Most people want to be part of a work environment that they truly love. The entertainment industry (video gaming, movies, music etc.) seems to offer at least the idea of a dream job but even they are not immune from serious employee strife from time to time. From the various musicians strikes of the early forties to the more recent Writers Guild of America strike of 2007-2008…entertainment union organizations like the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), National Writers Union (NWU), and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) were founded with the intention to ensure fair wages and working conditions for their members.
As the games industry continues to grow a certain mind frame of what it means to work in the games industry has become more apparent and it’s not all fun and “games”. Overtime and long hours are commonplace within the industry, especially in the AAA studios, where this kind of work culture is expected.
But should it be? That is the question that owner of Nine Dots Studio Guillaume Boucher Vidal asked himself when he began to conceptualize the business structure of his own games studio. His goal? To create a studio and work model that both increased efficiency and ensured a better working environment for his game developers.
We wanted to hear from Vidal in order to gain some insight into the problems he sees with the working conditions of the video games industry, and to let him explain the changes he proposes.
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