Oh well, all those hours I have spent slaying beasts on Halo and thinking how much fun it would be to develop games, but it doesn't sound any better than the rest of the technology industry:
“The management is working employees to the ground,” said Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developer’s Association. “I don’t think it is right to exploit people’s passion and energy.”
One of the main sessions was the day-long Quality of Life summit organized by the IGDA, a professional membership association that represents about 10,000 game developers worldwide.
Academics, industry managers, studio heads, and developers discussed living conditions, gender equality, credit standardization and recognition, outsourcing, and shortage of labor.
Burnout isn’t the only side effect. The industry has a high churn rate, leaving the workforce with no real leaders. Electronic Arts and Vivendi Universal have both recently been slapped with class-action lawsuits by employees frustrated by bad conditions.
The IGDA’s goal with the summit, Mr. Della Rocca said, was to encourage developers to take action, and try to solve the industry’s labor problems.
Some companies are trying to turn things around, said Mr. Della Rocca. In their presentations, Intel, Vicarious Visions, and Breakaway, said they are trying to organize the industry in terms of management and training and formalize the software development process."
No comments:
Post a Comment