Management just announced its decision to impose a return to offices for 3 days per week for all employees. This announcement was made without any tangible just
Under micromanagement, design decisions led by the finance department, story led by consultants, and multiple formerly independent studios retasked with churning out parts of games like an assembly line? Not so much.
People make games. It’s art and craftsmanship - if you design your games by committee, they’re going to be soulless and flat. If you don’t give your people autonomy, the details won’t get the attention they need to mesh together. If your turnover is high and your morale is low, everything will slow to a crawl no matter how many people you throw at it
And ultimately, the people making the game won’t understand the vision. They won’t get emotionally invested, they won’t take risks, they won’t fight to fix problems early
They won’t try to make a good game, because they already know they’re being ordered to make a bad one
Under soul crushing crunch? Sure.
Under micromanagement, design decisions led by the finance department, story led by consultants, and multiple formerly independent studios retasked with churning out parts of games like an assembly line? Not so much.
People make games. It’s art and craftsmanship - if you design your games by committee, they’re going to be soulless and flat. If you don’t give your people autonomy, the details won’t get the attention they need to mesh together. If your turnover is high and your morale is low, everything will slow to a crawl no matter how many people you throw at it
And ultimately, the people making the game won’t understand the vision. They won’t get emotionally invested, they won’t take risks, they won’t fight to fix problems early
They won’t try to make a good game, because they already know they’re being ordered to make a bad one