A Polish game developer sparked outrage after demanding female employees to sauna naked as part of their job. The incident originated from a conversation between Jacek Piórkowski, the creative director of Spectrum Studio, and Aleksandra Wolna, a narrative designer and writer.

Piórkowski approached Wolna with a job offer, which she declined due to the requirement of allegedly having to sauna naked. “Jacek started a conversation with me under a post where I mentioned I was looking for a job. I researched him and his studio and politely declined because of the sauna requirement. Later, I posted about the situation involving All In Games employees who hadn’t been paid and were looking for jobs since the company owes me a lot of money. Suddenly, Jacek reappeared, offering me a job again. I reminded him that I had declined and explained why, which is visible in the widely circulated screenshots. Jacek then tried to convince me and others that there was nothing wrong with his expectations for his employees,” Wolna told Eurogamer.

Reportedly, All In Games, a publisher, hasn’t paid its employees for half a year due to a “temporary” financial crisis. Piórkowski rewrote several LinkedIn comments after contacting Wolna but still insists on the sauna idea, claiming it reflects what the studio represents. The job posting for his studio’s game states: “Spectrum Studio is working on a new groundbreaking game: a mix of Life is Strange (narrative), Final Fantasy (story, characters), Heart of Darkness (adventurous levels with a dog), The Turyst (exploration and quests), and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (moves, special moves). The main character will be a sauna master responsible for performing in different saunas (smells, music, choreography, everything).” The studio lists the requirements, including mandatory sauna presence, though nudity isn’t explicitly mentioned. The design processes would occur in the sauna and therefore wouldn’t require additional payment.

In another LinkedIn thread, Piórkowski said the mandatory element wasn’t nudity per se, but experiencing various saunas. According to the developer, the moisture in certain saunas can be extremely high, and using towels could result in fungal infections, hence the necessity for nudity in certain instances. Piórkowski asked Wolna in a comment if she would hire an engineer to build a plane without understanding the mechanisms that make it fly. Wolna highlighted the significant difference between ensuring an employee can do their job and requiring staff to be naked during work-related activities. “You had plenty of time to prove me wrong. Writing a scene in a sauna without being in one… Instead, we waste time on social media. The narrative team had to join me in the sauna to come up with an incredible script to prove the concept… Technically, it can be done without it, but I absolutely loved that they used the sauna experience to write fantastic scenes,” Piórkowski said.

Piórkowski explained in a video on Spectrum Studio’s LinkedIn that his use of “narrative girls” was a poor choice of words, intended to refer to the team being entirely female at that time. “I had no intention of embarrassing, offending, hurting, or disrespecting Ms. Wolna. I chose my words poorly. I didn’t clearly articulate my intentions. I didn’t explain why sauna sessions are so important and practically indispensable to me. I didn’t expect it to be perceived as arrogance or create negative connotations. During recruitment, I was very strict about discussing sauna sessions and people’s openness to this experience. I’m looking for people who share my passion for sauna culture and are open to the experiences that are part of this culture. I believe that personal experience in a topic helps understand sauna culture. I agree that my choice of words could be interpreted as encouraging sauna sessions with the company boss; this was not my intention. I suggested and continue to suggest candidates experience sauna sessions with only women or only men, as it reflects the true sauna experience. In the future, I will choose my words more carefully to avoid awkward situations and doubts about my intentions,” Piórkowski said.

Wolna told Eurogamer that she slightly regrets the spread of their conversation, as it all started from All In Games employees not being paid. However, she is glad that the sauna gentleman got what he deserved, sparking an important discussion about hiring practices, and she accepted the apology.

Source: Eurogamer, CDAction, LinkedIn,