I remember seeing something from John Carmack about overtime and working on games that was essentially to the point of if they are really into the project they will work overtime because they actually want to finish it. Of course a lot of his experience is on properly sized small dev teams who would have an emotional and financial attachment to the project. Where as I'm sure mega-corp is all salary pay with mandatory overtime and then at the end "yay our game was super successful, so we're giving everyone a Starbucks gift card and bringing in some lunch one day!"
I've never really liked Naughty Dog games honestly. Even the things like Uncharted weren't really doing anything special, just PS fan boys said it did and no one challenged them. They are mediocre playable movies about shooting enemies with godlike armor.
I really don't care if there's crunch. These people are free to quit, or to simply work 40 hour weeks and see if they actually get fired. Everyone has known about "crunch time" in game development for decades, so it's not like it's an unfair surprise. It's no different from complaining you're not being paid enough: If it's really true, then negotiate for a raise. If you can't, because there are a thousand people who would love to be in your position who are just as talented, then I guess you're being paid what you deserve.
The solution to that is to eliminate the H-1B program. Outlawing overtime wouldn't save them from being replaced by H-1Bs anyway, but it might help push the entire industry somewhere overtime is allowed, in which case they lose their jobs entirely.
I remember seeing something from John Carmack about overtime and working on games that was essentially to the point of if they are really into the project they will work overtime because they actually want to finish it. Of course a lot of his experience is on properly sized small dev teams who would have an emotional and financial attachment to the project. Where as I'm sure mega-corp is all salary pay with mandatory overtime and then at the end "yay our game was super successful, so we're giving everyone a Starbucks gift card and bringing in some lunch one day!"
I've never really liked Naughty Dog games honestly. Even the things like Uncharted weren't really doing anything special, just PS fan boys said it did and no one challenged them. They are mediocre playable movies about shooting enemies with godlike armor.
I really don't care if there's crunch. These people are free to quit, or to simply work 40 hour weeks and see if they actually get fired. Everyone has known about "crunch time" in game development for decades, so it's not like it's an unfair surprise. It's no different from complaining you're not being paid enough: If it's really true, then negotiate for a raise. If you can't, because there are a thousand people who would love to be in your position who are just as talented, then I guess you're being paid what you deserve.
What if there are 10,000 H-1Bs fresh from India who want to do your job for half what you make, and they're 60% as talented?
The solution to that is to eliminate the H-1B program. Outlawing overtime wouldn't save them from being replaced by H-1Bs anyway, but it might help push the entire industry somewhere overtime is allowed, in which case they lose their jobs entirely.