180°

If working overtime on AAA games is the only way to succeed, 'then the industry deserves to die'

Summerfall Studios co-founder David Gaider speaks in favor of industry unionization and his studio's four day work week.

Dwarf Fortress co-creator Tarn Adams blasted execs behind layoffs as "greedy, greedy people."

H968d ago

Well with people it depends on which studio are we talking about, Rockstar can hold a live execution and someone will say "I also got executed in my job it's alright"

thorstein68d ago

I can't stand that excuse. Greed is greed. It earns hundreds of billions in revenue.

Eonjay67d ago

This whole tantrum the writer seems to be on is pointless. It mean Helldivers 2 is pushing 10 million sold. Its not some huge AAA production and yet... it is very successful. Same can be said for a game like Palworld. We have lot of example of non AAA games moving a lot of copies and getting interest. Like look at the Survivors games.

So you don't even need to be AAA to be a success in the first place. So the worthiness of the industry was never in the hands of the AAA to begin with. Sure we can all agree that forced overtime is not a good thing. But that isn't good in any industry. Like look at the health industry....

thorstein67d ago

@Eonjay

He's quoting people in the industry. There may be some ranting near the end but it mirrors the sentiments of those people making great games.

And I think that's the point. The big boys need to die off. At one point EA could fit in one room. Same with Activision.

The essential idea is that greed is what is costing people their jobs, not work ethic, not any buzz words, just greed.

But you're right about AAA. There are great games out now.

GhostScholar68d ago

Yeah we should all just get part time jobs with no insurance or benefits……that’ll teach the man to stop demanding and expecting hard work from its employees

DarXyde68d ago

Don't think anyone is not expecting hard work from employees. But things like mandatory overtime are absolutely ridiculous.

Also, I don't know why you say "insurance or benefits" because insurance is a type of benefit, but ok. Either way, tethering insurance (typically health/vision/dental) to employment is asinine. Very recent history where workers on strike lost health coverage for their families during a strike.

senorfartcushion68d ago (Edited 68d ago )

It's weak men who try to help enforce old rules

sushimama68d ago

Sometimes developers want to work overtime because they are passionate about what they're creating. No one should be forced to do it, but it shouldn't be frowned upon. Keep crunch going for those that want to do it, but don't ostrasize others in the dev team for choosing not to.

GhostScholar68d ago (Edited 68d ago )

I’m so tired of this argument. I hate to break it to you people who still live in your parents house, but in the real world people work overtime. I’m a coatings technician and I work 70 hours a week to take care of my family. I’m so sick of companies getting ridiculed for expecting hard work from their employees. When I hired in to my company they made it clear there would be overtime and I agreed to it so it is what it is. The attitudes of people born in the last 25 years is everything that is wrong with our country. How about instead of getting paid nothing to be an advocate for laziness and government support of everyone who has “depression” you actually do something productive.

PS

If you’re so appalled at these companies then stop buying their games.

andy8568d ago

True it's your choice but you shouldn't have to. Back in the day you could work a 40 hour week and provide for your family. Now a lot of the time both people are having to work and still struggling. 70 hours working, commuting and then sleeping, people must hardly see the family they're providing for. Work to live not live to work. It doesn't sound much of a life.

thorstein68d ago

Your company is exploiting you. You're missing 30 hours from your family. They'd rather see you than what you earn.

Your company should be paying you more. I've got bad news, they won't, not when you'll do the job of two people for the price of one.

You're also ignoring all the people who do work hard but don't get compensated fairly for it. You're also ignoring how corporate profits have soared since the 1970s but salaries have stayed flat whilst pensions, Christmas bonuses, hour long paid lunch, two weeks+ paid vacation have all disappeared. You work longer for less.

It's not laziness. If a company wants to pay the minimum, then they get the minimum.

You just don't know what you're worth.

solideagle68d ago

if you are getting paid for that overtime, sure but free overtime is just Evil. I can do 1 hour of free overtime but 40 hours vs 70 hours is bit too much!

senorfartcushion68d ago

I work far less hours in order to take care of mine. Are you sure you're not doing something wrong?

