A friend of mine told me that was common practice by publishers to give developers very harsh work conditions since...

A friend of mine told me that was common practice by publishers to give developers very harsh work conditions since ever, I told he was wrong that even if that happened it couldn't be common practice, the industry wouldn't sustain itself and have so many developers enthusiastic about it.

Also, I guess nobody respects burden of proof these days

What do you think, Holla Forums? Is he right or wrong? And why?

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Video game developers are practically in heaven compared to some other jobs. Publishers give developers a raw deal in job security not work conditions.
Read up on what happened to Human Head and Bethesda over Prey 2 and how EA treats the developer studios they buy.

Then there is also the case of studio heads or lead developers being completely inept at actually running their businesses no matter how many successful projects they make. Richard Garriot practically pissed away his legacy with poor management. Same with Mr. Shitface and TTLG.

I don't know about working conditions, but I DO know that publishers sometimes fuck over developers on arbitrary claims in order to inflate their own profits.

You clearly haven't been educated on Bethesda's business model.

EA pushed to make poor working conditions the industry standard. Everyone treats low level employees poorly, CDPR included. Valve just instantly fires anyone that doesnt fit well.
It's worse in Japan though.

I've never worked in the industry, but from what I often hear from devs it's pretty rare if you get to work with a publisher who doesn't completely screw you over. If you're really lucky they might actually let you do your job.

This is from Japan, i have the book.

Well, I always though that Bethesda, EA and Activision were exceptions, but I already concluded that I'm wrong.


A link would be cool:
hardcoregaming101.net/untoldhistory2/untoldhistory2.htm

mega.nz/#!FEQVibjT!DgWvX3tes81eAZjsU5f_LVNbsGJg1OcmkNWVoysL24o

Hey user, thanks.

fucking lol.
Programmers writing bank software or corporate IT software typically make twice what a game developer at a AAA makes, and they work 40-50 hours a week, not 80.

Game companies know that they can abuse their employees as much as they want and they'll stay because "we make games".

If you want to become a game developer, become a regular-ass developer, work a few years, then go on sabbatical and pay your expenses with the money you've saved.

Unpaid overtime and constant crunch is the norm in vidya dev. Basically, they can do whatever they want because there's a thousand unemployed nerds banging on their doors wanting to get in, so if you don't put up and shut up you're out :^)

Do you know how many idiots throw their lives away because they "wanna work for video games"?

you could read that ea spouse blog from like 2003, it's pretty terrifying.

Programmer here. AAA game development is a rape machine that preys on idealistic college grads who didn't see it coming, don't know what they're worth, and aren't jaded enough yet to quit. The dev houses grind them into the dirt, pay them peanuts, and constantly try to rip them off (often successfully). As they wise up they're replaced with fresh grads (note the low age of devs outside of engine dev or management). If you want the third world sweatshop experience without having to learn a foreign language, AAA game dev has got you covered.

I know that alot of them take advantage of development teams, basically people think they are getting their dream job and as such the big publisher's would walk all over them.

But if you've ever worked in shipping or distribution you've had worse conditions.

What your friend is probably thinking of is the 2000's when big publisher's would screw over small studios if they didn't give up the rights to an IP. Like what Activision and EA did. By moving goalposts and finding any reason to bitch.

That being said im pretty sure take 2 lost a law suit by a team that worked on LA noire, because of unfit work conditions and long hours. So maybe they do have it rough sometimes

Don't forget the rampant nepotism, missallocation and outright theft of resources and non-existent project management on many projects.

Average programmer career lasts 5 years in game dev. Gee, I wonder why?

If a studio works under a big name publisher there's a 90% chance they will have a rough time. Lorne Lanning did an interview on this a year or two ago, you essentially sell your soul to get funding and continue existing because the publisher puts you in that position, and by then they can do whatever they want.

Nobody really passionate about games should want to work in the industry. Either go for small studios or work on your own.

I worked for Nintendo for 3 months and it was the most soul-crushing experience of my entire life. They let me go because I was the only person there who didn't suck everyone's dick. You think weeabos are bad, you should see this places managers, every one of them sucks Japans dick like their life depended on it.

… but doesn't it?
At least in Nintendo's case?

Probably, since their shit brand-named job is the only thing of value in these peoples miserable existence. They all have a weird pride too despite the fact they are massive cucks, they would buy the game they worked on (and should be sick to death of let alone want to play) just so they can see their name in the credits. Literal human excrement.

That's not very unusual, user. Most managers are like that.

Yes and no. Even early Atari developers had insane crunch times, but the earliest devs did it from passion. The teams were small enough that everyone felt ownership of the game and wanted it to be the best. The same holds ture now for small teams, although that could also cause drama and issues if there isn't enough order on the team.

So even in the beginning work conditions could be pretty poor, but at that point it was partially self imnflicted from passion. By late Atari dev days it was more publisher enforced, such as being forced to pump out a game in a couple of weeks with a tiny team, ensuring practically no sleep or quality.