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[ggx2ac]

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-a-75-billion-business-is-getting-out-of-the-hiring-game-1491838235

Free version of the article: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/mar...stry-is-powering-down-on-employees/ar-BBzF4sg

It's a very long article so I'll summarise what I can. The theme of the article is how contractors make up a large number of the workforce in the video game industry.

- Rocket league staff had 40 to 50 contractors and 70 permanent staff and a revenue of $110 million in its first year.

- 300 people out of the 2000 that made Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare were independent or contractors.

- About 70 contracting firms are in the credits for FFXV

Excerpt:

The videogame industry’s contractor-heavy model resembles Hollywood studios, which hire temporary workers ranging from directors to actors to publicists to make a film and have few long-term obligations after its release.

The difference between games and movies is that longtime work practices and unions in Hollywood provide a safety net for many actors and writers, whether on the job or between projects. People who make videogames are often hired quickly through Craigslist and gaming website Gamasutra or by word of mouth—and then are let go just as fast.

Companies say the result is just-in-time production fueled with human capital. By outsourcing low-value work or renting high-value expertise needed for a short time, game makers like Psyonix can focus on what they do best.

- The videogame industry is indicative of a wider shift towards project based work for other industries according to a game studies professor Casey O' Donnell at Michigan State University.

- Adrienne Hunter, a contract worker for Nintendo of America has worked there on and off for six years. Permanent jobs rarely came by and offered few advancement opportunities.

Excerpt:

When dozens of testers crowded through the exit of the high-security room to take company-mandated breaks from trying games that were about to be released, the testers sometimes mooed to show they felt like cattle, according to Ms. Hunter. She now works as a design director at a virtual-reality startup.

Nintendo spokesman Charlie Scibetta says the company treats “all people with the same respect, regardless of their employment status.” The game maker uses “a hybrid approach of full-time and contractor positions so we can staff up quickly when needed,” he adds.

Mr. Scibetta says about one-third of Nintendo’s full-time, entry-level positions in the past five years were filled by former contractors.

- Panic Button LLC of Austin, Texas were contracted to port Rocket League to PS4 Pro and Xbox One. They have 25 employees working with as many as six clients at a time.

- Psyonix is looking for a contracting firm to help manage the game server's capacity due to complaints of server problems.

The rest of the article just talks about a lot of outsourcing work that Psyonix does.

Excerpt:

The debate over contractors versus employees never ends because videogame production costs are high, prices are stagnant, players are fickle, and the industry is awash with talent. Psyonix won’t disclose its revenue from “Rocket League” beyond the game’s first year or how much its profits are.

Excerpt:

What do contractors do?

Quality Assurance: 21%
Art: 20%
Programming: 17%
Audio: 16%
Other: 10%
Design: 7%
Production: 5%
Writing/Scenario: 3%
Web Development: 1%

Source: Game Developer Salary Survey by Gamasutra in May 2014 of 4,000 game workers.

 

[The Lamp]

That's horrible for worker's rights here in America. Working for Nintendo 6 years and being unable to secure full-time benefits? This right here is why I will never be in the games industry. Fuck that noise.

 

[Gaminar]

That's horrible for worker's rights here in America. Working for Nintendo 6 years and being unable to secure full-time benefits? This right here is why I will never be in the games industry. Fuck that noise.

Pretty much the same reason here. Unless you're from a Japanese game industry?

 

[Valonquar]

You can tell that Mass Effect: Andromeda relieved heavily on contractors.

 

[gdt]

Don't like it?

Get a better bootstraps.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Somebody is making a ton of money on this stuff. Seems kinda slimey the way it works now.

People should unionize.

 

[gdt]

You can tell that Mass Effect: Andromeda relieved heavily on contractors.

Almost every (modern) game you've ever played, relies heavily on contractors. Even that one, your favorite one.

 

[Cartman86]

From my experience tech in general is like this.

 

[Taxman]

This is the biggest reason I left the games industry. Even as a programmer I was subject to this and it was obvious it was getting more and more prevalent.

 

[ScatheZombie]

I've experienced this personally as well. I've been out of the industry for a little over a year now and I still get a half dozen recruiters sending unsolicited emails or contacting me via LinkedIn each month with nothing but 6-12 month contracts across the full gambit of game companies - mobile, indies, AAA.

Whereas a decade ago, I would get about 50/50 or better full time versus contract offers - and this was when I had basically no experience and no shipped titles.

As if working in the industry as a full time employee wasn't bad enough (relatively low pay, extremely long hours, overpromised/undelivered bonus compensation), you get all of that as a contractor with the addition of even less job security and no benefits.

