“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, “you probably have the entire story.” The 2 travel, brainstorming a response, Costello repeatedly wanting right into a digicam as he dramatically recounts allegations of sexual assault. “The one who 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 must 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 centered on their every day actions on the firm, filmed with handheld cameras and uploaded two to 3 instances every 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 typical content material. Feedback on YouTube, Reddit, and Twitter decried the video as a “tone-deaf” and “dangerous” method to deal with critical allegations. A number of company companions, together with Dispel Cube 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 stated: “We take any allegation of inappropriate conduct, together with, however not restricted to, sexual assault, sexual misconduct and issues of safety, very severely. We take into account the protection and well-being of our staff a high precedence. To that finish, we’ve made very vital investments in HR and Security and can proceed to take action.”
However after io9 reviewed a saved copy of the video and commenced to research, it grew to become 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 staff, 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 through cellphone or e-mail; he invited io9 to go to one of many firm’s retailers, however we had been unable resulting from time constraints. io9 provided to interview any consultant of the corporate instead; Costello declined to move the supply alongside. The one present govt 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 heart: 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 interest woodshop of their mother and father’ 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 picket 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 value 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 lately by buying Keystone Furnishings in Pennsylvania to behave as a end store.
Throughout each development spurt, Wyrmwood skilled rising pains. John Savage, a woodworker who was on the firm for 3 years beginning in 2015, recollects that growing manufacturing to meet Kickstarter orders confirmed a “lack of planning… [management] informed us we might have the ability to make a product in a sure method after which once we tried to convey 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 consider 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 grew to become one of the crucial profitable fundraisers Kickstarter ever hosted, bringing in almost 9 million {dollars} and vastly growing demand on the store. Throughout this era of fast improvement, and whereas coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, the corporate jumped from 50 folks 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 plenty of the manager day-to-day operations of the job. Saltzman declined to discuss the issues on the firm resulting from contractual restrictions, however stated in a written assertion to io9 that he left shortly after becoming a member of the corporate, following an argument “that highlighted vital skilled variations, primarily between Doug [Costello] and myself.”
Regardless of the high-pressure setting, lots of the staff of Wyrmwood–the folks making the cube trays and towers and vaults and tables–stated they cherished their jobs. “I needed to be an proprietor at one level,” stated Savage, talking about how a lot he loved the work. “I nonetheless have buddies there.”
That perspective will be traced, partly, to how Wyrmwood employed a bunch of nerdy players to make lovely, 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 staff say that immediately, that sense of camaraderie has gone lacking. “Working there may be like being in a cult,” one former worker stated, describing how they felt about their former colleagues. “Just about [everyone who works at Wyrmwood] are nice folks,” acknowledged one other former worker beforehand in center administration, “However let me simply be blunt about it. I like everybody on the firm aside from Doug Costello.”
Unhealthy 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 grew to become 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 stated on Twitter he was the whistleblower, and he had been fired by Doug instantly. Then Wyrmwood Gaming launched their video concerning the state of affairs.
However this incident will not be the one allegation of misconduct made in opposition to Wyrmwood staff. io9 spoke to a number of individuals who allege they’ve been assaulted or harassed by former and present staff at Wyrmwood Gaming: Certainly one of these sources retracted their assertion out of concern of retaliation, however two others attest that head of media Bobby Downey had sexually harassed them whereas they had been both staff 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 stated. After a couple of days of giving Downey a chilly shoulder, he insisted they meet up. After they had been alone, in accordance with the supply, Downey unzipped his pants and uncovered himself. He took his penis out and requested if she was “going to go away him with blue balls.” When the girl refused, he requested if he might deal with it himself. The lady, not figuring out what to do, stated sure. He masturbated in entrance of her, dropped a used tissue, and left.
Selina Heinen, a model consultant who labored with one in all Wyrmwood’s enterprise companions, described “barrages of flirty textual content messages” from Downey, who finally informed them, “I feel we should always have intercourse.” Heinen says they informed Downey no, and that they didn’t need to date throughout the business for concern 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 who could possibly be representing our firm,” stated a present worker who requested anonymity. In accordance with one other supply who has attended conventions with Downey, he ceaselessly will get blackout drunk at business occasions: “I’ve by no means felt snug round Downey,” they stated. 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 lady” that Downey had cornered at a celebration.
