An article was posted on Kotaku recently railing against the current state of major video game publishers. In a response, designer David Jaffe agreed with assessments of how games are hard to get right and try too much to be like movies, but rejected the accusation of publishers holding developers back too much.
“I reject that accusation because of the classic line that I am sure you’ve heard before: you are worth what you can negotiate. Period,” wrote Jaffe. “Don’t like the way a publisher treats you? Don’t sign a contract with that particular publisher. Or if you do, make sure you have what you will and won’t tolerate written into the contract. And if your studio is not good enough to demand better deals and is not clever enough to secure alternate forms of financing (thus allowing you to bypass the publishers all together) then you deserve what you get.”
“I am very sympathetic to the article’s core (it can suck being a dev when you feel your failure stems from forces out of your control) but that is very much the whole ‘every kid who plays gets a trophy even if their team loses’ thinking. AKA: This is business,” he continued. “You want to be treated better? Sign a contract demanding it. You are not able to get such a contract? Then improve your team until you can demand in the real world what you think you are really worth in your mind.”
“Because at the moment the real world is making something very clear to you. And that is this: For the time being anyway, you are not as good as you think you are. The people who fight against this and complain that the world is not fair are spinning their wheels and wasting their time. The people who embrace this truth can then decide to either get out of the business or put the effort into getting so good that they can pretty much write their own ticket,” he concluded.
Source: Blogspot.com
