IGDA执行董事谈2018年游戏行业环境变化以及展望未来

原作者：Iain Harris 译者：Willow Wu

时间过得很快，年终将至，2018年对游戏开发者来说就像是打了一场代价沉重的胜利之战。

公众从未能像今年这样了解到这个行业的现实与艰苦，而这是以牺牲许多人的个人幸福为代价的。

从Kotaku对Riot Games的性别歧视文化深入调查，到 Telltale和Rockstar被接连爆出的加班问题，这些都是行业存在已久的难题，并且还在不断恶化。

除此之外，社交媒体上对游戏开发者的公开辱骂还在继续，ArenaNet还因为网上骂战解雇了两名编剧。

许多游戏公司都宣布倒闭——Telltale、Capcom温哥华工作室、Bandai Namco温哥华工作室和Wargaming西雅图工作室，很多人都失去了工作。当然，行业中也不全是悲剧，其他公司还在继续招人，新的游戏工作室层出不穷——虽然这对那些失业者可能起不了什么安慰作用。

起起伏伏

尽管这些事件对公众舆论产生了很大影响，国际游戏开发者协会（IGDA）执行董事Jen MacLean还是很希望在倡导变革与证明行业已经在好转之间找到平衡。

在墨尔本举行的Games Connect Asia Pacific大会期间， PocketGamer.Biz利用短暂休息的时间与MacLean进行了交谈，回顾了游戏行业的艰难一年。

“我最近一直忙于几个游戏大会的演讲，主题就是当下是游戏最好的时代，也是最糟糕的时代，”MacLean说。

“在我看来，如今游戏开发者的情况就是这样。

从很多方面来看，他们的机会多了很多。现在有Unity、Unreal这样的免费开发工具，还有各种销售渠道，这对游戏行业的发展是非常有利的。

“但同时，作为一个游戏开发者，成功比以往更加难以实现。我们也知道游戏行业的发展是具有周期性的，我认为我们现在所看到的这些倒闭事件还只是一个开始。

“你可以去看看游戏的开发成本和收益情况，数学已经解释不了。将来我们很可能要彻底改变游戏的开发方式或者是盈利方式，或者二者都变。

“这就意味着行业中会出现很多混乱、分裂，对于开发者们而言这将会是一段相当煎熬的日子。

don-t-starve-(from bdstudiogames)

“现阶段我们的讨论是比以往更加开诚布公的，我认为这对促进行业的实质性变革非常关键。”

社区监管

MacLean想要让人们关注的第二个话题是消费者和开发者之间的关系，育碧设定更加严格的社区标准就是一个突出的例子，她希望其他人也能效仿。

“游戏社区是怎么对待游戏开发者们的？玩家们在社交媒体的行为有时跟在游戏中并无差别，”MacLean说。

“我们通过游戏告诉他们在这个虚拟世界中使用种族、性别歧视语言是没关系的，威胁别人是没关系的，去骚扰别人也是没关系的，所以我们不必惊讶在游戏之外的地方他们也用这种方式对待开发者们。

“看到育碧这样的公司坦率地表示他们不会再容忍这类行为其实是一个非常好的兆头，这意味着越来越多的公司也会采取这种态度。

“我迫切地希望能有公司认识到为玩家创造良好的游戏体验、防止一些人破坏游戏环境、制造隐患是很重要的，因为这也会对游戏开发者们产生积极影响。”

虽然并非所有公司在今年都得到了媒体的正面报道，很多头条讲的都是一些不太光彩的事，但MacLean并不认为今年的主角就是这些负面消息。相反，她指出社交媒体让我们更加了解正在发生的事。

“我已经在这个行业中呆了26年了，游戏公司的干的好事和坏事我都见过，”MacLean说。

“我认为现在的不同之处在于我们能利用不同的工具，比如社交媒体来开展更多相关讨论，还有我们与游戏社区的关系也变得更加密切了。

“这就是一种积极的变化。尽管我们看到了种种失职、歧视行为，我还是不会把2018年定义成‘烂雇主之年’。只是因为我们对这类问题的关注度提高了。”

团结努力

为了帮助游戏开发者适应当前的行业环境，MacLean认为IGDA需要帮助他们理解游戏开发之外的世界。

其中之一就是社交媒体。IGDA此前曾发布了一系列问题，供人们向雇主提问，以确保他们在网上行为规范方面达成共识。IGDA还发布了自己的社交媒体指南，给那些没有制定相关行为标准的开发者一份参考。

另一点就是要成为同行业者的可靠盟友。在GCAP大会上，MacLean发条了一篇题为《消除偏见，成为可靠盟友》（Overcoming Your Biases to Be an Effective Ally）的演讲。

