A games design team in Eugene, Oregon in the US has taken a novel approach to staving off tightening belt buckles between projects by offering up their services for tender on auction site eBay. If you have a clever idea for a game but no idea how to see it to fruition, or just a lot of money to burn, you can bid for the group who'll do your bidding for 90 days. Team members include:
* Game Designer
* Writer
* Concept Artist
* Texture and 2D Artist
* 3D Modeler
* Audio Designer
* Programmers
* Producer
Whilst probably intended as a fun exercise for bunch of talented and creative chancers, the Eugene team unknowingly are making a statement about the current business model of the interactive entertainment industry. As it currently stands, most games companies bankroll their employees on a long-term basis, effectively granting retainers to talent between projects to the (occasional) detriment of the bottom line.
Frequent rumblings from an increasingly loud voice of industry execs have been promoting the idea of a so-called "Hollywood Model" of employment, in which talent is brought in on an ad hoc basis to do jobs for a fixed contract, and then released to go work for another company when their work is completed. Certainly this would reduce overheads, and could foster greater innovation in the industry by keeping the wolves away from the door when no publishers' commissions are on the table.
The 90 days offered by the Eugene development team isn't nearly enough to get any substantial work done on a project except for a draft of a design document and a working prototype, but their approach may be forward thinking enough to establish them as an early-stage team package. At the competitive rate of only £112,252.34 for 90 days' work for eight employees with "60 combined years of experience" and no strings attached, employers may be tempted to forgo the high-cost of employee tax and benefits for a self-contained freelance model.
Of course, this is a moot point if the bidding price remains at £0.