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 68d ago
Profchaos68d ago (Edited 68d ago )

The entire industry just seems like a problem is been eating itself since lockdown ended globally thinking that this infinite growth was forever and making investments on the back of that.

Now everyone's back to their normal lives games are still popular but since people can get outside they still obviously decline.

During lockdown globally people were playing live service titles constantly as a form of socialising now that's not as needed and despite still being popular they are declining yet every publisher is banking heavily on them. I don't play live service games much but during lockdown like everyone else I played warzone with friends every weekend for hours on end as a social activity

I'll be honest this last few months I've spent far more time playing earthbound on NSO for the first time than my ps5 which I haven't really touched since Spiderman 2 and re4 VR late last year. To me this generation feels like an everlasting dry spell broken by the occasional good game but followed by another long stretch of nothing.

Point is these live service games seemingly take more resources and manpower to develop they rely on crunch and exhausting employees to breaking point with a traditional game that ends or slows down at launch but a live service game that's where it only ramps Up

CrimsonWing6968d ago

Wake up. Lots of businesses and corporate jobs deal with overtime especially when it comes to deadlines. Shut up with this bullsh*t.

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240°

Trying to push players over from PC to console is a terrible idea, PlayStation

As PlayStation announces its new strategy to encourage PC users to choose PS5 it is a bitter-sweet moment for PC gamers.

Christopher20h ago

I mean, it's a business based on hardware market. Do we expect them to not even try? It's not like Nintendo doesn't do the same by not putting any games on PC and Microsoft until recently did the same. I don't care what they attempt, as long as they don't abuse the community or lie about their goals/requirements.

Will it work? Not likely. Should we care? No. Let them waste their time, it doesn't affect anything.

RaidenBlack20h ago

let them try ... at the end of the day, we get few extra PC games ... yay ... and also promotes game preservation via PC ... so double yay.

LordoftheCritics3h ago

If only Playstation games provided the ease of pc gaming features.

Primary being very few PS games support m/kb.

Fishy Fingers19h ago(Edited 19h ago)

I wish them the best of luck.

But PC players are often a patient bunch, many will even wait for Epic launcher exclusivity to end until a game comes to Steam.

If they didnt buy the console when its games were exclusive, why would they do it now theyre not?

MrNinosan5h ago

Way more do than you probably think.

ravens525h ago

All you need is that one game that'll make a few switch at a time. Like a game a PC player REALLY wants.

outsider16241h ago

I mean if there's 10 million pc gamers out there...getting atleast just 1 million from there is probably a good thing..right?

-Foxtrot19h ago

PC gamers are just too patient and loyal to their gaming set ups, something they've spent a lot of money on to perfect. They have backlogs of games which many never get round to finishing or get round to at all and will always have other multiplatform releases to keep them going.

Over the many years Sony has published so many awesome titles such as The Last of Us, Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Infamous, Killzone, LittleBigPlanet, Dreams, Puppeteer, Resistance, Heavy Rain, Gran Turismo, Motor Storm, God of War, Horizon, Ratchet and Clank, Spiderman, Ghost of Tsushima, Bloodborne

If none of those games BEFORE all these PC ports convinced a hardcore PC gamer to get a PS5 console then why on Earth would porting them them to PC now make any difference? All PC gamers now know 100% is that they just have to be patient, which they are good at anyway to get a PS5 game 2 years later.

I get GaaS games or multiplayer focused titles but if people really want to play these games they'd have gotten a PS console years ago.

Crows902h ago

Not sure they're aiming to convince the hardcore PC gamer.

Not sure why people are obsessing over his comment...it seems pretty simple to me.

He will do all he can to entice gamers to move to his ecosystem. As you say....exclusives existing hasn't moved many gamers over. But if they get to try them and love the games then they might change their mind about waiting 2 years.

We're in an echo chamber on this site...I've Personally seen people with Xbox and PC setups but no PlayStation. I've also seen people with small PC setups but no console. Not every pc gamer invests thousands and many may decide to put one in the living room.