从Ada Initiative（非营利性组织，旨在提高女性对自由文化运动，开源技术和开放文化的参与度）以及IGDA特殊利益联盟（ Allies Special Interest Group）的情况来看，演讲的目的是要让人们明白彼此互相帮助才能促进实质变革的发生。MacLean还介绍了一套行为框架，该框架可用于游戏开发工作中常见的各种场景。

虽然支持同事是一件很重要的事，尤其是考虑到如今的社交氛围，但是我们并不能以此指责ArenaNet对员工所做的事：起先，一位玩家就角色性格提出了和编剧Jessica Price不同的观点，言辞间并无不妥之处。但是Jessica Price突然恶言相向，另外一名游戏编剧Peter Fries也加入骂战，不仅不拉架，还为自己人辩护。结果让整个玩家社区大为不满。ArenaNet最后公开批评并解雇了二人。

冲突发生后，ArenaNet内部具体发生了什么我们不得而知。在行业大众看来，Fries所做的一切似乎都是为了维护同事，但是事件的结果并没有让业内其他人感到欣慰。

由于不太熟悉这一事件，MacLean无法做出评论。但是她强调了其他公司采取的在支持同行方面所做的积极努力，这能给公众舆论带来一定的平衡作用。

“在我看来，不同规模公司的不同管理者，他们大多都明白要壮大我们的玩家社区、让我们的行业繁荣发展就必须壮大游戏开发者社区，”MacLean说。

“这意味着我们要吸引那些从未考虑把游戏开发当作职业的人、那些来自其它技术行业的人以及那些年纪较大或来自世界不同地区的人。

“所以，你可以说行业中又出现了怎样怎样的糟糕决策，但我从这些公司中看到的是他们真正认识到了包容的重要性，并采取了很多行动来表示支持。”

随后，MacLean又举出了几个大型游戏公司的例子，赞赏他们为促进包容性以及多样性所做的努力，尤其考虑到这对游戏行业发展的所形成的积极影响。

“你可以看看微软公司为他们的玩家以及开发者所做的，还有暴雪。亚马逊游戏工作室中有一群优秀的女性开发者做出了杰出贡献，这对我来说是莫大的鼓励，”

“育碧对于玩家社区恶劣行为的采取了更加苛刻的态度，这也能促进开发社区的包容性发展。

“这让我非常兴奋，我认为我们得感谢那些为了支持人才和社区而冒险、做出艰难决定的公司，因为他们真的做得很棒。”

在动荡中革新

至于未来，MacLean预计接下来三年会是一个非常不稳定的时期，这是游戏开发成本不断飙升的结果。尽管这是不可避免的挑战，但不稳定性也会带来革新与机会。

“如果你看过一些分析，比如，Raph Koster计算了每兆字节内容的单位开发成本（相关文章翻已译：http://gamerboom.com/archives/95456），很明显，成本上升与收益不变甚至是下滑形成了一种失衡的状态，” MacLean说。

“随之而来的就是混乱、动荡还有革新。独立开发者们会拥有更多机会，新式游戏体验会相继出现。

“微软公司现阶段正在收购往这个方向发展的公司，这很有意思。

“我觉得他们可能是在考虑如何创新，我也很期待微软以及其他公司会怎么做。EA扶持独立游戏发行应该也是出于类似的考虑。

“所以总的来说，未来我们会迎来挑战，但同时也会获得更多机会——这会跟以往我们所遇到的有很大不同。”

本文由游戏邦编译，转载请注明来源，或咨询微信zhengjintiao

With the end of the year swiftly approaching, 2018 may feel like a Pyrrhic victory for games developers.

The realities and hardships of working in the industry are more visible to the public eye than ever, but it has come at the expense of a lot of people’s personal wellbeing.

A report into Riot Games exposed a toxic working culture that still festers within the industry, while public episodes at Telltale and Rockstar proved to be a reminder that crunch is still an issue the industry is finding difficult to tackle.

On top of that, the public abuse of games developers on social media continues, as seen with ArenaNet’s dismissal of two of its employees.

Still not letting up, a number of studios have faced closure and left many without a job, from Telltale and Capcom Vancouver to Bandai Namco Vancouver and Wargaming Seattle. It’s not all bad of course, other companies are continuing to hire while new studios open all the time – though that might be little consolation to those who have lost their jobs.

Little high, little low

Though these events have dominated public discourse, however, IGDA executive director Jen MacLean (pictured) is keen to strike the balance between advocating for change while acknowledging the good that’s already going on in the industry.

Speaking to PocketGamer.Biz during a brief lull at the Games Connect Asia Pacific conference in Melbourne, MacLean reflects on what has proven to be a trying year for the industry.

“I’ve been giving a talk at a few conferences recently and the theme is that it’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times,” says MacLean.

“I think that very much describes what’s like to be a games developer right now.

“In many ways, there are a lot more opportunities. There are tools like Unity and Unreal and distribution opportunities; these are all fantastic things for the industry.

