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Awful? This is miles ahead of nearly ever other game studio out there. How do I know?

One of the people I served with aboard the USS Honolulu is a game designer for Darkpaw Games. They have nothing like this. Not even close.

Another person is a high-level executive at Activision-Blizzard. He has compensation that is generous, but it took him 17 years to get there.

Yet another personal friend is a junior developer at Obsidian Entertainment. They don't have anything like this, at his level.

Maybe their system isn't perfect, but its a hell of a better than nothing.




Changing the terms post-hoc is pretty scummy. Logically you would assume having something is better than nothing, as I assume most would - simple math. The reality is anticipating more than you actually receive can be more detrimental. You make sacrifices you normally wouldn't if you are lead to believe there is a reward. Perhaps you turned down another job offer since you had been factoring those extra projektbucks and then they suddenly devalue at the end of the race. Maybe you treated yourself or your loved ones to a gift as a small token of appreciation for the effort spent on this rather than them. That $2000 in fairy-bucks turns out to be $500 and those extra hours amount to less-than-legal-minimum-wage.

Regardless of whether it's better than nothing - there is a tangible risk to having something accounted for that turns out to be short.

The game development industry has been a cesspool for worker exploitation for the longest time and this adds to a long list.


Obsidian is downright abusive towards any of their staff that isn't part of the old guard, and doesn't compensate any more to make up for it.

source: three people I know who worked there




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