This is why we need to have 90 dollar games! /s
I got laid off 3 months after I launched a modern website to replace my former company’s old platform that none of their other developers wanted to work with.
I did exactly what they told me, something they wanted for years and years, and then I got laid off as a thanks instead of a bonus.
lol
Though I ended up getting a job that pays 30% more so I guess it ended up okay.
Somewhat typical for type of work that has a clear end in sight. And they typically never tell about the project-based plans in mind. Sorry you had to go through this.
Had something like that when I automated stuff for a small company.
It wasn’t a clear end in sight, there was still lots of content and systems that needed to be ported over to the new system, a new payment system to be integrated, and other new features they needed. They had two developers who were familiar with the new website, me and another dev. I did kind of suspect that something like this was possible, but I didn’t think they would be dumb enough to actually do it. It turns out, they were dumb enough to do it.
They were just really cheap, and I was most likely their highest paid developer on my team, and myself and another dev were replaced by friends of manager that laid me off.
After that manager laid me off, I asked for a reference or a letter of recommendation, and was ghosted entirely. It happens.
Haven’t played since they removed Linux support. Will never play again.
This is why we need copyright laws
In a sensible world we would not allow our society to steal the work of artists and then throw away the artist.
Apex legends? The fully online battle Royale style competitive shooter? Can anyone tell me why a game like this needs a “character writer” anyway? I’ve never played it so maybe there’s some grand story I don’t know about, but to me this sounds like writing a character for Counter Strike which I think we all agree would be completely pointless.
I’ll try to explain, I’m not a specialist in the lore of Apex legends. But the game is based in the world of Titanfall. It released in 2019 with a few characters. Each 1 or 2 season bringing a new characters with new abilities and background in the story. They have done a pretty good job so far and I really enjoy each characters.
CS at least back in the day didn’t have a class based gameplay, each characters had the same abilities. So I guess it doesn’t really compare.
It’s more like asking why you need a writer for an Overwatch character than CS. The characterization is half of the point and, more importantly, sales on cosmetics, compared to CS/Halo/MW/Whatever
I think at this points it’s better to not join up with a large developer or publisher. The indie market has better job security.
Or better yet, organize like the Hollywood actors have WGA.
We should pay way more attention to other industries.
That’s sad and disgusting.
I was gonna get snooty about being an indie game buyer, then I remembered that I bought a Larian game developed in partnership with Hasbro, so my snootiness will have to wait for another day.
Hasbro is a requirement for the D&D license, no?
Larian at least went against the grain of the AAAAA Industry and delivered something truly wonderful.
Had over a thousand hours in Apex, while I quit way back because of different reasons, their actions definitely are not going to bring me back
And then they feed the documents to a LLM and iterate over it
My question is when workers in game studios start to make unions. It’s a massive industry and the people actually making the games are constantly fucked over.
Recent and huge progress on that front. It’s an industry wide union, and apparently even recently laid-off workers can join.
in my head its because its an industry where going solo is viable and if they arent working at a company thats their goal so they have full contol over the vision and make all the money and one day they want to exert the same creative control over others and get overtime/overwork out of them
The irony is that becoming a solo dev is rarely feasible and even more rarely leads to a product that pays up more than just working elsewhere.
That immediately makes people point to success stories, like Stardew Valley. Dunno about others, but I don’t have a family + girlfriend to sustain me for 4+ years, nor am I blinded by the dream possibility of reaching millions of sales when so many games struggle to reach 10k sales.
Many years ago. But as you said, it’s a big industry, and the US is not an easy place to unionize in.
Yes, but there are also European developers. Such as Ubisoft, which previously had major issues with harassment, and probably still does. If they have a union, it certainly isn’t a powerful one.
and the US is not an easy place to unionize in.
Moreso now than ever before.
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time to plant a tree is right now.
But I don’t think that advice includes people staring at a fast approaching wildfire…
Funny thing about wildfires: the ashes allow a new generation of flora to take root. It will suck for us, but the children of tomorrow might have unions, vacations, and universal healthcare by default.
I can dream of a future, even if it won’t be mine to enjoy.
That’s how I feel when I watch Star Trek. I won’t be alive to see the Phoenix warp into space but I’m hopeful future generations get there.
Now can be both the second-best-time to plant a tree and the first-best-time to grab a bucket of water!
Remember everyone, the forest is on fire and there’s not many places to run. The fires of climate change affects the entire world, and this administration and the wealthy that back them will gleefully pour fuel on the flames and let your house burn.
You can stand around begging for rain, asking why the landlord didn’t fix the sprinklers or why he never checked the fire extinguishers or why he’s hiding under his desk clutching the cash register for dear life…
Or you can grab a bucket.
This is why we need to have 90 dollar games! /s
Apex is literally free to play
TL,DR: Company fires hundreds of workers. CEO makes $25.6 million.
TIL Apex had writing behind it
It’s set in the Titanfall universe, there’s lots of lore scattered around. People work hard to integrate a narrative into the level and character designs, to imply plot in incidental dialogue or cinematics, or just literally write text entries that the majority of gamers will never read because only shooting and rare skins trigger their dopamine.
Honestly developer are making great work with how legends talk to each other during game. It’s always really cool
Nobody asked to have some pointless story injected into their online shooters. I’m pretty sure the people that want world-building and narrative and lore in their games aren’t playing online shooters. I know I’m not.
I hope these CEO’s get their reckoning some way some day.
They seem to think it’s all just business and cruelly wielding power is no issue, but I think they overestimate how isolated they are.
If we want them to receive a reckoning, it’s on us, the working class, to force it to happen.
I don’t think they will receive a reckoning, but their children might.
It’s especially disgusting when we realize rich people are setting their children up to inherit a world where everyone hates them for being rich from exploitation.
They won’t get any kind of reckoning that we’ll understand. They’re rich, powerful, and insulated from pain. They’ve all got golden parachutes via their weaselly networks. There will be no karma, unfortunately.
