3 ms·

I wonder about game development, it shares a lot of the traits.

api 6y ago
Game development is known for being a death march burnout culture.
tabtab 6y ago
My body doesn't qualify me for access to "alternative routes" to success. I can see many game devs are in the same boat.
jandrese 6y ago
Game development is probably saved because most studios had (have?) really serious gender imbalances. I wouldn't be surprised of reports of harassment by the female devs, but they make up such a small percentage of the population that it doesn't change the entire hiring dynamic like it does in the music industry.
- fulafel 6y ago
  The cases in the BBC story we're commenting on were same-sex.
megameter 6y ago
There are definitely stories to tell. https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/11/rumour_leading_japanese_game_company_kidnapped_devs_sister_to_stop_them_from_working_with_nintendo https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/11/rumour_leading_jap... https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/tech/gaming-metoo-twitch/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/tech/gaming-metoo-twitch/inde... A good rule of thumb is to look for visible gatekeepers. Where they go the abuses follow, and if caught they only need to burnish their image enough to get their pals to rehire them.
jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
Historically game dev has definitely had a big boys club problem. It's better post gamergate, and the trend is heading the right way, but still, it's a bad problem. What I saw personally, working on an ill fated unreal licensed property around 1999, wasn't sexual extortion. But it was a boys club that loved trading porn in the official irc channels for unreal engine support. CliffyB was particularly fond of posting pictures of his then girlfriend, as well as essentially rick rolling people with this picture involving a cactus and what appears to be a very uncomfortable sexual act. It may not have been straight up extortion of sexual interactions, but I am sure that if you pushed back on that, you'd have found yourself fenced out of the very small community of people who have huge influence over whether your game ships. It certainly was not a welcoming environment to anyone other than immature young men, which is a label I'd apply to myself at that time for sure. Again though, I want to emphasize I also see a positive trend in gaming in general. There's a long walk ahead, but the industry is actually walking the right direction, just slowly.

api 6y ago

Game development is known for being a death march burnout culture.

My body doesn't qualify me for access to "alternative routes" to success. I can see many game devs are in the same boat.

jandrese 6y ago

Game development is probably saved because most studios had (have?) really serious gender imbalances. I wouldn't be surprised of reports of harassment by the female devs, but they make up such a small percentage of the population that it doesn't change the entire hiring dynamic like it does in the music industry.

fulafel 6y ago
The cases in the BBC story we're commenting on were same-sex.

megameter 6y ago

There are definitely stories to tell. https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/11/rumour_leading_japanese_game_company_kidnapped_devs_sister_to_stop_them_from_working_with_nintendo https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/11/rumour_leading_jap... https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/tech/gaming-metoo-twitch/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/tech/gaming-metoo-twitch/inde... A good rule of thumb is to look for visible gatekeepers. Where they go the abuses follow, and if caught they only need to burnish their image enough to get their pals to rehire them.

jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago

Historically game dev has definitely had a big boys club problem. It's better post gamergate, and the trend is heading the right way, but still, it's a bad problem. What I saw personally, working on an ill fated unreal licensed property around 1999, wasn't sexual extortion. But it was a boys club that loved trading porn in the official irc channels for unreal engine support. CliffyB was particularly fond of posting pictures of his then girlfriend, as well as essentially rick rolling people with this picture involving a cactus and what appears to be a very uncomfortable sexual act. It may not have been straight up extortion of sexual interactions, but I am sure that if you pushed back on that, you'd have found yourself fenced out of the very small community of people who have huge influence over whether your game ships. It certainly was not a welcoming environment to anyone other than immature young men, which is a label I'd apply to myself at that time for sure. Again though, I want to emphasize I also see a positive trend in gaming in general. There's a long walk ahead, but the industry is actually walking the right direction, just slowly.