Tag: crunch
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#Voices4Devs: Voice Actors Give Online Support for Game Unionization
As more people working in video games try to form their own union, they’ve recently gotten another burst of online support. Apparently starting on April 2, voice actors united under the #Voices4Devs hashtag on Twitter to call attention to the developers they work with on games. A wide variety of voice actors from AAA titles…
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IWGB Opening Union Branch For Video Game Workers Could Be A Big Step Forwards
The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, or IWGB, have recently announced a new branch for workers in the UK’s video games industry. Given the prevalence of issues in the workplace, this is surely a massive step forwards for workers in the UK. The IWGB’s main branch deals with “gig economies”, jobs such as Uber…
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Crunch, Unpaid Overtime, Poor Health – Industry Norms That Need to Change
Making a good game is hard; this is just a fact. It is a Herculean task. One which takes an incredible amount of time and a panoply of skills across many fields to complete. Making financially successful games, especially AAA titles, isn’t just difficult though. Often it can be damaging and exploitative to the programmers,…
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What Can We Do About Dev Crunch?
Blizzard’s Jeff Kaplan recently made a forum post talking about the dedication of the Overwatch team. Most read it (correctly) as a statement of enthusiasm or a discussion of the entitled mentality of a segment of the fanbase. But Kaplan also mentioned that “Overwatch is a 24/7, 365 day year affair for us…[it] doesn’t stop…
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500+ Devs Pledge to End Crunch Culture
Think of any video game you like. You probably know that a lot of work went into it, but you probably don’t consider crunch. With deadlines looming and a game to ship, developers are all too often expected to work excessive overtime. Not an odd evening or weekend at the office, but 85+ hour weeks…