The Dark Side of Making L.A. Noire 242
JameskPratt writes "Long-time readers have no illusions of how awful the video game industry can treat its workers. Eleven ex-employee of Team Bondi, who made LA Noire, have now cited 60- to 110-hour work weeks, unusual compensation rules, and the 7-year development cycle as reasons for frustration and discontent. They claim their boss, Brendan McNamara, crushed office morale with verbal abuse and unreasonable goals. As the saying goes, the two things you don't want to see being made are law and video games."
The International Game Developers Association will be investigating the matter.
No way... (Score:5, Funny)
what about the dark side of playing? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:No way... (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, I'm gonna need you to come in on the weekend... um, yeah...
Re:Bad Industry (Score:2, Funny)
If only there was some sort of way the employees could group together to increase their bargaining power with employers to avoid these situations.
If you consistently work over 40 hours a week your employer must compensate you for it even if you're salaried.
The problem isn't that they aren't unionized, the problem is they're too chickenshit to stand up to their boss, or to take the time and effort to report labor violations to the Wage and Labor commission. If the employees demanded the compensation they are already legally entitled to, and go to the proper authorities if it isn't provided, then the problem would solve itself rapidly when the boss realizes he's paying more in OT than he'd pay for doubling his staff size.
Re:Well, game development is prone to crunch time (Score:3, Funny)