Double Fine boss frustrated by constant industry turnover

Erik Johnson
Double Fine boss frustrated by constant industry turnover

Tim Schafer has voiced his issues with the game industry’s revolving door regarding employment.

“One of the most frustrating things about the games industry is that teams of people come together to make a game, and maybe they struggle and make mistakes along the way, but by the end of the game they’ve learned a lot – and this is usually when they are disbanded,” Schafer told Wired.

“Instead of being allowed to apply all those lessons to a better, more efficiently produced second game, they are scattered to the winds and all that wisdom is lost. After Psychonauts, we could have laid off half our team so that we’d have more money and time to sign Brütal Legend.

“But doing so would have meant breaking up a team that had just learned how to work well together. And what message would that have sent to our employees? It would say that we’re not loyal to them, and that we don’t care. Which would make them wonder ‘Why should we be loyal to this company?’

“If you’re not loyal to your team you can get by for a while, but eventually you will need to rely on their loyalty to you and it just won’t be there.”

Over the past several years countless AAA companies have gone through exactly what Schafer refers to, with plenty affected during this year alone.


Tags: double fine , tim schafer , MCV USA

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