A number of anonymous developers who worked on Team Bondi's L.A. Noire claim the game's seven-year cycle was due to "mismanagement," but studio head Brendan McNamara says he's done nothing wrong.
Speaking anonymously to IGN, a number of ex-developers have alleged that McNamara's studio offered them "appalling working conditions," that McNamara himself was "angry and abusive," and that department leads were "ineffective" at protecting their teams from "perpetual crunch and weekend overtime."
One major complaint centers around McNamara's management style, with developers complaining that if he wanted something changed, he would bypass section leads and go straight to the team members implementing the content. Even if the request was "unreasonable," a developer said, their bosses would be "ultimately powerless" to challenge the decision.
"It's my game," McNamara told IGN in response. "I can go to anyone I want in the team and say, 'I want it changed.'"
"I've been doing it for a long time, and it seems to have worked out so far for me," he continued, saying that Rockstar's Sam Houser has a similar management style.
McNamara denied allegations that young recruits were expected to work a near-persistent crunch (one ex-employee said that he was "just a resource to be burned through") while upper management went home.
"People don't work any longer hours than I do. I don't turn up at 9am and go home at 5pm, and go to the beach," he said, never actually denying the game's long crunch cycles. "I'm here at the same hours as everybody else is."
"If you wanted to do a nine-to-five job, you'd be in another business," he added.
This is not the first time former Team Bondi employees have spoken out against the company. Over 100 developers who claim to have contributed to L.A. Noire's development say they were not officially credited for their work because they had left the company before the game was completed, with many complaining of 10-12 hour work days that included weekends.
"There has been a lot of press saying how incredible this is for the Australian gaming industry, since it is the biggest (and most successful) game made in Australia to date," an anonymous developer said. "But that has come at the price, as most of the people that worked on it will never have proof of having worked there (unless they want to pull out a paycheck)."
"If you wanted to do a nine-to-five job, you'd be in another business,"
I guess Team Bondi will be adding this line the next time they post job offers on Gamasutra. I'm not knocking the guy but some honesty about your studio's management style will help people determine if they fit your corporate culture.
A valid point. Personally I don't have a problem with that kind of pressure or work ethic, used to it. It can be a tough gig. Over half a lifetime of programming and seldom come across a job with regular hours.
it just seems like people develop a learned helplessness and stop looking for better places to work because all anyone hears about are the Rockstars of the gaming industry and think its the same way everywhere. dont get me wrong, its a tough, competitive business, and you have to work hard because there are thousands who want your job, but it is possible to maintain a healthy balance in this industry.
i think if more people looked at quality of life instead of just a paycheck, we'd all be better off.
A lot of these studios will say almost anything to get great developers. Once you're there, you can leave, sure, if you are financially secure. Many of us, on the other hand, are getting married, married, or have children and need the steady income. We'll eventually leave, that's inevitable; but, the product and the person are both damaged in the process.
Crunch isn't an acceptable part of a healthy development cycle.
Exactly my thoughts. And this statement: "If you wanted to do a nine-to-five job, you'd be in another business," seems borderline discrimination to me. Honestly McNamara should watch what he says since he's opening himself right up for law suits imho.
Only in our industry is such a work environment tolerated to the point that if you are to demand a healthy working environment, you can expect a pink slip. How did we become the exception to all labor laws?
I'm currently in school for Game Art & Design. I'd love to work for one of the big developers like Rockstar or Bioware, but not when this kind of thinking is common within the upper tiers of a company. I'm definitely willing to continue working in my 9-to-5 job (while repaying student loans) and working toward a union or guild or some other organization that protects the people actually building the games.
It's hard to develop a AAA game like this, for sure. BUT, I think that send men to space or make a Boeing 777 fly is harder and I don't hear from the workers at Boeing or NASA that they crunched this much. Something must be wrong.
Lame, Brendan. It only seems to be working because you are either blind to or don't care about your workforce. So go ahead, keep aggressively driving nails with your knuckles with a hammer lying nearby. With luck, better managers than you will get your castoffs and work with them to create great things of their own. Not just awesome video games, but balanced families, secure relationships, better health and a decent golf score.
Best of luck to all the burnt out workers, I hope you find better places to work. Doesn't sound like you could find worse.
As someone who hopes to enter the games industry it's extremely worrying not only to hear of instances like this btu also to see the lack of any real drive to rid the industry of cases like this. I'll be treating L.A. Noire in the same way I would any product made under what I'd consider abusive working conditions and give it a wide berth.
