Support NeoGAF

[mnannola]

Union sounds nice, but would everyone accept paying $100 per game so AAA developers could unionize?

Cut everyone hours back to 40 hours a week, and games will either take longer to finish, or will need more manpower. Both of these require more money.

 

[stalker]

I do not get the reference to "consumer demands". As if in other industries there is not a customer waiting for your deliverables and strong quality expectations.

 

[conman]

As in all professional-class jobs, "passion" for one's work is an incredibly powerful form of coercion. If you "love" what you do, then you can guarantee that management/administration/executives will capitalize on your "love" for your work. This is as true in game development as it is in law, medicine, etc.

Among other reasons, this is why labor unions came into existence, as a way of checking the coercive power of capital. Coercion isn't simply about forcing people to work more; it's about finding ways to capitalilze on workers' own desires (for more money, promotion, recognition, or out of "passion" for the work).

The barrier to unionization is the same barrier among professionals as it is among industrial labor: the systematic demonization and dismantling of labor unions by big business (and their supporters in government).

 

[Timeaisis]

I love developing games. I will never love working 60-70 hours a week.

 

[PumpkinSpice]

That doenst exempts you from OT, hell, where I work it's the norm. You have to say youre sorry for leaving on time lol

I basically never work overtime. We had a demo of some software at my old job coming in a few days so we stayed a few extra hours a couple days but all of us were pretty sick of it and we got compensated with half days the rest of the week.

Unions won't work in the tech industry, where most people are enablers: "badass, you worked 100 hours?! King of the pit, bruv!"

Nobody does that anywhere I've ever worked (not games). Most places if you work more than 40 hours your boss will tell you to stop and not burn yourself out.

 

[Rats Off To Ya]

Union sounds nice, but would everyone accept paying $100 per game so AAA developers could unionize?

Cut everyone hours back to 40 hours a week, and games will either take longer to finish, or will need more manpower. Both of these require more money.

You make it sound like things are just roses right now. The current course of AAA development is unsustainable. Something's gotta give.

 

[Corgi]

That doenst exempts you from OT, hell, where I work it's the norm. You have to say youre sorry for leaving on time lol

depends. Tons of developer jobs out there that do 40 hours a week year round. And with many big companies hesitant on hiring people full time and rather contract them... Having to pay you by the hour for overtime is something they rather not do

 

[ShinMaruku]

This is the main issue here. I work in accounting software, we offer ridiculously high salaries and strict 36-hour workweeks, and it's impossible to find qualified software engineers. "Burned out" game developers are more than welcome!

75-93 a hour? That's tempting.

 

[Servbot24]

Unionize, g'dammit.

For better or worse the games industry is filled with people who are very passionate about their work just for the work's sake and competed very hard to get where they are. In essence they're the perfect employees for these corporations. Extremely hard working and easy to take advantage of.

 

[laser]

Union sounds nice, but would everyone accept paying $100 per game so AAA developers could unionize?

Cut everyone hours back to 40 hours a week, and games will either take longer to finish, or will need more manpower. Both of these require more money.

Incorrect. Crunch introduces bugs and actually causes games to take longer to finish since the bugs need to be fixed.

 

[Candescence]

You make it sound like things are just roses right now. The current course of AAA development is unsustainable. Something's gotta give.

Very much this. The rising costs of game development are like a house of cards, eventually the whole thing is just gonna collapse unless a big change happens.

Seriously, developers need to unionize, even if publishers will venomously fight any hint of a union movement, because it will effectively destroy the AAA business model as we know it. And that will be a good thing.