IGDA blasts industry's "horrible working conditions"

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The International Game Developers Association today released an open letter addressing the game industry's working conditions. The document claims quality of life and reasonable working conditions are being sacrificed for pressing deadlines.

In the letter, the IGDA claims that several aspects of the industry must be examined. Consolidation, one-sided contracts, and inexperienced management are all targets of the IGDA, which states that, "improving the quality of life of game developers is an IGDA priority."

The IGDA, an international organization which seeks to represent and support industry professionals in the programming, production, and design ranks, doesn't blame only the publishers; the developers themselves are sometimes responsible for their own misery, the letter states.

Some employees may become filled with such gusto to show they belong in the industry that they subject themselves to strenuous work conditions. The letter states, "our own attitudes towards work/life balance and production practices need to change just as much as the attitudes of the 'suits.'"

The IGDA asks that both employers and employees heed the following: "It is sadly ironic that those who strive for success at any cost don't realize that mature and responsible human resource and production practices will more readily bring them what they so desperately seek. That is to say, regardless of the humane imperative, maintaining a strong quality of life is just good business."

According to the letter, while "good business" isn't as prevalent as it should be, some developers are proving that quality products and a higher quality of life aren't mutually exclusive. The IGDA points out BioWare, Firaxis, Blue Fang, and Team17 as a few examples of studios that are committed to addressing the workplace and its conditions in a positive manner, and as a result, are more likely to remain in business, preaching their wisdom and experience to new recruits.

The IGDA's first step toward improving quality of life across the industry was the recently released 90-page white paper titled "Quality of Life in the Game Industry: Challenges and Best Practices." The paper outlines both poor and excellent practices in the industry, and discusses many ways for developers and publishers to improve internal conditions. The next step in their quest is hosting a "full-day quality of life think-tank" at the upcoming Game Developers Conference to be held in San Francisco next March.

While no one wants to see the issue reach the courts, it appears as though it may be too late. Late last week, news of an ongoing legal dispute between an employee at Electronic Arts who had taken early steps toward a class action suit against the company surfaced in GameSpot News.

The suit, if brought before the court, will claim that EA owes overtime to employees who endured 13-hour, 7-day workweeks, leaving the programmers, coders, and art staff of games such as Burnout 3 severely burnt out.

Last June, a Vivendi Universal employee filed suit claiming he and other employees were denied overtime after being forced to work long hours. A survey conducted by the IGDA in early 2004 found that workweeks during the weeks approaching deadline can surpass 80 hours more than 10 percent of the time, and that overtime is denied almost half of the time.

Those interested in reading the IGDA's open letter can do so online.