The sensation that Wyrmwood will not be a welcoming office for girls extends past accusations of outright sexual harassment. Bas Antoine, Wyrmwood’s head of HR, stated that the corporate employs an “above common” variety of ladies and nonbinary folks. Antoine stated Wyrmwood employs 23% extra ladies than business commonplace. However you wouldn’t realize it from watching Wyrm Lyfe, the place they have an inclination to seem in occasional cameos. Wyrm Lyfe was underneath Bobby Downey’s direct supervision for years, and extensively thought of “his self-importance mission,” in accordance with former and present staff. (Antoine stated that Downey has shifted away from the mission.)
“The [lack of women] had been dropped at [Downey’s] consideration a number of instances,” stated Ted Bumpus, a former worker at Wyrmwood. In accordance with sources, Downey’s excuses for not together with extra ladies embody statements like “ladies aren’t as humorous as males,” and “the ladies at Wyrmwood are too awkward and aggressive to be on digicam.”
“He doesn’t deal with ladies like folks in the event that they aren’t enticing to him,” stated 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 reduce out from movies, and having their phrases repeated once more, to digicam, by chief operations officer Ian Costello.
Sources say ladies at Wyrmwood are not often promoted, and lots of have been handed over for promotions in favor of males they helped practice. “Ladies have the least vertical motion within the firm,” stated a present worker. “I noticed a number of ladies fail to maneuver up regardless of being the perfect 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 may be one more reason ladies aren’t getting promoted. In accordance with Ted Bumpus, Costello has described himself as a “natalist” —a time period referring to an ideology that claims the purpose of human existence is replica, and in recent times, a motion that promotes the concept of enhancing the world via spreading superior genetic materials. What’s extra, Bumpus says, Costello permits these beliefs to affect administration choices.
“He as soon as gave a younger man who acknowledged his need to have a household an enormous increase with a purpose to assist that,” Bumpus stated. “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 stated that “ladies ought to aspire to having youngsters,” and implied that in the event you don’t have youngsters, you’re a foul particular person.
John Savage recollects a time when he needed to change into the corporate’s conference supervisor, and approached Costello relating to the emptiness. “He principally stated… that as a result of I had a spouse and kids, he couldn’t in good conscience take into account me for that place due to the quantity of journey that it will 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 toddler 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 stated it was inevitable. “You get to a degree the place someone disgusts you as an individual. And there’s no method 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 give up 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 staff, 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 possibly 4 toes in entrance of me and yelled at me,” Livingston recalled. “He stated that if he needed to have his vanity hit he’d go learn feedback in Wyrm Lyfe.” All Livingston had completed was repeat, verbatim, what Costello had stated within the publicly-available video; for that infraction, she was introduced into his workplace and screamed at for ten to twenty minutes, in accordance with a number of sources who overheard the incident.
Livingston stated 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 type 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 out of the blue stopped. “He’s like, ‘okay, I’m good. Are you good?’ And we shook fingers. As if nothing had occurred.” Livingston give up the subsequent day. The HR consultant who was close by give up shortly after. One former worker stated the consultant was “annoyed by the insurmountable HR issues” that Costello introduced.
Wyrmwood’s board of administrators is at present made up of the three majority homeowners; brothers Doug and Ian Costello, and Ed Maranville. Ladies who may be promoted haven’t any feminine allies among the many higher administration and govt group, and the sources declare that the top-down misogyny has made it unattainable for center managers and craftspeople to fight sexism, even after they try and elevate or promote ladies. At the moment, solely 4 ladies out of an organization of 170 are in administration positions. There may be one lady on the manager group, however she shares the title “co-manager of conventions” with a person.
“For those who’re a lady at Wyrmwood, you recognize your home within the firm,” stated Mary Antanavica, a former woodworker who left after she felt her reported harassment claims weren’t taken severely. “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, staff say the corporate didn’t share the wealth with most employees.
In accordance with documentation reviewed by io9 describing the corporate’s insurance policies for raises, earlier than 2020 Wyrmwood operated on a tier-based system the place staff might evaluation how a lot everybody on the firm made, and see a transparent path for find out how to transfer up within the firm. This modified in 2020, when tiers had been eradicated, and staff had been evaluated and given raises on a person foundation.
Whereas the employees on the store flooring had been barely making a greenback or two extra an hour over minimal wage ($15/hour in Massachusetts), a lot 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 at present, Wyrmwoods craftspeople make round $20 an hour, which quantities to roughly $42,000 yearly. In distinction, the common wage of a union journeyman carpenter in Massachusetts is $66,000.