They're not looking to convince all of players to buy a PlayStation...just a few...and really it is just a PR statement after all...they have to give a reason why single player won't release day 1....not to mention they also have to ensure current PlayStation gamers don't jump ship to PC. It goes both ways and they're ignoring the big L by putting any of their games off their platform.

anast1h ago

"Not sure they're aiming to convince the hardcore PC gamer."

Right here

Kakashi Hatake1h ago

PC gamers think tomorrow is promised. Sorry, don't have time for that.

Michiel198947m ago

it's not just about loyalty or sunk cost, pc is an open platform while consoles are closed platforms. If you for example want to mod, you will play on pc, no question about it. Also if you like indie games, steam is a fucking goldmine for that. I've been playing a lot of indie games over the last years and there just seems to be an endless amount of them on steam. Also not having games locked to a certain fps is a prettty big deal for me and I assume a lot of other pc players.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 47m ago
helicoptergirl19h ago

Who cares? Then just stay on PC and play the waiting game. No big deal. Sony wins in the end anyway.

Number1TailzFan19h ago

I mean if there's any single player Sony games that I actually want that aren't on PC then I would buy said console to play them on. But the ones that I like that aren't on PC are few and far between anyway so no loss for me.

If I game, it's usually multiplayer titles, otherwise I like playing around with some other software.

Show all comments (31)
50°

ARK: Survival Ascended Premium Mods on Consoles Q&A - By 2030, Time Spent on UGC Will Be Way Bigger

ARK: Survival Ascended has introduced Premium Mods on consoles. Wccftech talked to Studio Wildcard and their partner Overwolf about the rising importance of user-generated content, especially for live service games.

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250°

Neil Druckmann clarifies true intent of new Naughty Dog game comments

Following a recent interview with Sony, Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann claims the original intent was “unfortunately lost” in the process.

just_looken6d ago

He can take dog shit put it in a oven with seasoning then call it waistland cookies the sony fans will pay $40 a cookie give them a medal of cooking.

No mater what trash this sobs puts out/talks about it will sell.

The true fact in the 8 years sense uncharted 4 his first time in the main seat to a point all this "amazing" team did was get 2 dudes to fuck in a van then destroy a franchise they never created.

But being a port studio they are decent at they should keep in there lane at being just that a glorified port studio.

fr0sty6d ago

Salty Bots... gotta love it.

just_looken6d ago

@frosty

Over what? naught dog under his command is a glorified port team tlou2 was mostly tlou 1 asset's with the same game play loop but forced a trans down your throat.

I would gladly help pay for this blight and his team to get removed from gaming in general.

fr0sty6d ago

Seeing a LGBT person exist in a work of fiction isn't "forcing them down your throat". Nobody is forcing you to play it. Nobody is forcing you to agree with it. If you think that just seeing a LGBT person exist is "force", it sounds like they make you very uncomfortable, and maybe you need to be doing some serious reflecting on exactly why... looks to me like you're suppressing something with all that fear.

just_looken6d ago

@fro

When i think of the last of us i think of a group of survivors crossing the apocalypse wasteland with a growing bond between 2 people that end up with Joel making ellie his new daughter.

Then you fire up the 2nd one bang joel is dead oh that comic series? bang dead

Oh you want to continue all that we grew in the first one? na f that toss it in the trash

Now here is a trans woman so strong superboy would blush go out there kill all what made tlou1 then halfway get a forced sex scene that you can not skip between 2 dudes.

The gameplay? just like the first game the combat/backpack system crafting sytem? 0 changes/improvements.

I could go on but lets face it they copy pasted that tlou 1 assets bin a shit ton of times.

There is nothing on the box or the ads or anything before the game that said you would going to spend most of the game controlling a new trans character that has no ties to anything of the first game the only existence was to kill what the first game made.

