WildTangent founder Alex St. John: making video games is not a job

The gaming industry traditionally remains one of the areas in which the most comfortable working conditions. Former head of the WildTangent studio and DirectX co-author Alex St. John thinks differently - in his opinion , gaming companies' employees do not need to rely on adherence to work schedules, as well as high wages compared to their counterparts in related areas.

In the 90s, St. John held a key position at Microsoft and participated in the development of DirectX, which became a catalyst for the growth of the number of games available on computers. Subsequently, he founded the online game studio WildTangent and managed the social network for hi5 gamers.
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“Game development is not a job, it is an art. There is no amount of money that would be enough to pay people with a slavish attitude to their work, ”said Alex St. John to the initiative of the International Association of Game Developers, designed to solve problems with unpaid overtime.

Most representatives of the gaming industry have reacted negatively to the provocative statements of St. John, describing it as "the quintessence of all the wrong from the game development industry."

“Most representatives of industry players are fragile and lazy millenials. I find it hard to imagine how much the life of IT industry employees has changed, who believe that a few hours spent following mouse movements can be regarded as hard work, ”says St. John.

Instead of dissatisfaction with the work of St. John offers employees to leave their positions and run a startup. But most of the game industry representatives do not respond to these “generous” advice.

“It's so simple. Quit work, move with his family to the garage to his parents and develop a project with multimillion-dollar profits, ”Rami Ismail, head of the Vlambeer game studio, sarcastically says.

According to the latest market research, almost half of the developers surveyed work more than 60 hours a week, 17% more than 70 hours. And almost 38% of employees in 2014 did not offer compensation for overtime work. Last year, the situation changed slightly - 37% of the respondents did not receive payment for overtime working hours.

“Poor working conditions are the second leading factor contributing to a negative public perception of the gaming industry. It also remains one of the main reasons for changing employee preferences towards other IT companies that are not related to the gaming industry, ”representatives of the International Association of Game Developers say.

Nevertheless, the market situation is gradually changing due to the publicity of problems in working in companies such as EA, Rockstar and several others. But so far not fast enough.