IGDA's Quality of Life Open Letter

There has been a ton of debate about Quality of Life in the game industry recently, mostly due to some postings by ex-EA employees (and the spouses who love them).

The IGDA printed an open letter about this which you can read.

http://www.igda.org/qol/open_letter.php

There are two main problems I have with the letter. The first is that it seems to imply that there is a core set of "Quality Of Life" values which all game employees share. The second is the implication that companies which follow these guidelines are more successful than companies that don't.


In response to the first problem:

When I first entered the industry, my criteria for choosing a company were different than they currently are. I wanted to work in a high pressure, high expectation environment which challenged me and would have me toiling with my collaborators into the wee hours of the morning. Eventually, I wanted more balance, and made adjustments to my work style to make this more attainable. Fortunately, I was able to do this at the same company (after making a move from a company that was high pressure but producing garbage).

The IGDA seems to indicate there is a set of universal best practices, which I strongly disagree with. The IGDA would serve people best if they provided an open forum and database for people to research business practices of companies, and let individuals make their own judgement rather than having IGDA provide the judgement for them. Focusing only on companies which fit IGDA's fitness criteria limits the flow of information, and prevents people from making informed decisions.


In response to the second problem:

EA has been under fire recently for poor QOL issues, and I'm sure the impassioned web postings sparked this open letter. However, they have proven to be more successful than almost any other company under numerous criteria (longevity, financial success, name recognition, etc.) Arguably they could be more successful with better QOL, but they may also be far less successful. Many, many, successful companies have had difficult crunch periods, such as Bungie, Naughty Dog, Blizzard, Id, Valve, and more. Arguing that this has not been a successful strategy is quite simply incorrect, and makes the rest of the letter difficult to swallow.

If anything, the EA case reiterates the need for providing an open forum for addressing QOL issues. Now that the word is out, they may have difficulty recruiting people. employees may leave for greener pastures, and customers who deplore their business practices might boycott their games.