Marcus Garrett
This week’s edition of #DailyHotTake is a special rant from our dear Devin Valdivia. He critiques the inhumane working conditions of Rockstar Games whose director Dan Houser expresses that members of his team worked 100 hour work weeks like it was a badge of honor. He had a few things to say about it, which you can read below.
@IGN didn't bury the lede here, they ignored it. There's a lot in that @vulture piece, but to making takeaway the story length and not even MENTION the working conditions discussed is irresponsible at best.
Vulture piece here, IGN article in thread below.https://t.co/PQPx88dhzc
— Devin Valdivia (@devinvaldivia) October 15, 2018
IGN's take:https://t.co/rVf8oNFFPu
— Devin Valdivia (@devinvaldivia) October 15, 2018
I've already paid for the game, I'm still going to play it. It's probably going to be incredible, and I'm sure every dev who touched it is proud of it.
But we HAVE to do better than this. No media or entertainment is worth this, "passion" be damned. #DailyHotTake
— Devin Valdivia (@devinvaldivia) October 15, 2018
Update: @IGN has posted Houser's response, which clarifies it wasn't a studio-wide permanent expectation. But it's not a great response.
IGN comments "Houser's explanation of the game signals hope that all that work was worth it for the final product". Seriously? No, it wasn't.
— Devin Valdivia (@devinvaldivia) October 15, 2018
If Dan Houser's response is fully accurate, and the only team working 100-hour work weeks was the small writing team that includes him, this is not as egregious as originally assumed. But It's still absolutely not something to idolize or aspire to.
— Devin Valdivia (@devinvaldivia) October 15, 2018
Romanticizing even the voluntary disregard of physical, emotional, and relational health "for the sake of the art" is dangerous and archaic. At the end of the day, this is a consumer entertainment product. It's never going to be worth that cost. Take care of yourselves.
— Devin Valdivia (@devinvaldivia) October 15, 2018
Game developers unionizing has been a big topic of debate in 2018. It seems we are almost at a tipping point and that it won’t be long before we see the first proper union form in the video game industry. For more Twitter rants like these, follow Top Shelf Gaming on Twitter and follow along using the hashtag #DailyHotTake.
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