Devil Advocate for Brendan here is that to release a game this massive, you need a hard ass (potentially fall guy for upper management) to rally and scare the troops to complete it. Flip side, Brendan and Upper management should have better managed crunch mode and provided small comforts like food/scotch. Crazy thought, how about a guaranteed completion bonus for the team of 50% yearly salary?
Finally, people are not widgets, even in a industry where everyone wants in.
I had just purchased LA Noire about a week before this story. I already felt that a lot of the flaws of this game were underreported (i.e. the animations generally are horrible, depite the revolutionary technology for the faces of the actors). Now, after reading this I am even less inclined to fire up this game. It all makes sense that there are a lot of loose end kind of problems, since it is obviously more about ego than creating a truly excellent product.
So true. Imagine for all the physical/relationship hell you endure to put a quality game out and your reward is to be fired. Flip side, if you develop a crap game (and were given the time/resources to make it great) you should expect a firing.
The worst thing about it is crunch at this magnitude doesn't work. There's a century of research that proves people do less work when working more than 40-hour weeks on a regular basis. A week or two here or there for a major push or milestone is one thing, but ongoing like this is just incompetent management. And the game will never break even, never make a profit. If they had just worked normal hours (and used just competent project management) could have had the same game done in three years.
I suppose that if he had an agreement to deliver the game on a certain date, he pushed workers to complete the stuff. The question is, shouldn't have been Rockstar more flexible on dates? another question arises... had Macnamara asked Rockstar to stretch the deadline? In the end, when you have spent so many bucks in marketing, that's not an option unluckily...
For Higor and Chris, i'm sure that the ones that send men to space earn much more money than those we suffer crunch time at a videogames company. With due respect, i think you've never suffered it to the extreme...or maybe you directly instigate it, that's why you defend it :P
I think Higor is actually saying that it is more difficult to send people into space compared to making a AAA game yet we don't hear much about poor working conditions in those industries.
Yeah, that's how I interpreted it too. Implying that crunch is not unavoidable, that claiming it is unavoidable is just an excuse used by upper management (who, even when they work as many hours, stand to get filthy rich off of the product if it's a hit and have much more motivation to work themselves - and naturally those they don't care about - to death) to justify greedy scheduling.
You hit the nail on the head Jeffrey. This is not about whether a project deserves the amount of work it's about exploiting workers to make yourself rich. I don't see every worker receiving an equal share of the profits so his argument that "People don't work any longer hours than I do. I don't turn up at 9am and go home at 5pm, and go to the beach," is complete rubbish.
Why I agreed with Higor is that there seems to be a managament problem in the mainstream game industry which could be avoided by learning from much more demanding job fields. But the main problem in the case here seems to be a lack of concept and planning in combination with ego bitching.
I hear many stories and the treatment of workers on many places in this industry is an insult. Caused by bad producers/managers who throw random ideas and tasks through space and time and burn the workforce due to their unprofessionalism.
And in my experience you cannot produce great products if you screw with those who develop it. 7 years...
""It's my game," McNamara told IGN in response. "I can go to anyone I want in the team and say, 'I want it changed.'""
Wow.
Wooooow.
In this and the article on IGN, McNamara has probably become my least favorite person in the game industry (next to those I have... personal issues with). And no, I'm not forgetting about Kotick.
What a douchebag, a game isn't "yours" if you have a team, it's the entire team's; no ifs, ands, or buts. I don't care if you spent twenty billion dollars to found the studio, once you are asking people to crunch for something their voices matter too. Seriously, have you guys read the article on IGN? He doesn't even try to hide his asshole side. AAA games are hard to make so you have to crunch to keep up with the competition? How about _not_ crunching so you maintain talent and finish a game in less than seven years!
Not to mention the fact that even if it is technically true that it's "his game", ignoring the structures that are in place to ensure proper communication and organisation is a recipe for disaster. Not only is McNamara's attitude bad for morale, it's bad for the game too. Good software development requires that the work be clearly organised and that there be clear lines of communication to ensure that everyone is on the same page, working in the same direction, understanding how things are supposed to fit together. Maybe if he communicated the requested changes properly and let them filter down through all of the necessary channels, they would have had less difficulties and could have shipped the game a lot sooner.
Yeah, I've experienced working under managers like him. It's not fun. I agree, making a AAA game like that takes a lot of hard work, dedication and focus. He wouldn't have been able to achieve this type of game without the hard working individuals that were/was on his team. The dictator style management doesn't work unless you're content with high turnover rates with talent. I'm sure if it wasn't for the love of the game, his developers probably wouldn't have stayed that long.
