Gaming News: "The Press is not Your Enemy"
Posted: Wednesday April 3rd, 2019
by Woody
Listen, I know I just kind of threw a match into a pile of leaves with this one. I'd apologize, but I'm not sorry. It's a statement worth making. So I made it.
Okay, there's so much to unpack in this story. It starts with BioWare having a history of stressing its workers to the point of physical and emotional failure. It proceeds to BioWare releasing games that are subpar despite the crunch time pressures they put on their employees. And it "ends" with BioWare issuing a pointed statement that tries to paint themselves in a positive light ahead of a 'why Anthem is on the struggle bus' exposé from Kotaku Editor, Jason Schreier.
Here's some articles for strategic reading purposes...
Schreier, Jason "How BioWare's Anthem Went Wrong" Kotaku 2 April 2019.
BioWare "Anthem Game Development" BioWare Dev Diary 2 April 2019.
Kuchera, Ben "The press is not your enemy, BioWare"Polygon 2 April 2019.
Also relevant...
Game Workers Unite
So the comic, it's brutal and over the top. I get it. But, BioWare downplaying their employees routinely having to take weeks or even months off for doctor-mandated stress leave didn't sit well with me. I reacted strongly. **shrugs**
Update 4/3/19: I have reached out to several contacts that I have in the industry that worked for BioWare to get their off-the-record, opinion on the matter. I will update this writeup with any additional information I get my hands on.
Update 4/4/19: As I mentioned yesterday, I reached out to some folks in the industry that worked for BioWare. I'm keeping their names off the record as well as which branch they worked for and their exact comments, to protect them. But, here's what I was told:
Source 1: I no longer work there, but from the folks I know that still do (especially at BioWare Prime) the reports of the work environment are fairly accurate.
Source 2: I haven't worked there for a while; so, I have no idea. But, all but one of my friends have all left the studio.
Source 3: BioWare was one of the better places I've worked.
Source 4: The friends I have that still work at BioWare haven't reported any issues.
It should be noted one of the four has not worked for BioWare specifically, and the other three have not worked at Bioware for some time. But, at least now you have word from trustworthy "inside" sources.
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