Fixing the Little Things in Games Can Make a Big Difference

Let’s talk about a few of the smaller, more niggly issues with the games industry (and creative industry at large) which really should have been addressed by now.

Separately, they’re kind of just annoyances that shouldn’t exist any longer. Collectively, they add up to destroy prospects and the ability to secure work.

The NDA

NDAs suck.

“For the last few months I’ve been working with [redacted] and it’s been a ride. Getting to create for [redacted] has been a dream come true and the team at [redacted] are an incredible bunch of passionate people who really care for [redacted]. One day I’ll be able to talk about my time at [redacted] and show you the work I did.”

Sound familiar?

There has to be a better way than having creatives sign NDAs and then they can almost never show their work in public or as part of a portfolio.

Especially in games and film where projects get cancelled, for concept artists and other creative disciplines working or freelancing in the teams this is hella frustrating.

I feel like all or selected works should be released regardless of the projects final status under negotiation rather than a blanket ban that harms the creatives who poured in a lot of energy and passion for it.

And in the age where generative AI seems to be pushed to be used harder and harder, actual human creativity should be celebrated more. There needs to be more flexibility.

The NDA as it stands is not only destructive for creatives but I don’t believe it’s longer fit for purpose in its current guise and of the terms imposed.

So, yeah, NDAs suck.

When is remote working not remote working?

We should really talk about remote roles in gamedev and what that actually means.

Remote as in you can work ANYWHERE in the world?

Remote as in you need to live in the same country?

Remote as in you need to live in the same county?

Remote as in you need to live in the same town/ city?

Remote as in you need to live in the same street?

Is it really remote when you have to check into the office per week? That’s called commuting…

Yeah, ok, you call it hybrid but what you really mean is you’ll tolerate the arrangement until you don’t.

We could have had it so good if we had kept up some lessons learned from the pandemic, that teamwork and delivery can still be maintained if you’re willing to structure productivity and working relationships around it.

Kudos to studios who understand this and that remote working supports workers who can fulfil the role regardless of location or timezone (because people can adapt and have done across many industries) and not make them relocate in such a volatile environment.

Hiring only for the letter A

The video games industry needs something better than “worked on AA/ AAA title” or “number of AAA titles shipped” as a measure or requirement during the hiring process.

These days, how many get the chance to work on a video game project that would qualify itself with a number of ‘A’s? And how many have worked on a single project over many years and can’t point to having shipped more?

How are you judged having shipped a single title over a period of 6 years, but along with it came two large DLCs? It’s still only one title in the eyes of whatever machine is looking at your resume.

And if you’re an indie game dev and shipped one title, alone, and it became a Steam hit does that also disqualify you? I mean, I’d equally value the effort of one sole dev who shipped a title successfully and managed the project all the way through themselves alongside someone who worked as part of a team and played a smaller part in the overall development process.

What if you haven’t shipped a title at all, but you’ve built large mods that cover new locations, assets, characters, quests for titles like Skyrim or Starfield? Does that experience also not count because it doesn’t have a studio attached to it?

This is especially frustrating now with so many being made redundant, because the ATS (application tracking system) and whatever flavour of AI-based recruitment tool is being used still just skims looking for particular words, phrases, and obvious game titles as part of the initial screening process.

We really need better criteria to judge skills and achievements that aren’t just chewing through the same candidate pool and leaving talent in the wings.