China has labor issues in general. This doesn't surprise me at all.

the sad thing is that our issues are even comparable to issues that go on in places like China. When the US industry has similar work conditions with places that have terrible human rights records like China, something is terribly wrong.

@ Dave Smith:
100% Agreement.
And I'm bemused as to why McGee is even talking about this. The reason he is overseas is because of the cheap labor.

@ Tyler

Cheap labor has nothing to do with abusing workers. It is more about economics if anything. You can still get cheap labor by adhering to labor laws. It is the difference between paying someone $40 an hour here in the US (where the cost of living is higher) for eight hrs a day and paying someone outside the US $10 an hour for eight hr days.

I would assume that it's worse in China and Japan so this doesn't surprise me very much.

"They're trying to crack down on labor laws and that stuff now. But it's a similar abuse. You get people who are passionate of games and then you take advantage of them." - American McGee.

Oh so many colleges and reality shows I can point the finger at. Soooo many.

This problem extends outside of the workplace, too. Certain entities (not going to name names, just infer to "Tightening up those graphics on level 3") are taking advantage of others' passion towards video games. It's prominent in educational institutions, particularly. They make the value of a Video Game Design degree look like a total joke, and while there are people with similar degrees from prestigious schools that actually dignify their accomplishments and talents, these expensive fake degrees are forcing the legitimate candidates to prove they're worth investing in. By taking advantage of our passion, they're hurting the credibility of the industry and particularly the credibility of those on the cusp of getting into it.

@Dave Smith:
50% agreement here. But the reason why China is cited for humanitarian violations is for its relations with Tibet, abolition of religious freedom, and rampant censorship. Not for poor working conditions. They're paid less in comparison to American workers because the American dollar has more leverage in the world marketplace.

@Tyler:
It's not always about money or cheap labor. If you're interested, I suggest you check out "Affluenza": http://www.amazon.com/Affluenza-All-Consuming-Epidemic-John-Graaf/dp/1576751996 Shanghai, China (where I'm currently living/working) is listed as one of the happiest places to live. For my part, I've never made less money - and I've never been happier. If any of you ever care to see it first hand, drop me a line - happy to show you the 'other side' ;)

Having been in Shanghai for 2 years, I second American's statement about it being a great place to live, and I also can testify to the skills and smarts of the local games industry workforce, as well as to their commitment: we don't enforce crunch and try to avoid it, but I've been often surprised by the level of commitment show by employees, of their own initiative, and by determination to do what it takes to reach personal and corporate goals. The reason why everyone works so hard here is simple: it's a mean to better your own (and your family) situation, in a country where a large part of the population doesn't take prosperity for granted.

Regarding China labor laws, they are not what you might think, especially for white collar professions: for example, most of the time in China it's basically impossible to fire an employee, unless there's a very severe violation. In this respect, it's much more similar to European labor laws.

@Tyler
Assuming people go to China just to exploit other people is too narrow minded. Also, knowing a bunch of people in Spicy Horse I can say that they are much happier there than at their previous positions in China.

@Dave
Human rights are an interesting topic, I'd like to see you visit China and compare the amount of homeless people in China vs. USA for example. Then you'll be qualified to discuss human rights.

milos: yeah because being there and not being able to get any media coverage of anything remotely negative in China (like what goes on in the west for example) is the best way to get an informed opinion.

always interesting to see how quickly these conversations devolve into 'my country is better than your country' type arguments around human-interest issues (labor costs, rights, free speech, etc). it took me several years of living outside the US and traveling around the world before i began to see the reality of our situation (all of us): wherever you go you'll find someone trying to take advantage of and profit from someone else - it comes in many guises (government, corporations, media, culture) - but always seeks the same goal: profit at the expense of human-interest. doesn't matter whether you're in the US or china - the same evils are present everywhere. instead of fighting with each other about how one place is better/worse than another (which is a colossal waste of energy) we might instead choose to fight as one against this 'thing' that effectively controls us all. on second thought, nah... much easier to point fingers and blame the other guy ;)