He definitely comes across as a person who values money over the value of building a solid team and taking care of his team members. Just because he chooses to work the kind of hours he works doesn't mean it should be enforced on others. If he really cared for the project, he'll realize that having fresh, happy and content developers can only gain him a better game in the end.
Now, I haven't bought the game nor do I intend to. If what is said about the quality of the game is true, it might have been reviewed better if he did take the time to treat his team as people rather than expendible robots.
That really is incredible. Sure, someone has to have final say on things, but this guy must have an ego the size of Jupiter to think he has any right to say a game worked on by hundreds of people is his.
A happy worker is a productive worker, and will likely put out just as much work as the unhappy guy you're making work twice as long.
He might think it was the best game ever too. Can't imagine the amount of great directions the game could have turned if this guy wasn't so narrow-minded and listened to the team.
Totally agree with you. I've been wanting to buy LA Noire since it was released, but now i can't possibly enjoy it, not after reading the absurdities of McNamara's speech. I'll actively avoid whatever he works on, hoping that this will eventually get him out of the industry, and someone that know at least something about management and good work environment (or being a decent human being, really) can get funding from the publishers instead of him.
For someone who has been out of job for almost one year and with some HR knowledge; I feel sad this stuff still goes on despite our very stringent rules on employment law.
That being said, I've always thought that the video game industry was always a lot tougher than most other industries due to the sheer amount of money that the industry pulls in every year. Failure is not an option. So in my research in deciding on pursuing a game career, I've always needed to understand and accept its unpleasant truths. It's still tough; I still question if I'm doing the right thing.
But knowing that I'm competing with so many people with so much more experience than me, makes the choice clear. I have to suck it up to get ahead.
Another sad truth in our industry is Upper management in many cases has become a boy's club where there is no managing down. If you're a line guy/gal and don't like how you are managed you won't last long if you complain. The dark side of 'hired at will'.
There are plenty of other industries that pull in more money than the game industry and they don't necessarily require you to work ridiculous hours non-stop. Then again, some of those industries have unions. :)
"sheer amount of money" doesn't really make sense. If anything, a more profitable industry would have less need to drive the tension as much as they do.
There's another side to this debate, which is that part of the reason they do this is that they can get away with it because people WANT to make games. It's abuse of a tipped-to-one-side supply-demand situation.
Anyhow, I agree it's a pretty crappy position the guy takes in the interview. Hopefully he'll find out this pursuit runs out of gas (and fresh bodies).
Some of these game publishers say, we need to sell x amount of copies as a mandate. Bioware saying that they want to sell 10 million copies on every game only proves that.
If they don't get those targets, guess what happens? It's pressure put on the people who make these games.
Whoa... It is nice that I AM NOT in the regular game industry. (I am in regular software industry and sometimes we make games...)
Where I work there are no crunch, we are well paid, and there are nice work ethics and everything.
Note on well paid: I get half the wages here than I would be getting on NA, EU or JP for the same job on a regular software company, but the company offered me 5 times the highest wage offer from local game industry, thus why I am not working on game industry. (I am not a mercenary, it is only the game industry wanted to pay me less than my rent)
Ugh, this the classic example of the 'randomizer' type of management, which we all know and detest. And it's exactly what makes development take 7 years. (Kudos for his honesty though, most others in his position would be too embarrassed to actually admit to this..)
And thanks to McNamara for the tip of where to look at for my next job, if I want decent working hours to actually see my family sometimes..
Yup. I've worked with managers like him before and it's unfortunate that so many people in the company were willing to put up with it rather then send him packing. I'd like to see how "his" game would have turned out had he been the only one working on it.
Yes, we're in a creative industry and sometimes unforeseen challenges mean that you need to crunch. But nonstop crunch for seven years? That's absurd. That's telling me that a certain individual should have been fired a year and a half in. And then to have the audacity to say that the only thing you'd change is to not work in the UK because of the attitude of your employees? Mr. MacNamara, congratulations. In a single article you've managed to become the biggest douche in the industry.
One of the benefits of restricting the amount of hours spent working on project is that it forces you to keep your game lean. You can't spend time constantly piling features on when you know your team only has 40hrs/week per employee. And let's face it, for all the accolades LA Noire got, that game was fat. Way too many redundant and completely unnecessary cases, a haphazard and wandering story, and entirely forgettable side quests. Had he instead focused on the core (and surprisingly broken) aspects of the game like the overall plot, conversation system and investigation mechanics, LA Noire would have been a much more polished game.
There needs to be a very serious discussion in the industry in regards to management and that discussion can only happen via collective bargaining. If the people who actually build the game don't start flexing their muscle things are going to get much worse. And frankly, you don't develop a thriving creative industry under these conditions - you kill it.
