Working For Big Publishers
Jeff Tunnell, newly resigned from GarageGames and now doing his own game-making thing to be unveiled at a future date, has an outstanding article at Make It Big In Games about working for big publishers - titled, coincidentally:

Working For Big Publishers

Now, my experience working for big publishers has been kinda limited. I have worked for three - kinda. I worked for Infogrammes U.S.A. (shortly thereafter redubbed "Atari" - so I can kinda fool people into thinking I'm much more long-in-the-tooth than I really am by saying, "I worked for Atari.") after they bought GT Interactive after GT bought my studio, and I worked (briefly) for Acclaim, leaving when I saw the proverbial writing on the equally proverbial wall.

Neither experience was particularly endearing, though Acclaim was by far the most disastrous.

I can attest to the role of politics. We had a mid-level manager sabotage a project to help HIS boss save face. We had some blatant dishonesty, a lack of anything resembling "job security," gross mismanagement (usually due to poor communication or infighting happening in the upper ranks), and psychotic work hours - which are not unique to working for big publishers at all.

But we also had really cool company picnics, and I got a one-time bonus after our acquisition that was the biggest I have YET to receive. So it wasn't all Teh Suck.

And, now that I've done some time in the software industry outside of games, I will have to say that the crimes committed in the games biz are hardly unique. Just - so far (knock on wood) - the most egregious. But my experiences working for big publishers is coming up on a decade old, so my information may be obsolete. I'd hope some things have changed since then.

But anybody looking at working for a Big Publisher on a Hit Series Title would be well advised to read Jeff's article. Not that it should dissuade you - there is a lot to be learned for putting in a couple of years in the trenches of gaming's front line, should you (and your love of video games) survive the experience. But career-wise, you may be advised not to consider it the be-all, end-all.

Labels: Biz

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 8:08 PM (Permalink)