Crunch
Jan 19th, 2010 by Ninja Dodo
I mentioned developer credit as a problem the games industry is still struggling with, but another more pressing issue is quality of life. A few years ago “ea_spouse ” brought to light some disturbing development practices at EA, today it seems similar things are going on at Rockstar. The United States seem particularly prone to excess in this regard, but development practices in Europe are hardly perfect, though it varies from company to company.
The IGDA has suggested solutions, but their implementation remains limited. Making games and having a life should not have to be mutually exclusive.
[I should probably note I haven't done any crunch lately... my concern is directed at the industry in general]
I very much feel the same, as much as we love being animating, in our final moments im sure we wont be thinking ‘I wish I spent more time in the office’. It seems to me for the most part game studios have begun realising this and use a ‘work / life’ balance as part of their approach to hiring. On the opposite side of the table we have film and I feel that industry needs to catch up a little. The studio managers tend to have the upper hand when a thousand more artists would gladly fill your job. I firmly believe these industries are what we make them, and while we may seem removed from the decisions made at the powers above, we have the final say – and I say lets say something good.
This is a great blog, keep it up