Its guys like this that made me decide to ultimately stay out of the game industry. He's an extreme example, for sure, but crunch culture is for some people and those people definitely aren't me. Unfortunately, I don't foresee the 'make or break' gamble of big budget game production ever really getting much better unless we want nothing but low-risk, derivative games that do nothing to further the medium.
" Unfortunately, I don't foresee the 'make or break' gamble of big budget game production ever really getting much better unless we want nothing but low-risk, derivative games that do nothing to further the medium."
Strictly speaking from an outsider's perspective as I have no game development experience yet, I actually don't have a problem so much with working crunch as I do with poor managers and having to re-do weeks of work (done in crunch mode) because of poor management decisions. In an ideal work environment, crunch shouldn't happen. If it does, it needs to be recognized that the team is working above and beyond the normal expectations.
Actually, I've got to give it to Brendan on this one. As I transition from music to gamemaking, it is quite disappointing to see how many in this industry completely lack that "it" drive and ethic that the best creative artists always have. Sounds to me like a few have to drive the herd to create the quality that Rockstar is known for. If that's what it takes, so be it.
It's a privilege to earn your living making make-believe things, telling stories and getting to immerse yourself in things like art, music and the creative process.
For this, you get a paycheck (and possibly even benefits). Damn lucky to me. Work the hours that creative people should expect of themselves or go work a 9-5 job in a non-creative industry please.
And I say this not from a pedestal, but as someone who has poured 1000's of hours into my craft (both music and now games) while raising my now teen-aged son; so I know all about long days and unrequited work and talent unknown. I'm still lucky, because UDK just updated today and I can still go chase a creative dream.
So, what's the problem again? =)
Keep it up Rockstar and Brendan. I'm your huckleberry...
"It's a privilege to earn your living making make-believe things, telling stories and getting to immerse yourself in things like art, music and the creative process."
Spoken like someone who hasn't spent ten minutes working in a real development environment.
i've been lucky that i've worked for far more creative studios (not to mention real life blue collar jobs) without exsessive crunch (or really any crunch that i dont do myself), so i don't need this crap. you want to be exploited, go ahead.
Good God... if you're trolling, congratulations; I'm falling for it, so enjoy.
I had to look to make sure, but yes, you're the same asshole that showed similar sentiments here: http://gamasutra.com/blogs/KeithFuller/20110114/6792/60_Straight_Days_of_ Crunch_ Really_Please_Explain.php
"And I say this not from a pedestal, but as someone who has poured 1000's of hours into my craft (both music and now games) while raising my now teen-aged son; so I know all about long days and unrequited work and talent unknown. I'm still lucky, because UDK just updated today and I can still go chase a creative dream."
Okay Awesome Game Developer, how many of those "1000s of hours" have you put into working for a company in the game industry? Not writing music, not thinking about games, not even just working on games at home for fun or profit, I mean working... for a company... in the game industry. Wait, UDK? You wouldn't happen to be a... hobbyist, would you? This leads me to believe - and please, correct me if I'm wrong - that you have not worked a day in the industry and are comparing the ease with which you work late nights on your pet projects at home to the difficulty that many in the industry suffer working late nights on some heartless corporate insult of a game, or heck even on a good game with a jerk of a manager. Pet projects are the easiest thing in the world to do, and if you are truly creative and exploratory it is actually a good way to wind down. Hell I work on my pet projects in what little time I can scrape together _even during crunch time_!!
What it comes down to is not just passion, it's also control of your life. If you are working on a project you truly enjoy and believe in, at home or at work, then you will be more likely to work late out of natural inclination. I'm hopeful you can imagine it being much more difficult to fall in love with a game of the crap-caliber quality that the industry has dissolved into producing, especially with the motivational temperature nose-diving every day as you watch your coworkers get laid off through no fault of their own (or get laid off yourself).
"Keep it up Rockstar and Brendan. I'm your huckleberry..."
Hey, why don't you go apply for a job at Team Bondi? They're sure to be hiring soon for their next masterpiece, and I'm sure they'll be more than happy to hire such a willing tool as yourself.
I'm sorry to awaken your hostility. But if it isn't apparent to you, nobody forces anyone to work anywhere in this industry.
If you find the big-bad corporate behemoth to be so terrible, wait for it: DON'T WORK FOR IT. I know, revolutionary concept. But if more talent were actually willing to stick to their beliefs (or form any to start with perhaps) and try to do something they believe in or that actually mattered to them, rather than be 'forced' into labor for a large developer, perhaps we'd have a games industry that was flourishing, much like other mediums have enjoyed in their heyday.
