Maximum PC

It's about time....

Too many game companies try and get away with this crap. Expecting your employees to break the law so that they get paid less - someone has some big balls. Sadly, the employee bringing the lawsuit is probably on his way out - they'll find something. But his lawsuit will hopefully impact the industry and help improve the QoL for others in the industry.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5544585

i figured that went on...hope things are better in the future

I'm bitter at Vivendi for leaving Al Lowe out of the Magma Cum Laude (the newest, most likely never to be released Leisure Suit Larry Game). I hope the lawsuit goes well for the programmer.

http://www.allowe.com/Larry/8news.htm

yeah programming sometimes turns out bad, but my friends company pays alot for overtime work so it worked out really good for him, he had to work from 8 am till 1 am for a week and hes getting paid $1500 next week.

Vivendi is a French company right ?

Yes.

I think everyone realizes that they'll have to put in some OT - but a company directing their employees to falsify their timesheets is ridiculous (note that it is spelled correctly). As Americans, we already work far more hours than the rest of the world (well, Japan is pretty close). And now they expect us to work for free!

</me thinks beautiful blondes> I should move to Sweden....

/me wonders what game finally cause him to snap...

That's a good thought.....

what straw broke the camels back and actually caused him to sue?
why haven't others sued?
how will the game industry respond if/when more of these lawsuits occur?

WEll, I know what they won't do!

They would never delay games!

The game industry has some serious problems - and they're not related to programming either. The QoL report/survey by the IGDA shows that very few people stay in the game industry for longer than 5 years. This is mainly because people are tired of working such stupid amounts of OT - and, in many cases, they aren't being paid for it. You have to wonder how much shorter development times would be if they actually had people with more than 10 years of experience from several projects.

I don't think these people realize what is really important and what motivates their game developers. Personally, I have been working on a game project with a small group of ACM students and writing a game isn't really all that different than writing any other code. The problem solving, this mental rush, which drives many developers is present in other projects. Why on earth should I tolerate an 80 hour work week for less pay than a DBA, application or embedded device programmer? Just to be able to say that I made a game? To impress teens? No thanks.... I'll gladly take mtn biking and rock climing on the weekends with better pay and a more secure job.

Gadget, well said. I think there's a misconception out there that programming a game is just as fun as playing one. If that were the case, all the overtime might be overlooked. You bring up an excellent point that "the problem solving, this mental rush, which drives many developers is present in other projects."

Bottom line is, being a game programmer is not as 'romantic' as it sounds. Every industry has its cons, but this one in particular takes more than it's fair share.

For anyone interested, here's a fun read about game programming (albiet a few years dated):

http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articl ... cle866.asp

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