"Famous Last Words"

Happy Anniversary to Us (December 2006)

Dear Readers:

Five years ago this month, in December 2001, I began writing a monthly column for igda.org called “Famous Last Words.”

The idea was to provide developer perspective to contract negotiations that were, and still are, largely dictated by the superior bargaining position, resources, and experience of game publishers.

Along the way, we have looked at many issues from the developer perspective, made attempts to deconstruct contract terms, offered negotiating strategies, and identified ways to help both sides, not just developers, get what they really need from dev agreements. The IGDA has graciously maintained a full archive of columns, offered free, on this site.

In addition to these columns, the IGDA has sponsored three releases of the Contract Walk-Through, a collaborative volunteer effort of lawyers who work in the games industry. Each release of the Walk-Through offers essays that look at specific contract clauses and issues in greater depth than is possible in a monthly column. It has come to my attention that both the Walk-Through and selected columns are used as course materials in games industry educational programs.

All of this flows from my belief that contract negotiation in the games business does not have to be a scorched earth, take-no-prisoners process.

By taking a step back and considering the needs of developers who are trying to build their own businesses, publishers strengthen their own hand.

So what conclusions have I reached after writing this column every month for five years?

It is in the interests of both game developers and publishers to focus on the long term viability of the software games industry. Publishers can do themselves a huge favor by giving better deals to developers. This is because the critical factors in assuring long term viability are the development, maturing, fair treatment, competitive compensation, and resulting enthusiastic availability of top level talent to create games.

Bad or oppressive deals drive talent out of the business. Game development is a hard slog (I've gotten in trouble in the past for saying that; but it's true!). The hours are long, work conditions not always optimal, and job satisfaction can be low. Unless money, resources, and expectations can be adjusted so that young talent can grow and flourish in a positive atmosphere, and the rewards flowing to great developers are equal to the rewards flowing to great film makers or television talent, our industry may never build the next generation of top creative and technical talent. And those people are the dreamers who will create the great games for future generation platforms.

I'm very proud to be active in the games industry, and thank the IGDA for offering me a forum in which to express my views. If our industry can find a way to fairly reward talent, showcase creativity, and respect basic quality of life standards, I have great confidence in our future together.