 

[Lathentar]

Would you rather they staff up with full time employees and fire them every few years if there is a cut back on funding? Outsourcing porting work is the smartest thing to do for a small team. Also quickly hiring a lot of people is a quick way to destroy the company culture.

 

[timlot]

Soo, how can we blame this on Microsoft?

 

[ggx2ac]

Updated the OP with one more excerpt. As I said, a lot of the article is just about Psyonix.

 

[icespide]

Soo, how can we blame this on Microsoft?

?

 

[Frozenprince]

This is what will kill the industry of it doesn't adapt quickly.

 

[Pattycakes]

Isn't this also a problem within the computer industry in general, of which the video game industry is a subset?

 

[icespide]

Isn't this also a problem within the computer industry in general, of which the video game industry is a subset?

not nearly as prevalent as the game industry

 

[HowZatOZ]

Soo, how can we blame this on Microsoft?

What?

Anyway, its what I've had to face coming out of my degree finally and realising there are no jobs in Australia at all that will offer permanent work. Contract work is fine, someone has to do it, but I definitely would rather have a solid position in a company then work my ass off for a year plus and then be told to get moving and hope they or someone else needs me again.

Only other option is to go indie and hope you do well.

 

[Purple Cheeto]

This is what will kill the industry of it doesn't adapt quickly.

? This is the industry adapting. Instead of keeping huge staffs and sinking studios, you contract out specialized portions of the game that aren't needed for the whole project duration.

 

[Vilix]

That's horrible for worker's rights here in America. Working for Nintendo 6 years and being unable to secure full-time benefits? This right here is why I will never be in the games industry. Fuck that noise.

Actually a lot of companies in different industries all over the world do this.

 

[ScatheZombie]

Isn't this also a problem within the computer industry in general, of which the video game industry is a subset?

The problem is exacerbated in games industry because they have themselves classified as both software development and entertainment and exploit the employment laws loopholes designated for each industry.

 

[Flying Toaster]

The few times I have had the chance to jump into the game industry I decided not to because of this. I had great opportunities with NoA if I wanted to be a contractor and not an actual permanent employee.

Edit: Tech is this way in general now as well.

 

[Aztechnology]

This is why I moved away from game design. I passed up on going to school at Digipen because I spent a lot of time looking at the depth of qualifications you needed to get good pay, the work life balance and the contractor type economy shift. That's going to continue, so I pursued software engineering instead, at least if I'm going to be part of the gig economy I'll have more flexibility in my work.

 

[Admodieus]

News flash - this is happening everywhere in the tech industry.

Employees are too expensive - training, health care, 401k matching, unemployment when you lay them off. Much easier to pay a slight premium for contractors and not have to pay their benefits.

The answer in the long run (at least in the US) is to separate healthcare from employment.

 

[Quadraphonic]

But what's the ratio of contractors that are QA people? A good chunk of QA are jettisoned at the end of each project as it's completely useless to keep the full amount of them on a project in the prototyping stage.

 

[Some Nobody]

Isn't this also a problem within the computer industry in general, of which the video game industry is a subset?

From what we're seeing, it's a problem with business in general. Hire as few people as possible, give out as few benefits as possible, and your business looks better when there aren't any "layoffs" because they weren't laid off, their contracts just ended. It's shitty, and a sign that corporations really are allowed to do what they want to us all.

 

[rhino4evr]

Doesn't Hollywood work in a similar way? I mean your only as valuable as your current project. It's the nature of the beast.

 

[HamsterExAstris]

That's horrible for worker's rights here in America. Working for Nintendo 6 years and being unable to secure full-time benefits? This right here is why I will never be in the games industry. Fuck that noise.

Blame everybody whining about how $60 is too much for a game. Combine income that's stagnant at best, with costs they can't control like rent rising as the economy inflates, means that the costs they can control have to be cut somewhere. That means cutting back on the scope of the product or cutting your costs for talent; and only one of those won't result in bad PR.

Doesn't Hollywood work in a similar way? I mean your only as valuable as your current project. It's the nature of the beast.

Hollywood is much more reliable about being able to staff people onto future projects than gaming work seems to be.

 

[Aztechnology]

News flash - this is happening everywhere in the tech industry.

Employees are too expensive - training, health care, 401k matching, unemployment when you lay them off. Much easier to pay a slight premium for contractors and not have to pay their benefits.

The answer in the long run (at least in the US) is to separate healthcare from employment.

Definitely, golden handcuffs is a huge issue. People will often stay in fields they are overqualified for, that have no chance for advancement, terrible conditions etc. Because they need healthcare desperately.

