Facts and Discussion about Hours of Work in the Video Game Industry
In: Cultural Perspectives of Video Games: From Desiger to PlayerSearch for other papers by Johanna Weststar in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Marie-Josée Legault in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
This chapter explores the issue of unlimited, unpaid overtime, UUO, in the video game industry using data from the 2009 Quality of Life Survey administered by the International Game Developers Association, IGDA. This data is supplemented by interviews with video game developers, VGDs conducted in Montréal, Québec, Canada in 2008 and a previous Quality of Life survey administered by the IGDA in 2004. The 2009 survey sample is comprised of 1279 VGDs working either fulltime or part-time in the core area of development. The data indicate that VGDs work long and inadequately uncompensated hours when in ‘crunch’ to meet a particular project milestone. The majority of VGDs in the sample are dissatisfied with crunch time and the compensation, or lack thereof, provided. The chapter considers commonly proposed reasons as to why VGDs tolerate such conditions, i.e., passion for the work and fear of job loss or outsourcing. It concludes with an alternative explanation which is that the project management regime that frames the work of VGDs imposes a model of mobility and boundariless careers that penalizes workers for refusing to comply with so-called industry norms, i.e., UUO.