Update: Chucklefish has responded to our request for comment.

"We're aware and saddened by the current allegations against Chucklefish regarding Starbound's early development.

During this time both the core crew and community contributors were collaborating via a chat room and dedicated their time for free. Community contributors were under no obligation to create content, work to deadlines or put in any particular number of hours. Everyone was credited or remunerated as per their agreement.

It's been almost a decade since Starbound's development first began, and from then Chucklefish has grown considerably into an indie studio that has a strong emphasis on good working practices, providing a welcoming environment for all employees and freelancers.

Our doors remain open to any related parties who wish to discuss their concerns with us directly."

Original article follows:

Chucklefish, the developers of Starbound, have been accused of not paying devs who allegedly worked on the game for hundreds of hours. The accusations center around a Twitter thread posted by an ex-Starbound developer who was just 16 when he worked on the project.

Games development is difficult to break into and newcomers looking to gain “exposure” has led to some companies creating an imbalance of power where hours and hours of unpaid work becomes seemingly acceptable. Chucklefish is the latest to be accused of this, in an enlightening thread shared by one of the companies ex-employees, Damon Reece.

Speaking about his time working on Starbound, Damon alleges that he worked for 2 years on the game, without being paid a single cent. It appears that all he got to show for his hard work was a credit on the game.

He wasn’t the only one this happened to either, as he says around a dozen other unpaid workers were also involved.

Regarding the reason he is speaking up now, Reece says he is in a “secure and stable position” and wants to warn others that “you shouldn't work for free.” He goes on to say that he sees “so many young people & students angling for a foot in the door” and wants to caution them against working for nothing as it “won't give you anything but a permanent bad taste in your mouth once you realize you've been had.”

via rockpapershotgun

In response to Reece’s thread, other developers and creators involved with the project have also had the courage to speak up about their own experiences. The most notable of which is Clark Powell, a composer who bailed on the project when he discovered he wouldn't be paid for it.

Powell goes on to say that he spoke to some of the team and was told “They had all been given promises of future pay, continuing because of all the time and love they had already poured into Starbound. Their passion for games was abused by an industry star. And it wasn't an isolated incident.”

This sentiment is further backed up by Undertale developer Toby Fox, who states that “Actually I composed about an hour of WIP music that ended up completely scrapped because I wasn't in the IRC channel enough. I left after that. I completely believe what Clark and everyone else are saying.”

Understandably the backlash is growing, with some other people involved coming forward in a thread on Reddit about the accusations. Even more worryingly there is also another thread running in which the developers are accused of sexual harassment and deleting messages exposing their behavior.

We've reached out to Chucklefish for comment and will update accordingly.