It definitely is a trap. Those DEI consultants don't suffer the consequences at all. They get paid and are onto the next grift by the time the product goes to market and nobody buys it.
That's a problem with consulting in general too. They get paid to insert themselves in your project with little context, implement exactly what you tell them to, then leave once the contract is up without giving you any documentation. During their contract they will constantly delay because they have other clients they are behind on, so what you are delivered is a rushed mess. When it sucks, they don't care because they got paid and you're too cheap to hire in house, so you'll come crawling back anyway. When you go out of business because the thing you counted on them to build was late and not fit for purpose, they move on to the next sucker
Consultants that are "masters of their craft" when such crafts are an integral part of your media (and you can't be expected to have those sorts of experts on your dev team) is reasonable.
There is no reasonable time for DEI/ESG consultants. And a researcher of ancient Japanese gay pedophilia is not a historian.
They can be good for technical authenticity. Things like, "what would a fighter pilot call out here? Who would be on the other end of the radio?" You're probably not going to keep a retired combat pilot on staff just to get that right.
But that doesn't apply to the fake racial "authenticity" DEI consultants want because there is no one correct way to be whatever.
Its modern sense of "agent appointed by a sovereign state to reside in a foreign place to protect the interests of its citizens and commerce there" began with use of the word as appellation of a representative chosen by a community of MERCHANTS living in a foreign country... https://www.etymonline.com/word/consul
always demand they're paid only a percentage of net revenue
Funny thing about that. It's standard in the oil industry. The mineral rights owner gets a 1/8th, the geologist consultant gets 1/32nd, the refiner gets 1/8th, and the operator gets the rest, but has to maintain it.
It definitely is a trap. Those DEI consultants don't suffer the consequences at all. They get paid and are onto the next grift by the time the product goes to market and nobody buys it.
That's a problem with consulting in general too. They get paid to insert themselves in your project with little context, implement exactly what you tell them to, then leave once the contract is up without giving you any documentation. During their contract they will constantly delay because they have other clients they are behind on, so what you are delivered is a rushed mess. When it sucks, they don't care because they got paid and you're too cheap to hire in house, so you'll come crawling back anyway. When you go out of business because the thing you counted on them to build was late and not fit for purpose, they move on to the next sucker
Never hire consultants.
Consultants that are "masters of their craft" when such crafts are an integral part of your media (and you can't be expected to have those sorts of experts on your dev team) is reasonable.
There is no reasonable time for DEI/ESG consultants. And a researcher of ancient Japanese gay pedophilia is not a historian.
I've yet to work with a consultant that was worth the money, and I was one for the early parts of my career
They can be good for technical authenticity. Things like, "what would a fighter pilot call out here? Who would be on the other end of the radio?" You're probably not going to keep a retired combat pilot on staff just to get that right.
But that doesn't apply to the fake racial "authenticity" DEI consultants want because there is no one correct way to be whatever.
Its modern sense of "agent appointed by a sovereign state to reside in a foreign place to protect the interests of its citizens and commerce there" began with use of the word as appellation of a representative chosen by a community of MERCHANTS living in a foreign country... https://www.etymonline.com/word/consul
If I had a multi-million dollar game studio, I would hire them just to tell the development team to do the opposite on what they suggest.
Funny thing about that. It's standard in the oil industry. The mineral rights owner gets a 1/8th, the geologist consultant gets 1/32nd, the refiner gets 1/8th, and the operator gets the rest, but has to maintain it.
Take a page from Hollywood and make it net profit. Then keep stacking "expenses" so they'll never see a red cent.