Know any people in the film industry? Have any idea what it's like to work on some of those sets and productions? Gone on tour for a year and a half on a stadium tour and worked with that crew?
A guy who's in charge of a $100 million game production pushed people hard and expected a lot.
Complete horseshit Jason. Jackassy lazy project management, belligerent egomania and the resultant waste and bad decision making are why this game took seven years and will never turn a profit.
"If you find the big-bad corporate behemoth to be so terrible, wait for it: DON'T WORK FOR IT."
yeah sure let me just zip on down to the job store and pick up a new job. maybe two. no problem in this economy. i'm sure the family wouldnt mind moving again. nevermind trying to fix things.
there is nothing remotely creative or fulfilling about working in a place like that. its hardly a privledge to make other people billions while counting our blessings that our corporate overlords deign to allow us to be exploited. give me a break.
Yes, it is a priviledge to develop games and I enjoy the challenges that it brings because there are many rewards for a job well done. However, if you've been in the industry long enough and you've put your time in only to be treated like horse dung, I'd like to see how long you can endure that. Having that drive to make compelling games doesn't mean we should sacrifice our lives for it...especially when others are involved like your family. If you can't agree to that, then you have your priorities backwards. Work is important but family is even more important.
When you come home after a long hard day of pouring your heart out on a game, only to be stepped on by the people you're working hard for, do you not think that takes a toll on you? Not to mention bringing that home and affecting those around you? Is that "OK" by your standards?
I worked in the AAA games industry for well over 10 years and I can honestly say I don't mind working on the smaller, casual titles. For one, I'm making a little more than what I was making at a AAA studio, I have more creative control and am involved in many more systems so I can grow in my craft, work ends before the sun sets, I have my weekends, very low stress, have time for my family, and still have time on the side to dedicate working on side projects. Honestly, I had none of these before and aside from being able to put something on my resume, I basically hated my job because of all the things it took away from me. Oh, and the big difference now...I have MORE DRIVE AND LOVE for creating games than I ever had before.
Now, I won't speak for everyone when I say this as I'm only speaking from my experience, working at a AAA studio/project isn't as glamorous as you think it would be. Now, I won't deny that having that experience on my resume doesn't benefit me, but I certainly am more careful of where I choose to work. LIFE > GAMES. If you're happy with life, you're more likely to enjoy making games. And if you're miserable in life, that will probably carry over to your attitude and production with the games you make.
sigh... just record everything that guy says and play it back as testimony on a hearing about "why we need unions".
and not even to be particularly pro-union about it either...
just that the level of obliviousness on his part for the working conditions and quality of life of his employees is just comically and caricaturedly bent in the opposite direction.
i mean, yeah, he has a point... if you want to build the pyramids or the great wall of china (and perhaps la noire), people are gonna have to DIE... but "what're you gonna do?" "them's the breaks". hey, "that's the industry". (where's the head smacking emoticon when you need it?)
When asked whether that was true[McNamara's need to exert total control over what goes on in the studio], he chuckled and asked "And is that a bad thing? I make video games. They're personal statements for me. I write 'em, I direct 'em, I put the technology together to make them. I go out to the world and say, 'Will you fund them?' So if you think that's obsessive: absolutely."
Self absorbed garbage, and a total disrespect for the real people that made the game what it is.
"It's my game," McNamara told IGN in response. "I can go to anyone I want in the team and say, 'I want it changed.'"
In just one sentence, I can see that it create quite two MAJOR problems:
1. Bypassing middle management create confusions in the team
2. As what McNamara said is final, team members will be more likely to wait till McNamara confirms before they start working, lowering the productivity.
who saw alec baldwen speech in glengaryglen rose movie ? every employee working in this industry or any industry should see that movie . and for the ex-emplyoee who are complaining about the tough managment and resign should shut there mouth untell the project finish then if the company doesnt pay them for there overtime then this time they can suie the company .
What is more depressing is the shear number of people that they burned through. The article said the amended credits go to a hundred. Imagine what all those people (or even half of them) could have done under decent management. I really hope this guy gets knocked down a few rungs on the ladder. 7 years...
I would really like to see IGDA stepping up to the plate and doing something about this. Anything. Something like a simple statement, easy to find in Google, would do in order to prevent other people from ever working for someone like this.