Raises, after they do happen, are usually applied months after the corporate tells their employees to count on them. In 2022, the corporate laid off 23 folks simply earlier than Christmas, some sources suspected, to keep away from paying vacation PTO. Antoine stated that these layoffs had been “unlucky” and that the timing was “tremendous shitty.”
Promotions are additionally arduous to get, in accordance with a number of sources, until you’re one in all Costello’s “favorites.”
“[Costello] tried to convey me into the inside circle at first. So I bought issues that plenty of different folks on the firm didn’t,” Bumpus stated. “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 group’s varied connections had been laid out. Antoine informed io9 that the media group 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 go 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 flooring for lower than a month in 2021 earlier than getting shortly promoted to the manager group. His titles at present are; Head of HR, Chief of Enterprise and Gross sales Officer, and VP of furnishings, which incorporates overseeing the luxurious recreation desk manufacturing. He has no earlier woodworking or HR expertise, though he acknowledged that he works with consultants with a purpose 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 staff return to its Massachusetts manufacturing facility. As soon as on web site, employees started to note what they seen as probably harmful lapses in office security relating to COVID precautions and hearth prevention. Quickly after, a personnel went to Costello instantly and requested about enhancing requirements. Costello stated that he needed 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 folks signed out of the roughly 50 folks working on the plant. In accordance with sources, an estimated 15-20 further folks needed to signal, however feared retaliation from administration. One supply stated that they needed to signal and voiced their assist to the organizers however “didn’t need to find yourself homeless.”
When introduced with the proposal forward of the agreed-upon assembly time and deadline (throughout which Costello was scheduled to satisfy with a small group of employee representatives), Costello modified the phrases; there can be an announcement, not a gathering.
This announcement was filmed and printed through Wyrm Lyfe, in a video titled ‘Wyrmwood Goes Company.’ 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 course of the pandemic, yelling at a bunch of masked employees who’ve requested for safer working situations, along with his typical gang of executives, together with Ian Costello and Bobby Downey standing behind him. He ends by stepping down as CEO. Two workshop staff resigned later that week in protest. Doug Costello returned to the CEO place lower than a yr later.
The printed video solely reveals Costello talking, however io9 acquired a recording of the announcement that had not been edited. The complete announcement took half-hour, and employees had been speaking again and pushing in opposition to Costello’s tirade the complete time. One employee stops him, saying that “we needed 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 person requested to your soapboxing.” In direction of the top of the recording, Downey says “we’ve bought some enhancing to do.” An worker will 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–usually traveled interstate between Wyrmwood retailers and didn’t bear government-recommended quarantine. Masks coverage additionally diversified relying on the manager group’s “private emotions” concerning the state of the pandemic, in accordance with a number of sources.
Costello claims he’s very involved about security, and has stated so a number of instances on Wyrm Lyfe, however usually in the identical breath that he begins to disparage the U.S. Occupational Security and Well being Administration (OSHA) as overbearing. He describes OSHA laws as “eradicating company and maturity” from staff.
“OSHA has come via the store a number of instances,” stated 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 advantageous them on as many issues as they may.”
Wyrmwood has a number of OSHA violations on file. They’ve acquired 5 critical security infractions since 2020, together with violations for noise security and improper operation of a forklift. The corporate at present owes or has paid almost $30,000 in fines. Wyrmwood states that it’s at present in compliance with OSHA requirements, they usually work with OSHA consultants to ascertain security laws on the store.
“The corporate is set to do issues in a method that maximizes pace,” continued Livingston, “they usually accomplish that in a method that violates security requirements.” A number of sources acknowledged that Wyrmwood doesn’t repair issues until it stands to value them one thing in the event that they don’t repair it.
“I’ve seen increasingly accidents as [Costello] pushes the employees to work quicker,” stated one present worker. Office accidents described to io9 embody easily-avoidable errors attributable to an absence of security gear or coaching. Sources report that no person is satisfactorily educated on the gear; staff are employed with little to no woodworking expertise and educated 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 bear a number of surgical procedures.
Later within the day, a number of sources say, administration tried to gloss over this occasion in a flooring assembly, and tried accountable the worker for the damage, although this machine had been identified to have this subject. “I’ve seen this model go off for no cause,” stated one former worker. “I’ve seen one of many managers run over when this machine was malfunctioning and should unplug the complete machine with a purpose to cease the pneumatic arms with the manufacturers from going up and down.”
