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Open Roads team rebrands to distance itself from Fullbright

The Open Roads team takes the game's name for itself as Steve Gaynor is left with the Fullbright title.

Justin Carter, Contributing Editor

May 12, 2023

1 Min Read
Promo art for Open Roads, showing its two protagonists driving.

Employees at Fullbright are undergoing a name change for the studio's upcoming title Open Roads. From now on, the group will be known as "The Open Roads Team." 

Co-founder Steve Gaynor revealed the information in his newsletter, where he also confirmed his full departure from Fullbright. His leave comes two years after allegations that he fostered a toxic, "unhealthy" environment at the studio. 

"After a great deal of consideration, it's just no longer Fullbright's place to represent Open Roads publicly going forward," wrote Gaynor.

Open Roads minus Gaynor

Following those allegations in 2021, Gaynor was removed from active development on Open Roads. At the time, his behavior was claimed to have resulted in over a dozen staffers leaving since development started in 2019, with a majority of them being women.

By Gaynor's own admission, he said his conduct back then was "hurtful to people that worked at Fullbright, and for that I truly apologize."

Speaking to his present day behavior, he revealed that he's been "self-reflecting," working on a new project as its sole developer. In talking about how he's worked on him himself since 2021, he expressed hope that "by taking Fullbright down this new path I'm able to make my next steps positive, productive ones."

About the Author

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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