ea_spouse should have done a lot of damage to the games industry. The story by the partner of a over-worked, underpaid and underappreciated drone at Electronic Arts ricocheted through the communication channels, led to intense discussions, roundtables, conference presentations and industry white papers against the often abusive working conditions of games development employees. Regardless of the furore and the lawsuits, the long hours continue, and very little seems to have been done to correct the problem.
A few weeks ago, however, a collection of US-based recruitment agencies announced that they had formed Professional Electronic Entertainment Recruiters (PEER)...
to reaffirm the high ground for ethical standards, quality performance and as an alliance of those who lead the profession, to encourage others to either be accountable for their conduct and efficacy or to be re-categorized as those who will not.
PEER is ostensibly a recruitment organisation. It is keen to distance itself from a games union, which many in the industry have both openly advocated and argued against. However, its presence is welcomed by many who feel they have had enough.
Despite the allure to make games for a living, the hours can run long and weekends for many are just another workday. Game developers aren't just a bunch of wide-eyed, caffeinated video game junkies anymore. They have families, mortgages and ironically most of them worry about the number of hours their own kids spend in front of video games instead of playing outside and studying for school. Their wives want them home for dinner and kids who have moms or dads working in the industry want to see them more than just a few hours in the evening every week.
More from ars technica and eToychest.
