**A friend of mine reminded me what the true issue was regarding one of these points, so I have adjusted the article accordingly. Thanks Mac ;D**
Well it’s pretty self explanatory, I just feel the urge to rant about some things I have on my mind. The main thing that’s pissed me off today is the state of the game industry in Australia currently. Now as a disclaimer, I am just a 3D enthusiast when it comes to game design… I haven’t had a job in any game design studios nor have I been heavily involved in the game community such as IGDA and the Aussie communities, but some things are so in your face it’s a joke.
I follow an online digital community of digital professionals called DLF – digital laborers federation. Recently there has been a bit of talk about the issue of credits in games, namely LA Noire. From what I understand, the game was developed jointly between Rockstar Games and Team Bondi – the Australian game studio. The discussion is about the fact that Team Bondi didn’t include the full credit list of the staff who worked tirelessly on the development of this game. While this may not seem like a big deal to most people, for those people who have put blood sweat and tears into making this a game a reality, it’s a real spit in the face. And to me, it’s a big spit in the face of the Australian game development community as a whole, which has got me really pissed off…
This isn’t the first time that local companies, as well as external companies, mainly American, have dared to blatantly spit in our faces. One time that rings loud in my ears is with a game studio called Pandemic. They produced a game I used to play every day called Dark Reign. Although it wasn’t as successful as RTS’ such as Starcraft, it held a dear spot in many people’s hearts and had a strong following. EA Games purchased Pandemic and then proceeded to lay off nearly all employees and shut down the Australian office. EA Games has a long history of purchasing studios and then shutting them down, clearly flexing their control over the gaming industry.
Another company that is bitter to a lot of Perth based game developers is Interzone, which is now known as Big Collision Games. They entered Australia giving hope to lots of budding game developers in Perth, they accepted government support and financial aid. They employed a lot of talented people who invested a lot of time, energy, and intellectual property into the development of their game concept. In return, Interzone decided not to pay the employees, nor their super. They also didn’t pay taxes, and as a result went into liquidation destroying the gaming communities spirit in the process. They then had the nerve to relocate and reform, with zero intention of settling the outstanding issues in Australia. Now how does that look in the eyes of this who supported them? I’m pretty damn sure the government will be very hesitant in supporting any future business willing to set up studios here…
There are other studios who have experienced problems such as Krome, but I won’t go into these details because, well, I’m not too sure of the details. All I know is there were bulk job losses which cripples the industry – even if it is due to not winning contracts vs competition. I’ve had enough watching international companies deciding it’s ok to spit in our faces and treat us like shit, and what’s even worse is nothing has changed over the past years of abuse. I think it’s about time that Australian game developers give the big middle finger to the major studios and get on with developing high quality games that we can be proud of. You can definitely run a highly profitable business without treating your employees like shit, and why don’t we set a precedence?? There’s no doubting the talent that we have in Australia and frankly I’m sick of seeing all the talent being forced over seas… It’s about time Australia stands up and says ‘fuck you, respect me’.
This is just the random thoughts of myself, would love to get a discussion going regarding the issue, and also a plan in place to make the industry as strong as we can…