You have to overhaul Insurance billing, administrative practices and a whole bunch of other firmly entrenched industries that spend more on lobbying than almost any other sector though. So, we're going to have to reach massive unemployment, loss of coverage and have people rioting on the streets on a daily basis and affecting the lives of the people who control this stuff directly before anything happens.

 

[ScatheZombie]

Doesn't Hollywood work in a similar way? I mean your only as valuable as your current project. It's the nature of the beast.

Nearly every position on a Hollywood production is unionized or guild regulated.

 

[Purple Cheeto]

What?

Anyway, its what I've had to face coming out of my degree finally and realising there are no jobs in Australia at all that will offer permanent work. Contract work is fine, someone has to do it, but I definitely would rather have a solid position in a company then work my ass off for a year plus and then be told to get moving and hope they or someone else needs me again.

Only other option is to go indie and hope you do well.

Going Indie is the equivalent of being a starving artist.

 

[ScatheZombie]

Going Indie is the equivalent of being unemployed.

Fixed.

 

[dlauv]

Does this mean the humanities are coming back?

 

[Vimes]

I found this thread while taking a break between sending applications into a black hole so I kinda want to die now.

I also live within commuting distance of Psyonix, and want to keep living in this area if I can. I suspected the industry was going in this direction but having it confirmed is a gut punch.

Worst part is, I'm more or less ready to give up the dream and started looking for work in other industries, and it looks more or less the same. Nobody wants to train or retain talent anymore. The gig economy is killing us.

 

[Brenal]

The only answer to this problem is to form unions, but seeing how the industry already treats union V.A its going to be dificult

 

[Heroman]

Sad, Same could said for alot of jobs, how many people work 30 to 40 hours a week and still be considered full time employees.

 

[Flying Toaster]

I found this thread while taking a break between sending applications into a black hole so I kinda want to die now.

I also live within commuting distance of Psyonix, and want to keep living in this area if I can. I suspected the industry was going in this direction but having it confirmed is a gut punch.

Worst part is, I'm more or less ready to give up the dream and started looking for work in other industries, and it looks more or less the same. Nobody wants to train or retain talent anymore. The gig economy is killing us.

If you are willing to do small projects to build your portfolio then contract work while trying for Psyonix is a good goal. Experience goes a long way in this industry.

 

[Keby]

Going Indie is the equivalent of being a starving artist.

Can confirm.

 

[Vimes]

If you are willing to do small projects to build your portfolio then contract work while trying for Psyonix is a good goal. Experience goes a long way in this industry.

I have roughly two years of experience with a small mobile developer. It was real and formative experience as a game designer that could easily be considered transferable to any genre. I'm qualified for the positions I'm applying for but employers want perfect candidates.

Want to work on an FPS? Better have previous experience working on an FPS and at least one shipped title. Never mind where you would get such experience when no FPS dev will hire candidates below that level. Same for action, RTS, etc.

 

[The Lamp]

Actually a lot of companies in different industries all over the world do this.

I mean mine is huge and we also use contractors, but we often hire them on full-time after they prove they do good work and have long-term skills we could use, and we don't just tease them for years with on-off projects. It seems pretty ethical in comparison to the excerpts I'm reading here. We also don't use contractors for things full-time employees can do, we use them for things we want outside help on or short-term help on, as I believe it should be. We don't treat them like full-time workers for long periods of time and neglect to give them benefits.

 

[Jeffrey]

Are there video game consultant firms? Like the equivalent of Accenture or Manhattan associates where the companies handles finding jobs and contracts for you while you get a salary and benefits?

 

[alt27]

COD takes 2000 people to work on it??

 

[PaineReign]

I don't have a WSJ account so I am not sure how much of this is touched in the article. I will instead simply speak on my own experience. I was working as a contractor for a video game company year before being hired on full time and it is really not a problem on its face - contract labor is an important part of any work force.

There are two important distinctions - hiring contract firms and hiring contract employees. Firms have employees who get paid benefits. This is what the article says FFXV did, and there is no issue with that. Pointing this out just shows how big games are and how insane the need for assets is.

The other side is hiring employees as contractors. This means they do not get company benefits and have to pay additional taxes at the end of the year (for Americans, anyway). Again, not a bad thing.

This issue with contractors in the video game industry, I think, is that employees do not know their own value - I know I didn't when I first started. When you do not know how much you should be paid, you will rarely get paid what you deserve. When you couple this with the increased taxes you end up in bad situations.

There is also the problem other devs have cited where bigger companies sometimes act as though working on video games is a privileged and should be treated as such. They think because you get to work on video games they do not need to treat employees fairly which results in lower than industry (graphics industry, programming industry) wages, awful hours, and lackluster benefits. Caveat - this has not been my experience, but I have heard second-hand that this happens in game dev.

