What are the working conditionsMany veteran developers state that the conditions vary from "amazing" to "deplorable". Usually, video game developers offer unique work perks, such as free healthcare and insurance. However, there are many downsides to the game industry's working. Although game companies may provide unique benefits to their workers, their working conditions are usually terrible due to long work hours exceeding 16 hours to exploiting workers for their work during crunch time with no extra pay. So why are working conditions so badIn the game industry, the working conditions are usually terrible due to long work hours exceeding 16 hours to exploiting their workers during crunch time for little to no pay. One such example of why workers are exploited is due to the workers generally being younger and not able to fight back against bad working conditions. One such example of these long work times is evident by an article from the CBC where it states, "...16-hour days, seven days a week, sometimes for months at a time. It's a long-standing feature of the video game industry that is often presented as mandatory, sometimes without overtime pay.". This shows that video game companies are forcing people to work overtime and with little overtime pay. One such example of how crunch can be very detrimental to people is how workers are unable to have a life outside the workplace, as evident by the story of Osama Dorias, in which he couldn't buy his son the diapers, because he was rarely home. To sum it up, the working conditions in the game industry are usually terrible and need to be changed. To sum it up...
References“'I Just Broke down Crying': Canadian Video Game Creators Face Gruelling 'Crunch' Hours | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 30 Apr. 2019, www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/burnout-crunch-canada-1.5109599.
“As Canada's Video Game Industry Booms, Spotlight Turns to Working Conditions | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 23 Nov. 2019, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/migs-2019-workers-rights-1.5368055.
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So what's happening?The game industry is currently undergoing a seismic shift in the way it makes money. New methods are being tested every day to try to figure out the best way to give video game companies the most amount of profit in our ever-changing world. Although video game companies are still trying to maximize their profit, they are now moving away from pay to play games to free to play and using third party in-game markets First of all, video game companies are moving away from a pay to play model to a free to play model. One such example of how this generates revenue is due to the games being played more since you don't have to pay to get the game, and since this enables many new players to join, the companies can make in app purchases more accessible to the audience. This is shown by games such as Fortnite and PUBG, which are free to play and use in AP purchases to generate revenue Another way based on the previous way of using the free to play model is to hire an outside company to create an ingame market. By doing this, Company A who hired Company B pays them to create the in app purchase or trading shop, and money that they make gives a share of the money they earn on the market back to the original company, which will in the future help to stimulate this growth To sum it up...
ReferencesKoksal, Ilker. “Video Gaming Industry & Its Revenue Shift.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Nov. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/ilkerkoksal/2019/11/08/video-gaming-industry--its-revenue-shift/#576c5ebb663e.
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AuthorHello my name is Owen Howard. I am a junior currently enrolled at Durham School of the Arts and this blog will document my experiences in this class. Categories
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