The saga continues after ATMTA CEO Michael Wagner released an official statement on former Chief Revenue Officer Pablo Quiroga’s departure from the company at the end of March.

ATMTA Insider Reveals Details on Quiroga’s Management Practices

An insider at ATMTA, the developer behind upcoming space MMO game Star Atlas, has recently come forward to shed new details surrounding the departure of Star Atlas Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer Pablo Quiroga.

The insider, whom we’ll call M&M, alleges that Quiroga’s departure stems from a combination of poor management practices, workplace behavior, and creative differences over the direction of Star Atlas.

The Hologram was able to independently verify M&M’s status as an employee of ATMTA.

In public, Quiroga presented a calm and poised demeanor, often interacting with the Star Atlas community and willing to take pictures with fans at community events. Quiroga often spoke and presented on behalf of Star Atlas; his presentations well received by the general community.

However, behind closed doors, it would appear that Quiroga adopted a different persona.

“He was extremely disrespectful to team members, sometimes yelling at employees which caused a lot of division within inter-departmental communication. His management style was aggressive and condescending, not the impression he gave to the community”. — M&M, ATMTA Employee

M&M also alleges that Quiroga would often berate the Rev Ops team if things did not go his way and that he would regularly yell and get upset.

“That’s why everyone on the team is happy he is gone” (When asked to clarify and quantify these comments, M&M did not elaborate).

Creative Differences Could Have Led to Split

Regarding the direction Star Atlas was heading in 2023, M&M noted that difference in vision began to emerge between Quiroga and the other founders, particularly CEO Michael Wagner.

“Pablo wanted to be more strict on release dates and put a lot of pressure on the team to stick to those dates”.

While it’s unknown to what degree product delivery timeline’s were planned, Star Atlas has clearly taken a new direction regarding product deliveries in 2023. In multiple public forums, Wagner has stated that while the team has target dates in mind for product releases, the team would not provide firm dates actual deadlines or delivery dates. Presumably, this is to give the team more development flexibility while avoiding overt negative backlash should a deadline be passed. According to M&M, this is not the direction Quiroga wanted.

Quiroga A Possible Barrier to Star Atlas Funding Deal

M&M additionally alleges that Quiroga was a potential barrier towards any funding deal. Since last November, Star Atlas has needed additional funding to continue development past this year.

“The lack of transparency regarding Pablo and the capital raise has been causing major concern from the Star Atlas team including top executives responsible for major gameplay and technological developments” M&M continues. “Some of the team member in Rev Ops were ready to quit if Quiroga was not out, Pablo’s salary was dead weight”.

M&M states that there was unacknowledged [negative] sentiment from the general Star Atlas team following the FTX dilemma, and specifically, that Quiroga continued to receive a full salary despite lay offs and pay cuts being taken against team members.

Quiroga Absent From Public Eye

Since the official announcement of his departure, Quiroga has been absent from the public Star Atlas community eye. His Twitter and LinkedIn, despite having not posted recently, still list him as the current CRO of ATMTA. Quiroga’s main account name, StarSapa, is no longer apart of the Star Atlas Discord.

ATMTA’s Response

ATMTA had this to say regarding the insider’s leaks

ATMTA does not comment on the circumstances of an individual team member’s departure out of respect for their privacy. ATMTA cannot verify and does not condone the comments made by the alleged source for the article. The source does not speak for ATMTA.