Game designer at small indie studio gets excluded and disrespected by three coworkers who ignore him during meetings, dismiss his ideas, and refuse to collaborate professionally

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Mar 1, 2026 2:00 PM EST

Every workplace promises collaboration, but some end up showing how fragile those promises really are. Sometimes, it's not loud conflict with condescending coworkers, but quiet exclusion, the kind that turns teamwork into a guessing game, that becomes a problem 

Then, ideas stop flowing, updates stop reaching the right people, and basic communication becomes an emotional tax. When silence replaces cooperation, even the most creative environment starts to feel like a locked room rather than a shared project.

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  • Man wearing headphones working at a desktop computer with dual monitors, designing a 3D building model in professional software inside a modern office workspace.
    via Maxim Tolchinskiy

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Getting ignored at work

    I joined at an indie game studio in December 2025, so it's going to be about 3 months.
    via sensuorico
  • At our studio we have 6 employees (including me) + the boss. Ever since I joined (starting day 2 because I dint notice much on day 1), one of the programmers started ignoring me.
    via sensuorico
  • Then I noticed the other 2 colleagues (an artist and an animator) ignoring me as well.
    via sensuorico
  • They just don't look at me and don't talk to me at all. I don't mind if they don't talk to me but during brainstorming and discussion sessions???!
    via sensuorico
  • I'm a game designer and im also doing some production work as the team is small and it helps my boss even a little to keep track of our tasks so we can release the game on the date that we have decided.
    via sensuorico
  • I mostly only talk to my boss idc and then he communicate, if it works, it's alright.
    via sensuorico
  • Today during the discussion of how much the work is done and how much is left.
    via sensuorico
  • Young man wearing white headphones gaming on a desktop computer with dual monitors in a neon-lit room, using a keyboard and mouse at a small desk setup.
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Working with a small team, especially in a creative field like this small gaming studio, seems like it’s supposed to be scrappy, not hostile. But at this indie game company, “small team energy” has turned into something closer to an unspoken social cold war. The new game designer has been there about three months, officially handling design and production tasks to help the boss keep everyone aligned. In reality, though, alignment seems like a luxury item. Three of the six coworkers, a programmer, an artist, and an animator, have apparently decided the newcomer is invisible. They avoid eye contact, ignore ideas, and act like updates are classified information.  

  • So I started telling because I made a list. That specific task was prolly done by that programmer and nobody told me about it.
    via sensuorico
  • When I said that task out loud he said 'sir ye chuka hai, sabko pata hai, usko hi nai pata' like who's going to tell me?
    via sensuorico
  • There is another programmer who talks to me normally, I asked him but he prolly forgot about it as he dint do this task.
    via sensuorico
  • It's not his fault at all. Whenever there is a brainstorming session, whatever I say something, they eye contact each other and instantly try to say opposite of what I say.
    via sensuorico
  • I mean the point of brainstorming for video games is just say out loud whatever comes to your mind even if it doesn't make any sense, that's how we get exactly what mechanics we need for the game.
    via sensuorico
  • I feel very very disrespected. I don't. mind it at all if my ideas don't get finalized because of course not everything I say needs to be added to the game.
    via sensuorico
  • My main task is to make a sense of anything that anybody has said or contributed.
    via sensuorico
  • I encourage discussions a lot because everyone has some ideas that are prolly better than mine.
    via sensuorico
  • I respect everyone's ideas. Also, I made detailed GDDs, features and task lists, set milestones, etc.
    via sensuorico

  • What makes the frustration even more understandable is that none of this seems to bother anyone except the boss and the designer. The detailed game design document the designer describes, the one full of systems, lists, and milestones, gets ignored unless the boss orders someone to read it. The disrespect doesn’t stop at silence either - when the boss isn’t around, the same people start loudly complaining, throwing around insults about ideas and colleagues.  

  • They don't even open those like tf? When they don't understand or remember anything, they should go through the GDD as it is what a GDD is for.
    via sensuorico
  • My boss has to tell them to refer the GDD. Idk what attitude they have to not to refer to it, idk anymore.
    via sensuorico
  • But what these 3 guys do during work hours, inside the workplace, sometimes frustrates me so much.
    via sensuorico

  • Every brainstorming meeting turns into a silent standoff. Whenever the designer suggests something, the trio exchange glances and counter immediately, as if their creative process runs on negation fuel. The designer doesn’t mind having ideas rejected, game design thrives on trial and error, but it’s hard to collaborate when colleagues treat discussion like sabotage. At one point, the designer mentions a task from the production checklist, only to be mocked when it’s already done. Instead of communicating like a team, one programmer laughs that “everyone knows except him.” The problem isn’t ignorance, it’s deliberate exclusion.  

  • Talking loudly when my boss is not present, cursing and bad mouthing even our boss's ideas
    via sensuorico
  • Idc whatever the f they do in their personal time or lunch time OUTSIDE WORKPLACE. But inside, one should respect everyone.
    via sensuorico
  • This is my first time working in india. I have worked in 2 other countries in the americas, at game studio and this is the first time I've seen a game designer being treated like this.
    via sensuorico
  • I'm sorry that this post is so long. I just wanted to rant. There's more that's been happening and I'm very much tired of this.
    via sensuorico
  • TL;DR - I'm a game designer and 3 of my colleagues are basically ignoring me, doesn't even look at me when they talk during brainstorming and discussions with my boss.
    via sensuorico

  • This office might look like a passion project from the outside, but from the inside, it’ssounds more like a dysfunctional group chat where three people mute the newcomer by choice.

    Every project needs teamwork to function, but this one’s running on ego instead of collaboration, and that’s not a design problem, it’s a people problem.

  • To make a game we need teamwork and this is not a team. I feel disrespected.
    via sensuorico
  • If my boss dint want a game designer, he wouldn't have hired
    via sensuorico

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