Reports are surfacing that the Spanish studio MercurySteam — best known for developing Metroid Dread and, more recently, Blades of Fire — is overworking its employees. Current and former staff members have described a toxic workplace culture where “voluntary” overtime has become mandatory, and the physical and mental well-being of workers has been neglected.

According to several developers, MercurySteam effectively made optional overtime compulsory, turning the standard eight-hour workday into a thing of the past. The problems began even before the release of Blades of Fire, when the studio introduced a new schedule called “Distribucion Irregular de la Jornada” (DIJ). This new system required longer work hours, yet the terms of compensation for overtime were never clearly communicated. Officially, the hours were not mandatory — but when employees raised objections, HR quietly admitted that the extra time wasn’t really required, at least on paper.

“At first, they told us the extra hours were mandatory, without distinguishing between DIJ hours and new ones. They spoke about the need for overtime as if the company were in crisis. Their language was dramatic, but mainly to disguise the fact that they were pushing through unregulated and unstructured measures. They said overtime would be assigned as needed, even though, by law, it must be recorded and mutually agreed upon. There was no system in place for that,” said one employee.

It appears MercurySteam didn’t keep official records of this DIJ schedule. Management reportedly announced the new structure informally, resulting in some teams working ten-hour days while others were left out entirely or only partially affected. The situation worsened after Blades of Fire underperformed commercially — its publisher publicly admitted that sales fell short of expectations. Following this, layoffs began in August: some departments saw their headcounts reduced, while others continued hiring, creating further internal imbalance. Months of intense crunch had already taken their toll, and many developers said that overtime had simply become “the new normal.”

Internal communication at the studio has also reportedly collapsed. Non-work-related chats were shut down, physical partitions were installed in the office, and employees describe a tense, fearful atmosphere. Combined with the layoffs, long hours, and conflicting HR messages, morale has hit rock bottom. Despite all this, MercurySteam is still developing its next, yet unannounced, project — though under an increasingly uncertain future.

Source: WCCFTech, 3djuegos