Hennig: We Shouldn't Be Lauding Games That Are Soaked in the Blood of the People That Made Them

Hennig: Nosotros Shouldn't Exist Lauding Games That Are Soaked in the Blood of the People That Fabricated Them

Amy Hennig is a veteran game manager and writer responsible for many slap-up games, from Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver while she was at Crystal Dynamics to Naughty Dog'south Uncharted (she worked on all games including Uncharted 4: A Thief's End for two years, before leaving and existence replaced by Neil Druckmann as game director).

In an extremely interesting audio interview (split in two parts) with the Idle Thumbs Designer Notes podcast, Hennig denounced the unacceptable work weather of the AAA gaming industry. When host Soren Johnson (who designed Civilization IV and more than recently Offworld Trading Company) asked how that afflicted her personally, she said:

Really difficult. The whole time I was at Naughty Dog - ten and a one-half years - I probably, on average, I don't know if I e'er worked less than 80 hours a week. There were exceptions where it was like "Okay, allow's take a couple of days off", merely I pretty much worked seven days a calendar week, at least 12 hours a day.

A lot of the team was at that place. I mean, Naughty Domestic dog is pretty notorious for the amount of crunch, but obviously in a leadership role you endeavour and practise even more. You may not be easily-on with the game as much, but you're writing, you're reviewing stuff. Peradventure you're working with the composer, reviewing the music, giving them notes. It'south like being a motion-picture show director.

So, when Johnson asked if she idea making AAA games was worth having this kind of lifestyle, Hennig replied:

I don't retrieve so. There'south people who never go home and encounter their families. They have children who are growing up without seeing them. I didn't accept my own kids. I sort of chose my career in lots of means, and I could be single-minded like that. When I was making sacrifices, did information technology affect my family? Yes, but it was primarily affecting me and I could make that choice. But when I look at other people... I mean, my health really declined, and I had to take intendance of myself, because it was, like, bad. And there were people who, you know, collapsed, or had to become and check themselves in somewhere when i of these games were done. Or they got divorced. That's not okay, any of that. None of this is worth that.

We have to go our act figured out equally an industry, and the trouble is that the dues keeps getting upped. Information technology'south an arms race that is unwinnable and is destroying people. I have seen so many people that have been in the AAA space for a long fourth dimension packing information technology in and going to do VR, going indie, going casual...People are but sick of that. And so ane of my challenges, one of the things I'yard thinking nigh is how tin we even so brand games like this in a mode that is sane and responsible and upstanding? Because we're not doing it right now.

Nosotros shouldn't be lauding games that are soaked in the blood of the people that made them.

Potent words indeed, only so once again a solution isn't exactly piece of cake to find as long equally the gaming industry notwithstanding wants to push AAA games at this rate. Allow us know what y'all think of this hot topic in the comments section.

By the way, Amy Hennig is now working equally Senior Creative Director at Visceral Games on their upcoming Star Wars action/take chances game slated in 2022. It would be interesting to hear how this project differed in that regard once it's done.

Source: https://wccftech.com/hennig-shouldnt-lauding-games-soaked-blood-people-made/

Posted by: wyantposeed.blogspot.com

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