Developers should be paid industry standard wages with industry standard benefits, regardless of their role in development. An artist should be able to make the same amount of money making a multi-billion dollar open world game as they could working as a graphic design for a marketing firm. Programmers should make the same amount they would make if they worked in tax software or for an insurance company. This is not happening, and this is what will drive people out of game development. That is why it is a "young person's" career field. People get older and wise up.

 

[True Fire]

The tricky part about games is that a lot of aspects can be outsourced without issue. Andromeda might be evidence of the contrary though.

Another huge problem is the lack of understanding of video games by baby boomer politicians. They're all about auto workers and coal. Baby boomers have very rigid views of what a "good job" is, and it involves manual labour. I can't see right wing politicians standing up for video game developer rights.

 

[Aaronrules380]

I don't have a WSJ account so I am not sure how much of this is touched in the article. I will instead simply speak on my own experience. I was working as a contractor for a video game company year before being hired on full time and it is really not a problem on its face - contract labor is an important part of any work force.

There are two important distinctions - hiring contract firms and hiring contract employees. Firms have employees who get paid benefits. This is what the article says FFXV did, and there is no issue with that. Pointing this out just shows how big games are and how insane the need for assets is.

The other side is hiring employees as contractors. This means they do not get company benefits and have to pay additional taxes at the end of the year (for Americans, anyway). Again, not a bad thing.

This issue with contractors in the video game industry, I think, is that employees do not know their own value - I know I didn't when I first started. When you do not know how much you should be paid, you will rarely get paid what you deserve. When you couple this with the increased taxes you end up in bad situations.

There is also the problem other devs have cited where bigger companies sometimes act as though working on video games is a privileged and should be treated as such. They think because you get to work on video games they do not need to treat employees fairly which results in lower than industry (graphics industry, programming industry) wages, awful hours, and lackluster benefits. Caveat - this has not been my experience, but I have heard second-hand that this happens in game dev.

Developers should be paid industry standard wages with industry standard benefits, regardless of their role in development. An artist should be able to make the same amount of money making a multi-billion dollar open world game as they could working as a graphic design for a marketing firm. Programmers should make the same amount they would make if they worked in tax software or for an insurance company. This is not happening, and this is what will drive people out of game development. That is why it is a "young person's" career field. People get older and wise up.

I think it's an issue where a lot of young people who grew up playing and loving video games decide they want to make a career out of it because they have some passion without fully understanding the industry, leading to a disproportionate amount of talent wanting to get in on video games compared to other software jobs

 

[DriftingSpirit]

Soo, how can we blame this on Microsoft?

lol

 

[PaineReign]

I have roughly two years of experience with a small mobile developer. It was real and formative experience as a game designer that could easily be considered transferable to any genre. I'm qualified for the positions I'm applying for but employers want perfect candidates.

Want to work on an FPS? Better have previous experience working on an FPS and at least one shipped title. Never mind where you would get such experience when no FPS dev will hire candidates below that level. Same for action, RTS, etc.

In my experience those types of requirements on job applications should be read more as a "wish list" than a cut and dry "requirement". For almost any job, especially in the games industry, if a candidate matched everything they were looking for they would need to get paid a lot more than what that job is offering.

If you have experience, which you said you have, that's more than most people applying for that job. Just submit an application - what's the worst that could happen? If they turn you down, send a polite note thanking them for their time and asking how you can improve your resume and gain more experience to be a better candidate next time the position is open. You have literally nothing to lose.

 

[Shaanyboi]

This is tech, this is film, this is animation... This isn't anything new.

 

[Flying Toaster]

I have roughly two years of experience with a small mobile developer. It was real and formative experience as a game designer that could easily be considered transferable to any genre. I'm qualified for the positions I'm applying for but employers want perfect candidates.

Want to work on an FPS? Better have previous experience working on an FPS and at least one shipped title. Never mind where you would get such experience when no FPS dev will hire candidates below that level. Same for action, RTS, etc.

Two years post grad with one company is not a complete portfolio. I receive a lot of resumes and at this point anything that is less than five years experience is a hard pass unless something really sticks out on the resume.

I am speaking about tech in general. But my brief flirts with the games industry is no different then what I do.

Edit: Keep your nose to the grindstone something will come up. Stupid false hope statement I know but it does help.

 

[Oblivion]

To be fair, hiring as a last resort is something ALL companies do.

N9body hires someone cause they want to, the hire because they have to.

Edit: noooooooo bottom of the page