular basis,” mentioned Savage.
Subjects that weren’t communicated on to the employees embrace new merchandise that they might be making, when raises would happen, employees adjustments and place shifts, new tools, layoff bulletins, enterprise statuses, and upcoming promotions and Kickstarter campaigns.
“Wyrm Lyfe is very edited propaganda,” mentioned one former worker. And it has labored. Over 100K individuals subscribe to the Wyrm Lyfe channel to tune into the Dougie Costello present thrice per week. The issue is that Wyrm Lyfe, like all propaganda, intentionally crafted and edited to indicate solely what they need you to see. “Wyrm Lyfe is a menace,” one former worker mentioned. “They use it to persuade individuals to work right here, they usually maintain their platform over their competitors like a gun.”
Finally, the gravest difficulty with Wyrm Lyfe could also be that it casts a shiny highlight on Bobby Downey and Doug Costello, to the purpose that their jobs and enterprise is immediately associated to how individuals understand them on YouTube.
Absolutely the focus that Downey has on being well-known is clear in his presence on Wyrm Lyfe, in advertising and merch photos, and his attendance at conventions. “He was a pleasant man,” mentioned one former worker, “however being in entrance of the digital camera a lot modified him.” When anybody ties who they’re to what they accomplish that intently, they have to be held accountable for his or her private conduct. And Downey’s private conduct is reprehensible.
Wyrmwood has poisoned their very own waters
There are a lot of followers of Wyrmwood Gaming who will defend Doug Costello, Bobby Downey, and their administration of Wyrmwood. Bumpus recollects the love he bought from followers, saying that they fall in love with the corporate… “nevertheless it’s all in love with the picture the corporate needs you to see. They don’t see how we’re being exploited and the way we’re working our asses off. How we’re being informed that this firm is a household and it is advisable to help your loved ones. However Wyrmwood shouldn’t be going to handle you.”
Paul Downs, the proprietor of a Pennsylvania cabinetmaking firm and former author of “You’re The Boss,” a New York Occasions small enterprise recommendation column, was at one time engaged on a e book about Wyrmwood; He declined to touch upon Costello’s conduct, however defended the precise of the small enterprise proprietor to run his firm any manner that he noticed match.
And whereas that’s true—Costello can run Wyrmwood any manner he likes, even when that features enjoying down security issues and disrespecting ladies—many previous and current workers say that doesn’t make it proper.
It’s not proper, they are saying, that Costello has lied to his workers, promising them raises when none had been forthcoming; it’s not proper, they are saying, that he favors male workers over his feminine ones; it’s not proper, they are saying, that his store has injured craftspeople; it’s not proper, they are saying, that he has determined to fireplace workers as an alternative of treating them pretty; it’s not proper, they are saying, that he has used Wyrm Lyfe to construct a cult of character.
At each degree, in line with workers, Wyrmwood has did not scale to the calls for of its clients and in a manner that adequately helps their workers. One present worker emphasised to io9 that whereas they love their coworkers they usually love what they make, administration makes the store a hostile office. “I simply desire a good place to work,” they mentioned. “However Doug makes that unattainable.”
The Wyrmwood clients who know all this and resolve to buy anyway will not be rebels; they’re merely rewarding unhealthy conduct. This machine grinds up hardworking, blue-collar employees and spits them out, bloody and traumatized.
“Everybody who’s ever labored at Wyrmwood, they may let you know they cherished their coworkers, and we constructed this camaraderie collectively, despite Doug Costello,” mentioned Ted Bumpus. “So typically our coworkers had been our greatest family and friends. And the administration takes benefit of that.”
Correction 3/28/23 10:50 pm ET: Earlier variations of this text misspelled the surnames of Wyrmwood worker and partial proprietor John “Johnny” Paquette, and former worker Andrew Oberbeck.
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