Despite a significant amount of research and hard work from very dedicated folks in the IGDA, their efforts have lacked the teeth to actually make the change. Every fiscal year the big companies are swamped with new, fresh, talented people applying for work. Every year they need to ship the games in order to get money back on their millions invested. Deadlines and stock prices have more sway in our industry than retaining talent.
Keep in mind the EA widow story will be 7 years ago this fall. If you go back and compare some of the issues brought up then with stories in the press this year, it almost seems like they had it easier in 2004.
Though I appreciate all that IGDA has done so far, it just simply isn't enough.
Good news, looks like they are: http://www.develop-online.net/news/38125/Industry-outrage-at-brutal-Team- Bondi-c runch
Trying at least. I agree with Dex, the IGDA has good intentions and probably makes some small difference, but we need something more.
edit: there seems to be a space before the word "Bondi" in that link that I can't see to remove when editing. Oh well, just google the article title or remove the space yourself if anyone wants to see :)
Here's a quote from Brian Robbins, chair of the IGDA Board of Directors. A step in the right direction.
“[But] certainly reports of 12-hour a day, lengthy crunch time, if true, are absolutely unacceptable and harmful to the individuals involved, the final product, and the industry as a whole,” Robbins told Develop.
McNamara would be better off just keeping his mouth shut. People would forget and move on, like they did before. But, thankfully, he didn't. Now we know.
I am currently studying Game Software Development and hope to one day become either a gameplay programmer or an AI programmer if my skills are fine tuned enough. Even with zero game industry experience I find the management style at Team Bondi to be appalling. I have been working tech support for going on 8 years now and have had bad working conditions but nothing to this extent. My major concern is whether or not I will get credited for my work on a project. It may seem like a stupid concern for the majority of the industry, but as a student I can not help but be concerned. Should I bust my hump to get in with an established studio? Or go the route of an Indie Developer? I would love to speak with any one that can give me some guidance in this matter. I just want to be able to accomplish my goals to the best of my ability. Thank you in advance!!
I guess Team Bondi will be adding this line the next time they post job offers on Gamasutra. I'm not knocking the guy but some honesty about your studio's management style will help people determine if they fit your corporate culture.
or be at another studio. believe it or not, some studios dont screw you repeatedly until the game ships.
i think if more people looked at quality of life instead of just a paycheck, we'd all be better off.
A lot of these studios will say almost anything to get great developers. Once you're there, you can leave, sure, if you are financially secure. Many of us, on the other hand, are getting married, married, or have children and need the steady income. We'll eventually leave, that's inevitable; but, the product and the person are both damaged in the process.
Crunch isn't an acceptable part of a healthy development cycle.
Hey, if you want to talk about this, please contact me (eiyukabe_at_gmail).
Best of luck to all the burnt out workers, I hope you find better places to work. Doesn't sound like you could find worse.
Finally, people are not widgets, even in a industry where everyone wants in.
I don't understand why crunching was needed at all. I mean, 7 years!!!
People do less work when crunching, they have worse relationships with their co-workers and family, and their health deteriorates.
Why would we do this to people?!
For Higor and Chris, i'm sure that the ones that send men to space earn much more money than those we suffer crunch time at a videogames company. With due respect, i think you've never suffered it to the extreme...or maybe you directly instigate it, that's why you defend it :P
Especially not the ones that got laid off :)
I hear many stories and the treatment of workers on many places in this industry is an insult. Caused by bad producers/managers who throw random ideas and tasks through space and time and burn the workforce due to their unprofessionalism.
And in my experience you cannot produce great products if you screw with those who develop it. 7 years...
Wow.
Wooooow.
In this and the article on IGN, McNamara has probably become my least favorite person in the game industry (next to those I have... personal issues with). And no, I'm not forgetting about Kotick.
What a douchebag, a game isn't "yours" if you have a team, it's the entire team's; no ifs, ands, or buts. I don't care if you spent twenty billion dollars to found the studio, once you are asking people to crunch for something their voices matter too. Seriously, have you guys read the article on IGN? He doesn't even try to hide his asshole side. AAA games are hard to make so you have to crunch to keep up with the competition? How about _not_ crunching so you maintain talent and finish a game in less than seven years!
This is so enraging.
He definitely comes across as a person who values money over the value of building a solid team and taking care of his team members. Just because he chooses to work the kind of hours he works doesn't mean it should be enforced on others. If he really cared for the project, he'll realize that having fresh, happy and content developers can only gain him a better game in the end.
Now, I haven't bought the game nor do I intend to. If what is said about the quality of the game is true, it might have been reviewed better if he did take the time to treat his team as people rather than expendible robots.
A happy worker is a productive worker, and will likely put out just as much work as the unhappy guy you're making work twice as long.
