Ken Wong, Lead Designer of Monument Valley Accused of Workplace Abuse
Callum Agnew
Continuing yesterday’s sting of accusations, Tony Coculuzzi, the lead programmer on Cuphead, wrote a multi twitter post alleging that “indie superstar” Ken Wong (creative director for Mountains) “abused him to the point of depression and suicide for two years.”
Here's my story about how I was abused to the point of depression and suicide, for two years, by indie superstar Ken Wong.
— Tony Coculuzzi (@tonycoculuzzi) August 28, 2019
Coculuzzi writes that he is speaking out of concern for the “juniors/minorities” that have been hired by Mountains, claiming, “I’ve witnessed AND been told that that’s his typical target.” Coculuzzi alleges Wong bragged about how people had to quit their job because he was hard to work with, before going on to accuse Wong of gaslighting him, belittling his work, and actively working towards breaking him.
Coculuzzi claims that after mentioning to people at his workplace, Wong responded by laughing about how he stole his friends and that he now didn’t have anyone to talk to. When reaching out, Coculuzzi alleges that he was told, “If you go public about and of the abuse the company might need to take legal action.”
When you're told by someone you thought was a friend that if you go public about any of the abuse that happened to you or others at work, the company might need to take legal action against you. That should be one of the last straws.
— Tony Coculuzzi (@tonycoculuzzi) August 28, 2019
Like some of the allegations made yesterday, Coculuzzi cites how his financial insecurity and his relocation for the job had left him isolated, a fact he believes to be a contributing factor to the alleged abuse.
Other members of the industry, such as Saleem Dabbous, the studio director for Koopmode, have come out in support of Coculuzzi. “Adding my voice of support here – I’ve heard from several folks about other incidents that 100% back up Tony’s harrowing account with Ken Wong. Fuck this shit.”
https://twitter.com/Seemo/status/1166516761757474816?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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