Oh but hey there is a mp mode coming out before 2022 wait what is that? oh we made it its own game then cancelled it now go but the game again as we port it a few times.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

mkis0076d ago (Edited 6d ago )

What has Straley or Henig released since they left ND? Not a thing! stop scapegoating! Which of them is credited with co-writing a majorly successful show?

just_looken6d ago

@mkis007

You bring up Bruce Straley really? someone that gave us 4 generations of amazing games and was there in the creation of 4 legendary franchises but was tossed in the trash for the pos niel druckmann not 7? years ago

So yeah in those 7? years you right all he has done is get 2 awards one is a game award for a puzzle game he made oh boy right like for fuck sake's all niel has done is one game that was a overhyped fan boy orgasm underneath all that ps jizz was just a typical 5/10 game.

Then you drag Amy Hennig that poor woman was also kicked out then became this century's Brendan Fraser with her sexual misconduct information coming out.

We all know how horrible people are treated behind the scenes she might have been sexual attacked groped or something.

So yeah all she did after was battlefield hardline forspoken now that new marvel 1945 game but hey Brendan Fraser was a great actor till he also said he was sexually attacked just now he is allowed back in no doubt she also had to take a leave of absence out and or was forced out on ice.

Man there are way to many out there that look at niel at the new gaming jesus when all he had done is some work on uncharted 4 then tlou2

Oh also the tvhshow? for real all they did was use stuff from the 2013 game its like saying GOT was a 10/10 but never watching past season 3

-Foxtrot6d ago

@mkis007

That's highly unfair to them both

Amy Hennig got messed around working on projects that got cancelled by the publishers (EA) and then ended up on a awful game (Forspoken) where you had 4 other writers working on it which is just a recipe for disaster. She is now working on Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. Not her fault she was pushed out of NaughtyDog, something both Nolan North and Richard McGonagle have both said in interviews.

Bruce Straley left after burn out, the rest of the story we don't know and will never know just like what happened with Amy Hennig. He decided to take a break and wasn't sure if he wanted to come back to gaming however he had an idea he wanted to make so he founded Wildflower Interactive, a smaller studio where they are currently working on a new game.

Tacoboto5d ago

@the obvious stain of a commenter

The trans character wasn't Abby. Try playing Part 2 instead of gatekeeping what you think Part 1 was about and meant.

Maybe try watching the show while you're at it, because you're terribly off with your opinion on that too

MajorLazer5d ago

Naughty Dog is better than all the MS studios put together.

derek5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

@just he has been behind 2 of the greatest games ever made. Tlou2 was easily the best non-vr game made last gen. Losers just can't get over Joel's death, mixed with the usual console war nonsense. The fact that you so casually call him a sob shows how deranged some gamers have become about Drunkmann.

derek5d ago

@frosty, for people like Just, including anyone that can be categorized as being a minority in any kind of media is "forcing it down his throat " lol. I to don't care for poor "checking box" inclusion for inclusion sake but that was not the case with tlou2.

fr0sty5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

The pathetic part about it is, you can tell just_looken never even played TLOU, because that was the game where Ellie's sexuality was first brought to light... No "that was forced down our throats" to be said about that.

Only terrified folks in the closet that use their hatred as cover from outing themselves fear LGBT people that much. They exist. They will exist in all aspects of life, including popular media. Get over it.

just_looken5d ago

@all

Once again you drag out something like its a big win

Here is my old channel a clip of me playing TLOU on ps3
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Search my channel for more clips

Proof its my channel? look at this profiles banner that is 7yrs old then look at other vids on that channel like my bf3 clips to see my psn id. But knowing this group that is way to much work.

Also elle being a lesbian is another trump card? one dlc is all we got of that a dlc that took over a year to be tossed out.

Rainbowcookie5d ago

Hey at least we have cookies to eat 😄

+ Show (12) more repliesLast reply 5d ago
Rangerman12086d ago

Glad he clarified it but i'm still somewhat skeptical. Plus, his comments about how Ai will revolutionize storytelling were still pretty iffy.

anast6d ago

No need to bow down, Stan your ground. The AI comments were gross though.

S2Killinit6d ago

Pretty excited as I read these. I just cant wait to see what ND is up to.

Export6d ago

put a chick in it and make her gay !

shadowknight2036d ago

Next they need a diverse couple, and perhaps some climate activists

StormSnooper5d ago (Edited 5d ago )

I would love that if only to piss off all the lunatics. Lol

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