That being said, I've always thought that the video game industry was always a lot tougher than most other industries due to the sheer amount of money that the industry pulls in every year. Failure is not an option. So in my research in deciding on pursuing a game career, I've always needed to understand and accept its unpleasant truths. It's still tough; I still question if I'm doing the right thing.
But knowing that I'm competing with so many people with so much more experience than me, makes the choice clear. I have to suck it up to get ahead.
There's another side to this debate, which is that part of the reason they do this is that they can get away with it because people WANT to make games. It's abuse of a tipped-to-one-side supply-demand situation.
Anyhow, I agree it's a pretty crappy position the guy takes in the interview. Hopefully he'll find out this pursuit runs out of gas (and fresh bodies).
If they don't get those targets, guess what happens? It's pressure put on the people who make these games.
Where I work there are no crunch, we are well paid, and there are nice work ethics and everything.
Note on well paid: I get half the wages here than I would be getting on NA, EU or JP for the same job on a regular software company, but the company offered me 5 times the highest wage offer from local game industry, thus why I am not working on game industry. (I am not a mercenary, it is only the game industry wanted to pay me less than my rent)
And thanks to McNamara for the tip of where to look at for my next job, if I want decent working hours to actually see my family sometimes..
Yes, we're in a creative industry and sometimes unforeseen challenges mean that you need to crunch. But nonstop crunch for seven years? That's absurd. That's telling me that a certain individual should have been fired a year and a half in. And then to have the audacity to say that the only thing you'd change is to not work in the UK because of the attitude of your employees? Mr. MacNamara, congratulations. In a single article you've managed to become the biggest douche in the industry.
One of the benefits of restricting the amount of hours spent working on project is that it forces you to keep your game lean. You can't spend time constantly piling features on when you know your team only has 40hrs/week per employee. And let's face it, for all the accolades LA Noire got, that game was fat. Way too many redundant and completely unnecessary cases, a haphazard and wandering story, and entirely forgettable side quests. Had he instead focused on the core (and surprisingly broken) aspects of the game like the overall plot, conversation system and investigation mechanics, LA Noire would have been a much more polished game.
There needs to be a very serious discussion in the industry in regards to management and that discussion can only happen via collective bargaining. If the people who actually build the game don't start flexing their muscle things are going to get much worse. And frankly, you don't develop a thriving creative industry under these conditions - you kill it.
But we have both those problems right now =(
It's a privilege to earn your living making make-believe things, telling stories and getting to immerse yourself in things like art, music and the creative process.
For this, you get a paycheck (and possibly even benefits). Damn lucky to me. Work the hours that creative people should expect of themselves or go work a 9-5 job in a non-creative industry please.
And I say this not from a pedestal, but as someone who has poured 1000's of hours into my craft (both music and now games) while raising my now teen-aged son; so I know all about long days and unrequited work and talent unknown. I'm still lucky, because UDK just updated today and I can still go chase a creative dream.
So, what's the problem again? =)
Keep it up Rockstar and Brendan. I'm your huckleberry...
Spoken like someone who hasn't spent ten minutes working in a real development environment.
i've been lucky that i've worked for far more creative studios (not to mention real life blue collar jobs) without exsessive crunch (or really any crunch that i dont do myself), so i don't need this crap. you want to be exploited, go ahead.
I had to look to make sure, but yes, you're the same asshole that showed similar sentiments here: http://gamasutra.com/blogs/KeithFuller/20110114/6792/60_Straight_Days_of_ Crunch_
Really_Please_Explain.php
"And I say this not from a pedestal, but as someone who has poured 1000's of hours into my craft (both music and now games) while raising my now teen-aged son; so I know all about long days and unrequited work and talent unknown. I'm still lucky, because UDK just updated today and I can still go chase a creative dream."
Okay Awesome Game Developer, how many of those "1000s of hours" have you put into working for a company in the game industry? Not writing music, not thinking about games, not even just working on games at home for fun or profit, I mean working... for a company... in the game industry. Wait, UDK? You wouldn't happen to be a... hobbyist, would you? This leads me to believe - and please, correct me if I'm wrong - that you have not worked a day in the industry and are comparing the ease with which you work late nights on your pet projects at home to the difficulty that many in the industry suffer working late nights on some heartless corporate insult of a game, or heck even on a good game with a jerk of a manager. Pet projects are the easiest thing in the world to do, and if you are truly creative and exploratory it is actually a good way to wind down. Hell I work on my pet projects in what little time I can scrape together _even during crunch time_!!