The injured worker was presupposed to return to Wyrmwood for “mild work,” however earlier than they may return to work, they had been laid off. This worker is now planning to file a office damage swimsuit.
One other former worker, Matt King, additionally says he bumped into issues resulting from well being points: A most cancers survivor with a continual 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 assist.
“Equality,” King stated, “will not be fairness. My expertise at Wyrmwood confirmed me that I may not ever have the ability to pursue an equitable profession in my life.”
Different issues of safety embody environmental hazards. Masking will not be at all times enforced in areas with excessive mud and chemical content material. The spray room was instantly 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 usually lacking, old-fashioned, or uncharged. This will 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 must maintain 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 continues to be not taken severely. For years, the de facto response when the hearth 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 staff 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 apply. A number of staff described incidents the place Costello would catch folks smoking, and ship them house for the day, however acknowledged that “there have been no actual penalties for smoking weed at work.” Antoine states that that is 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 became a intentionally constructed, dramatic actuality present concerning the employees of Wyrmwood Gaming.
“When Wyrm Lyfe first got here out I believed it was a bit of humorous,” stated Savage. “Nevertheless it’s probably not us. It’s presupposed to be the store, and it grew to become this actuality present a few bunch of eccentrics who work within the gaming business however don’t recreation.” A number of sources described Wyrm Lyfe as a conceit mission for Costello and Downey.
“Wyrmwood is an leisure firm that sometimes does manufacturing,” stated 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 driving the waves of success and extra of an inside take a look at a enterprise that, in accordance with a former worker, “fails arduous and quick, doesn’t know what it’s doing more often than not, and refuses to rent anybody with precise expertise working a enterprise of their dimension.”
Wyrmwood’s media group is held to a completely totally different commonplace than the remainder of the employees, in accordance 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 group,” higher administration considers the media group the “cash makers” of Wyrmwood, which signifies that they get much more leeway than the individuals who really construct the product.
The devaluation of craftspeople in favor of the media group has bred resentment on the firm–“everybody hates the media division,” stated a former worker–and has instilled a way of conceitedness within the media group.
In the meantime, inside communication is so unhealthy at Wyrmwood that the store staff discover out information about Wyrmwood from watching Wyrm Lyfe, in accordance with a number of sources. “It occurred on a regular basis,” stated Savage.
Subjects that weren’t communicated on to the employees embody new merchandise that they might be making, when raises would happen, employees adjustments and place shifts, new gear, layoff bulletins, enterprise statuses, and upcoming promotions and Kickstarter campaigns.
“Wyrm Lyfe is very edited propaganda,” stated one former worker. And it has labored. Over 100K folks subscribe to the Wyrm Lyfe channel to tune into the Dougie Costello present thrice every 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 risk,” one former worker stated. “They use it to persuade folks to work right here, they usually maintain their platform over their competitors like a gun.”
In the end, the gravest subject with Wyrm Lyfe could also be that it casts a brilliant highlight on Bobby Downey and Doug Costello, to the purpose that their jobs and enterprise is instantly associated to how folks understand them on YouTube.
Absolutely the focus that Downey has on being well-known is obvious in his presence on Wyrm Lyfe, in advertising and merch photographs, and his attendance at conventions. “He was once a pleasant man,” stated one former worker, “however being in entrance of the digicam 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… “but it surely’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’s worthwhile to assist your loved ones. However Wyrmwood will not be going to deal with you.”
Paul Downs, the proprietor of a Pennsylvania cabinetmaking firm and former author of “You’re The Boss,” a New York Instances 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 method that he noticed match.
And whereas that’s true—Costello can run Wyrmwood any method he likes, even when that features taking part in down security issues and disrespecting ladies—many previous and current staff say that doesn’t make it proper.
It’s not proper, they are saying, that Costello has lied to his staff, promising them raises when none had been forthcoming; it’s not proper, they are saying, that he favors male staff 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 staff 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 persona.
At each degree, in accordance with staff, Wyrmwood has didn’t scale to the calls for of its clients and in a method that adequately helps their staff. 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 need a good place to work,” they stated. “However Doug makes that unattainable.”
The Wyrmwood clients who know all this and determine to buy anyway aren’t 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 inform you they cherished their coworkers, and we constructed this camaraderie collectively, regardless of Doug Costello,” stated Ted Bumpus. “So usually 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.
Need extra io9 information? Take a look at when to count on the most recent Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and every little thing it’s worthwhile to find out about the way forward for Physician Who.
