Spectrum Studios - "Sauna visit compulsory": disturbing job ad from game developer goes viral
Demanding requirements for applicants are abundant in job advertisements. The one from Polish game developer Spectrum Studios stands out even more, as applicants are required to attend sauna visits mandatorily. The justification is quite intriguing.
The job advertisement starts off quite innocuously. It's about working on a "groundbreaking game," encompassing artwork and overseeing the implementation by the developers. Of course, there are also expectations regarding qualifications such as experience with certain development tools. However, one point stands out: "Sauna visits (non-negotiable – the entire team must understand the product)", it states in the last point of requirements.
Sauna is not optional
The advertisement went viral when the Creative Director of the studio, Jacek Piorinski, suggested the graphic designer Aleksandra Wollna apply for the position in a LinkedIn post from another studio. "We've had contact before," Wollna replied. "But from your statements, I gathered that you see naked sauna visits as a work requirement. That's a deal-breaker for me," she posted – thus making public the requirement for the first time.
Instead of distancing himself from the issue, Piorinski responded: "My narrative girls had to go to the sauna with me to write this fantastic script," he explained on LinkedIn, still visible to all. "Technically, it could be done without. But I find it absolutely fantastic that they could use their sauna experience to write these fantastic scenes."
"Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" in the Sauna
The moments created during this process apparently appear in an as-yet-unannounced game – a game that, according to the job posting, is indeed about being a Sauna Manager. The concept sounds no less wild than the job advertisement. It's described as a "narrative experience," revolving around sauna visits – and, according to the concept, should be a mix of the "Life is Strange" storyline, the role-playing games of "Final Fantasy," and the legendary skateboard series "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater." How it will function gameplay-wise remains to be seen.
Piorinski defended the setting as the reason for the mandatory sauna experience on LinkedIn. "I won't waste my time explaining the difference between a Russian banya and a dry sauna. You have to feel it," he asserted. "If that's not for you, then just look for another job." In comments and a statement in the Polish edition of "Computer Bild," he tried to clarify the perception of the advertisement.
Shocked reactions to job advertisement
Piorinski eventually tried to rectify the impression created by the advertisement on LinkedIn. Of course, no one is required to go naked to the sauna, nor is the presence of the CEO mandatory, he emphasized in comments and in a statement in the Polish "Computer Bild." "If someone wants to do it in a women's sauna or alone, that's fine," he wrote. "During a company meeting, only the girls were there. That doesn't matter to me. What's important to me is that they understand the feelings we want to evoke in players." In a LinkedIn video clip, he also attempted to dispel the negative perception of the job posting.
For that, it was unfortunately too late. The reaction to the announcement in the job network and also in other social media was uniformly negative. "Not every employer writes directly in the job posting that sexual harassment is a normal tone," joked a user on Reddit. "That he writes about his narrative girls and that's not even the most embarrassing thing about the situation is really impressive," astonished a recruiter on LinkedIn.
The justification for the sauna visits also failed to convince many – after all, there are countless games whose content the developers have not experienced themselves. "To write the story for a game, you have to experience the situations exactly as they are," snickered a Reddit user. "The developers of the Hitman series have killed people, for Alien: Isolation space travel was mandatory."
Even the woman, whom Piórinski wanted to refer to as a potential applicant, had distanced herself meanwhile. Unwilling to turn to his "narrative Mulan," he had suggested in his first post. However, Magdalena Kucenta did not want to be involved in this. "Jacek was my student in Narrative Design," she explained in a LinkedIn post. "I had agreed to support him on the project. But I am not an employee. And I didn't know that he was referring people to me." She only found out about it after being contacted by two acquaintances.
The controversial sauna requirement in the job advertisement from Spectrum Studios sparked a discussion on Reddit, with one user jokingly commenting, "Not every employer writes directly in the job posting that sexual harassment is a normal tone." Despite the employer's attempts to clarify, many were still skeptical, with a Reddit user quipping, "To write the story for a game, you have to experience the situations exactly as they are. The developers of the Hitman series have killed people, for Alien: Isolation, space travel was mandatory."