What it comes down to is not just passion, it's also control of your life. If you are working on a project you truly enjoy and believe in, at home or at work, then you will be more likely to work late out of natural inclination. I'm hopeful you can imagine it being much more difficult to fall in love with a game of the crap-caliber quality that the industry has dissolved into producing, especially with the motivational temperature nose-diving every day as you watch your coworkers get laid off through no fault of their own (or get laid off yourself).
"Keep it up Rockstar and Brendan. I'm your huckleberry..."
Hey, why don't you go apply for a job at Team Bondi? They're sure to be hiring soon for their next masterpiece, and I'm sure they'll be more than happy to hire such a willing tool as yourself.
If you find the big-bad corporate behemoth to be so terrible, wait for it: DON'T WORK FOR IT. I know, revolutionary concept. But if more talent were actually willing to stick to their beliefs (or form any to start with perhaps) and try to do something they believe in or that actually mattered to them, rather than be 'forced' into labor for a large developer, perhaps we'd have a games industry that was flourishing, much like other mediums have enjoyed in their heyday.
Know any people in the film industry? Have any idea what it's like to work on some of those sets and productions? Gone on tour for a year and a half on a stadium tour and worked with that crew?
A guy who's in charge of a $100 million game production pushed people hard and expected a lot.
Ya...no shit.
Creativity has nothing whatsoever to do with it.
yeah sure let me just zip on down to the job store and pick up a new job. maybe two. no problem in this economy. i'm sure the family wouldnt mind moving again. nevermind trying to fix things.
there is nothing remotely creative or fulfilling about working in a place like that. its hardly a privledge to make other people billions while counting our blessings that our corporate overlords deign to allow us to be exploited. give me a break.
When you come home after a long hard day of pouring your heart out on a game, only to be stepped on by the people you're working hard for, do you not think that takes a toll on you? Not to mention bringing that home and affecting those around you? Is that "OK" by your standards?
I worked in the AAA games industry for well over 10 years and I can honestly say I don't mind working on the smaller, casual titles. For one, I'm making a little more than what I was making at a AAA studio, I have more creative control and am involved in many more systems so I can grow in my craft, work ends before the sun sets, I have my weekends, very low stress, have time for my family, and still have time on the side to dedicate working on side projects. Honestly, I had none of these before and aside from being able to put something on my resume, I basically hated my job because of all the things it took away from me. Oh, and the big difference now...I have MORE DRIVE AND LOVE for creating games than I ever had before.
Now, I won't speak for everyone when I say this as I'm only speaking from my experience, working at a AAA studio/project isn't as glamorous as you think it would be. Now, I won't deny that having that experience on my resume doesn't benefit me, but I certainly am more careful of where I choose to work. LIFE > GAMES. If you're happy with life, you're more likely to enjoy making games. And if you're miserable in life, that will probably carry over to your attitude and production with the games you make.
You still have not answered.
and not even to be particularly pro-union about it either...
just that the level of obliviousness on his part for the working conditions and quality of life of his employees is just comically and caricaturedly bent in the opposite direction.
i mean, yeah, he has a point... if you want to build the pyramids or the great wall of china (and perhaps la noire), people are gonna have to DIE... but "what're you gonna do?" "them's the breaks". hey, "that's the industry". (where's the head smacking emoticon when you need it?)
When asked whether that was true[McNamara's need to exert total control over what goes on in the studio], he chuckled and asked "And is that a bad thing? I make video games. They're personal statements for me. I write 'em, I direct 'em, I put the technology together to make them. I go out to the world and say, 'Will you fund them?' So if you think that's obsessive: absolutely."
Self absorbed garbage, and a total disrespect for the real people that made the game what it is.
In just one sentence, I can see that it create quite two MAJOR problems:
1. Bypassing middle management create confusions in the team
2. As what McNamara said is final, team members will be more likely to wait till McNamara confirms before they start working, lowering the productivity.
Keep in mind the EA widow story will be 7 years ago this fall. If you go back and compare some of the issues brought up then with stories in the press this year, it almost seems like they had it easier in 2004.
Though I appreciate all that IGDA has done so far, it just simply isn't enough.
runch
Trying at least. I agree with Dex, the IGDA has good intentions and probably makes some small difference, but we need something more.
edit: there seems to be a space before the word "Bondi" in that link that I can't see to remove when editing. Oh well, just google the article title or remove the space yourself if anyone wants to see :)
“[But] certainly reports of 12-hour a day, lengthy crunch time, if true, are absolutely unacceptable and harmful to the individuals involved, the final product, and the industry as a whole,” Robbins told Develop.