Shocking Revelations of Crew Abuse at Indonesian External Model Studio Unveiled in New Exposé
A newly released exposé from Participants Fabricate Video games has brought to light alarming claims of mistreatment towards employees at the Indonesian studio Brandoville, a company known for its artistic and animation support in titles like Age of Empires 4 and Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
In 2021, Participants Fabricate Video games reported on the crunch culture and the industry’s dependence on outsourcing to third-party developers to meet deadlines. Brandoville Studios was one of those external firms. Little has changed in the sector since that report, but the closure of Brandoville a few months ago has prompted its former employees to share more accounts of their time at the studio.
At the heart of this narrative is Christa Sydney, who was employed by the company from 2019 to 2024 and claims she endured both psychological and physical abuse from commissioner Kwan Cherry Lai, the spouse of Brandoville CEO Ken Lai, who oversaw everyday operations.
The complete story can be viewed in the video below, though please be advised that it contains some extremely distressing content and visuals.
Sydney recounts how Cherry Lai took her under her wing following a conflict early in her career, but this ultimately led to a pattern of toxic abuse. Initially, Lai enforced a rigid working schedule on the staff and would deliberately sow discord through gossip and belittling comments, according to Sydney.
Though Sydney was later involved in Participants Fabricate Video games’ previous report, she states she was later compelled by Lai to record a statement endorsing Brandoville against her wishes. Other employees felt she was being manipulated, as reported.
She now reveals that continual mistreatment by Lai ensued, particularly during a business trip to the XDS ’22 conference, where Lai micromanaged her schedule and allowed her only brief sleep over four days leading up to the event. Additional forms of abuse included enforcing daily Christian devotions, forcing Sydney to write lines like a schoolchild, daily check-ins via WhatsApp about her outfits as part of “quality control,” and public humiliations before her coworkers.
Eventually, Lai’s mistreatment escalated to physical abuse, compelling Sydney to film herself slapping her face 100 times as punishment, or forcing her to bang her head against a door frame until she suffered a concussion before demanding an apology.
Another employee, Caesarion Balthazar, had a concerning arrangement with Lai, where she would take a portion of his salary to help improve his spending habits. This resulted in Lai, in Balthazar’s account, appropriating an amount equivalent to a month’s salary. Additionally, Balthazar states he was informed he owed money for expensive training programs he had not yet completed when he attempted to leave the company.
A third employee, Syifana Afiati, also alleges she faced abuse from Lai during her tenure at Brandoville from 2019 to 2024. Afiati became pregnant but was consistently overworked by Lai. At one point during her pregnancy, Afiati claims she had to be hospitalized due to a complication.