Is The Game Industry Burning Out Talent?

Is the game industry burning out talent? UK union Bectu says that it is. Bectu points to the industry’s culture of long hours as the primary culprit.

The game industry generally pays pretty good, but most of the complaints that are coming out are about the  long working hours. When a game is in development, it’s not unusual for those involved to be asked to work overtime. Even more so for games that are nearing the deadline. As Gerry Morrissey of Bectu said, “It’s not unusual… to do 12 to 16 hours a day for three to four months at a time.” Now this might not sound too bad, but what if you’re not even being paid for all of these overtime hours?

Most people in the industry kept their mouths shut about this in the past — mostly in fear of being replaced by younger guys who are willing to do the hours – but with the recently-settled lawsuit against EA Games, people have become more vocal. One good thing that came out of the whole incident was that improvements have been made at EA. Erin Hoffman, who wrote the blog that prompted the lawsuit, said that EA in Los Angeles has “completely turned around its work practices.” She also mentioned that with an agreement to never work on Sundays, “the people there are very happy now. They are still producing games on time and getting good reviews.”

While this incident did turn out to have some good repercussions on the gaming industry, it is rather sad that it still took a lawsuit to turn things around. Without a doubt, there are still a few unscrupulous companies out there still cracking whips over their overworked staff, but there’s always hope that things will change for the better. Happy developers churn out better games, and better games result in happy gamers.

Is the game industry burning out talent? UK union Bectu says that it is. Bectu points to the industry’s culture of long hours as the primary culprit.

The game industry generally pays pretty good, but most of the complaints that are coming out are about the  long working hours. When a game is in development, it’s not unusual for those involved to be asked to work overtime. Even more so for games that are nearing the deadline. As Gerry Morrissey of Bectu said, “It’s not unusual… to do 12 to 16 hours a day for three to four months at a time.” Now this might not sound too bad, but what if you’re not even being paid for all of these overtime hours?

Most people in the industry kept their mouths shut about this in the past — mostly in fear of being replaced by younger guys who are willing to do the hours – but with the recently-settled lawsuit against EA Games, people have become more vocal. One good thing that came out of the whole incident was that improvements have been made at EA. Erin Hoffman, who wrote the blog that prompted the lawsuit, said that EA in Los Angeles has “completely turned around its work practices.” She also mentioned that with an agreement to never work on Sundays, “the people there are very happy now. They are still producing games on time and getting good reviews.”

While this incident did turn out to have some good repercussions on the gaming industry, it is rather sad that it still took a lawsuit to turn things around. Without a doubt, there are still a few unscrupulous companies out there still cracking whips over their overworked staff, but there’s always hope that things will change for the better. Happy developers churn out better games, and better games result in happy gamers.