LEGO reportedly ending agreement with TT Games following recent allegations
The LEGO Group is reportedly ending its exclusivity agreement with developer TT Games following allegations of poor working conditions at the studio.
Back in January, Polygon quoted multiple current and former employees at TT Games in a devastating report on the company’s alleged ‘crunch culture’, referring to expectations from management for staff to work longer hours to finish a project. One employee described it as ‘soft-spoken blackmail’, while another noted that the crunch was ‘premeditated’.
In response, the LEGO Group stated: “We’ve enjoyed a successful and productive partnership with the TT Games team for over 15 years. We consider all partnerships on an individual, case-by-case basis. Where concerns arise, we review the partnership and take appropriate steps.”
VGC now reports that the company has chosen not to extend its exclusivity agreement with TT Games beyond this year’s LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, with the news apparently having ‘disappointed key figures at [the LEGO Group]’. Instead, VGC claims it’s partnering with 2K Games for a range of LEGO sports titles.
According to ‘people with knowledge of its arrangement’, the exclusivity deal with TT Games allowed the studio to veto deals between the LEGO Group and other console developers, but those terms will not be extended in any future agreement.
The decision has allegedly also been influenced by declining sales of Warner Bros.’ LEGO games, although TT Games’ last title – LEGO DC Super-Villains – arrived all the way back in 2018. According to VGC, the developer has one post-Skywalker Saga title in the works, but it’s not clear whether it will produce more LEGO video games beyond that release.
More generally, the LEGO Group is apparently hoping to ‘broaden its game output as the medium gains increased importance within the company’, reports VGC. We’ve already seen a handful of mobile titles from other developers and publishers – some of which have since been ported to consoles – including LEGO Star Wars: Castaways, LEGO Builder’s Journey and LEGO Brawls.
A spokesperson for the LEGO Group told VGC: “We do not comment on speculation about future products or partnerships.”
TT Games’ next title – and perhaps its most ambitious game to date – is LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which launches on all major platforms on April 5.
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- I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.
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They need to go back to making them simpler and loss the speaking characters. Kids loss interest as there’s too much going on to finish the games.