Open Roads splits from Fullbright in wake of ‘toxic’ company allegations
Open roads development continued after Fullbright co-founder Steve Gaynor stepped down as the game’s creative direction following complaints of “mistreatment” of employees. Now, Open roads continues without the Fullbright name; the development team is now simply called “The Open Roads Team”.
Gaynor announced his total departure by Open roads development in a newsletter published Friday. “But after much thought, it’s just no longer Fullbright’s place to publicly represent Open Roads going forward,” Gaynor wrote. “It is credited to ‘The Open Roads Team’ at launch.”
Open roads was originally announced in 2020 as a big name indie published by Annapurna Interactive and starring Keri Russell (The Americans) and Kaitlyn Dever (smart book). Problems with the development – and Gaynor’s leadership style – started early, with 15 employees leaving the company since 2019, the majority of whom were women. In our August 2021 report, several employees said he had created a “toxic” and “unhealthy” environment for the team.
Gaynor was removed from active development in March 2021 due to a “pattern of women leaving the company,” a Fullbright representative told Polygon. “Steve stepped down in March 2021 after it became clear that the steps already being taken to improve his interactions with the team were producing only temporary results,” the rep said at the time. “More drastic measures were needed for the health of the team.”
News of the departure became public months later in August, along with Polygon’s report on the studio’s problems with Gaynor. Six workers remained at that point to continue development Open roads; it is unclear how many are working on it Open roads now as The Open Roads Team.
Gaynor had not publicly commented on it Open roads or his actions since the 2021 story; the newsletter published Friday is the first open notice since then. He’s now working on a game independently, as a solo developer, and says his “own strengths don’t lie in trying to manage a big project or lead the work of others.”
Polygon has reached out to The Open Roads Team, Annapurna Interactive and Gaynor for comment. The Open roads The Steam page lists the game as “coming soon”, but an exact date is not stated. a Game Informer interview with power Open roads developers from 2021 suggested that the game shifted from something “genuinely plot-oriented” to “something much more character-oriented”, a closer look at the relationship between mother and daughter – a relationship that has not been explored much in games.