What Video Game Workplaces Mean For Gamers

Who would have thought developing video games would be so dreadful? Nina Huntemann elaborates on a post on a gaming site standing up against the harsh working requirements of game companies. The post was a communal complaint from the employees’ wives of Rockstar San Diego. It states that there is too much unpaid overtime, increased depression and a lack of morale, psychological and physical suffering, etc. Through their methods of speaking out, such as anonymity and viral blog postings, other similar stories surfaced rapidly. Although this ended up with a pricey payout, the working conditions have not seen any significant change. Looking at the workplace demographics, Huntemann concludes that the typical game developer is a young white heterosexual male. This stereotype dominates the creative roles of game production by approximately 88%.

So what does this mean for gamers? Seeing that almost 9/10 people working on the creative aspects of the games we play are male, it is obvious that most of the games they produce are going to be marketed towards that same demographic. This could explain why there are so few games marketed toward women and possibly why there are a limited amount of female gamers in general. Also, since there is so much “crunch time” involved in creating games, developers tend to stick to cliché masculine qualities for their storylines to ship their games out on time. Although game sales are increasing every year, the basic core of games is ultimately going to stay the same. Unless there is a change in the workplace environment and demographics, companies will continue to ship out the same standard games just with updated graphics or a few game play tweaks. When, if ever, the workplace becomes more relaxed and diverse, we might see a whole new generation of games.