I know the Wii U was never a big player or anything but between this and the upcoming console half steps from Sony and MS it seems like the games industry as we always knew it is sort of done. In the future, all video games will be launched from within League of Legends.
The answer to this is painfully simple: Developers - quit letting employers treat you like this. You aren't a victim, take some control. The economy is extremely favorable to you at this moment in time. You don't have to put up with this shit. Quit the industry and you can make more money, cut your work week by a third, and have a personal life and some piece of mind and stablility. When enough devs leave the indusry the laws of supply and demand will work themselves out in that labor market and publishers will be forced to raise wages to meet the demands of the job. If the industry can't correct it turns out it isn't sustainable without abusing workers well.... then we all need to find new hobbies anyway.
There is nothing that we as players can do to change this other than stop buying big budget games. And if we do that the suits will probably just assume that nobody likes those any more and shift the devs over to freemium mobile games.
I feel like this already happens, it's just that there are always some fresh out of school developers so excited to work in games that they don't care about the crazy hours and unpaid overtime, they just want to be in the industry. I wonder if IGDA releases hiring statistics that back that idea up?
And if that is in fact the case what problem do we actually hope to solve? Wouldn't that be the problem working itself out?
@pontoon_yacht:Does the existence of a union preclude all individual bargaining? I personally would hate giving up my ability to do my own negotiating.
What I'm saying is let the replacing happen on your terms when you quit. I'm a dev and I'm happy. If I had a friend who was unhappy that would be my advice to them. Then it's the next person's problem when he or she comes in. It's not uncommon for young idealistic people to get chewed up and spit out. If you think games dev is a wasteland, take a look at LA and all the people there who wash out trying to make it into the entertainment industry. It's SUCKS but that's life.
@giantlizardking: I think a problem with that is the developer can be replaced by someone younger, cheaper, and willing to work as many hours as possible to get into the industry. Video games inspire a lot of passion in people, but that same passion can lead to them accepting harsh conditions so that they can contribute to their favorite AAA franchise or company.
I don't know how true it is necessarily, but it's a thought that could cause a developer to pause before going to their employer about the situation. As bad as the job can be, being unemployed can be worse.
The answer to this is painfully simple: Developers - quit letting employers treat you like this. You aren't a victim, take some control. The economy is extremely favorable to you at this moment in time. You don't have to put up with this shit. Quit the industry and you can make more money, cut your work week by a third, and have a personal life and some piece of mind and stablility. When enough devs leave the indusry the laws of supply and demand will work themselves out in that labor market and publishers will be forced to raise wages to meet the demands of the job. If the industry can't correct it turns out it isn't sustainable without abusing workers well.... then we all need to find new hobbies anyway.
There is nothing that we as players can do to change this other than stop buying big budget games. And if we do that the suits will probably just assume that nobody likes those any more and shift the devs over to freemium mobile games.
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