Association responds to ‘Rockstar Spouse’ row
The IGDA has issued a statement reiterating its vehement disapproval of overtime policies at game development studios.
“In any studio, the IGDA finds the practice of undisclosed and constant overtime to be deceptive, exploitative, and ultimately harmful not only to developers but to their final product and the industry as a whole,” read the statement.
The IGDA’s move to publicly condemn overtime comes in the wake of the infamous ‘Rockstar Spouse’ blog post, where a number of anonymous individuals claimed that Rockstar’s San Diego studio had forced its workers to work unreasonable hours.
The IGDA wouldn’t comment on the matter specifically, though said that unhealthy practices “are still far too common” in the industry.
“Particularly with the stresses imposed by the declining economy, game studios, like other independent businesses, are under increased pressure and therefore are more susceptible to production concerns,” the group said.
The IGDA added that quality of life standards are – despite the very public accusations fired at Rockstar – consistently rising.
Advertisement
“While crunch has always been a concern for the games industry, the IGDA concludes from its research that conditions in most workplaces are improving and, with diligence and an emphasis on increasing process efficiency, can continue to do so.”
Crunch (extensive periods of overtime) in our industry will not go away until all governments outlaw it. If any single state or provincial government outlaws overtime or forces companies to pay for overtime, publishers will just give the work to development studios in countries/states where overtime pay is not mandatory.
I've been in the game development industry for over ten years. Every project I've worked on has had crunch. Every crunch was publisher driven. I've seen contract milestones ignored by publishers who consistently demand more features, revised features, etc.. mostly at the last minute and milestone payments delayed or project cancellations threatened if the developer didn't do what the publisher demanded.
Developers have two choices. Either do what the publisher says (which generally means crunch) or not pay your staff, layoffs, studio closures.
Bottom line. Publishers are the ones to blame for crunch in our industry.
Organizations like the IGDA should step up to the plate and confront publishers on this issue instead of making general statements.