“But, it’s never been more difficult to succeed as a games developer. We also know that the games industry is cyclical and I suspect that some of the things that we see with studio closures are only the beginning.

“Because you can look at the development cost for games, and the revenue produced, and the math is starting not to work. What that means is that we’re going to have to radically change how we develop games or monetise them, or both.

“That’s going to mean a lot of disruption in the industry and it’s going to be a hard time for games developers.

“At the same time, we’re having more open and honest discussions than we have ever had in the industry and I think those discussions are important to making meaningful change.”

Community watch

Another topical issue MacLean is keen to draw attention to is the relationship between consumer and developer, with Ubisoft’s enforcement of more strict community standards a stand-out example that she hopes others will follow.

“When we look at how games developers are treated by games communities, they act on social media as they do in games,” MacLean states.

“When we tell them and show them that it’s okay to use racial and gender-based slurs in games, that it’s okay to make threats in games and that it’s okay to harass people in games, we can’t be surprised when they do that outside of games to developers.

“Seeing a company like Ubisoft be very upfront with the type of behaviour they will no longer tolerate actually bodes very well as more companies adopt that.

“I’m excited to see a company realise that it’s more important to have a better player experience and to ban people for creating an unwelcoming and unsafe player environment because I think that’ll have positive implications for games developers.”

While not every company has come in for favourable press throughout the year, with plenty grabbing headlines for less than savoury reasons, MacLean downplays the idea that the year should be marked by their misdeeds. Instead, she notes that it’s a positive that social media has made us more aware of what goes on.

“I’ve been in the industry for 26 years, so I’ve seen both good and bad behaviour from companies,” says MacLean.

“I think the difference is now we talk a lot more about it through tools like social media and also through a more connected games community.

“I think that’s a positive. But I wouldn’t go as far as to call this the year of the bad employer, as we’ve seen some of this behaviour in the past. We’re just more aware of it.”

Come together

In a bid to help games developers adapt to the current climate within the industry, however, MacLean believes the IGDA needs to help them understand what’s going on outside of their contributions to making a game.

One example is social media. The IGDA has previously posted a series of questions for people to ask their employer to ensure they are on common ground in regards to acceptable behaviour online. The IGDA has also posted its own social media guidelines for any developer to use a reference point should they have none.

Another is the need to be an effective ally for your fellow industry-folk. As such, while at GCAP, MacLean gave a lecture titled “Overcoming Your Biases to Be an Effective Ally”.

Based on the Ada Initiative and the IGDA Allies Special Interest Group developed by Allies Workshop, it aims to teach people that being an ally can create meaningful change. It goes over a behavioural framework that can be used for intervention in various scenarios that are commonplace in games development.

While advocating for colleagues is undoubtedly essential, especially in today’s social climate, the incentive to do so took a battering when ArenaNet publically criticised and dismissed employees Jessica Price and Peter Fries following an exchange with a fan on social media, during which Fries had come to the support Price.

It’s hard to say what was said exactly behind closed doors at ArenaNet following the incident. On the public side of things, however, all Fries appeared to do was stand up for his colleague, which doesn’t send a great message to others in the industry.

While MacLean couldn’t comment on the specific incident due to not having any personal insight into what happened, she was keen to stress the positive work that other companies had done to incentivise advocacy and to bring a sense of balance to the public narrative.

“From what I see, a lot of executives across a lot of different companies recognise that for us to grow our player community, for us to grow our industry, we have to grow our community of people who make games,” says MacLean.

“That means bringing in people who may not have considered making games as a career, people who may be coming in from other tech jobs, people who might be older or coming in from different parts of the world.

“So while I think you can point to specific bad decisions, what I actually see from a lot of companies in the industry is a real recognition of the importance of inclusivity and a lot of action to support that.”

Following on, MacLean had further praise for several larger studios and for their efforts in pushing inclusivity and diversity, especially regarding what it could mean for the industry going forward

“I think if you look at what Microsoft has consistently done to support inclusivity and diversity, both in its player community and developer community, what Blizzard has done – and Amazon Studios have a host of great women who are doing some great work there – that makes me very hopeful,” she tells us.

“Even Ubisoft’s much more stringent behaviour or tolerance for bad behaviour in its player community helps support a more inclusive development community.

“That makes me very excited and I think we need to acknowledge those companies that are taking risks and making the hard decisions to support its talent and its community because it’s really good work.”

Innovation through instability

As for the future, MacLean reckons that over the next three years we’ll see instability as a result of the increasing costs of developing a game. While that will need to be tackled head-on, with that instability the industry will also see innovation and opportunity.

“If you look at some of the work, for example, that Raph Koster has done looking at dev costs per megabyte of content, it’s obvious that increasing costs and stable or declining revenue is not a good equation,” says MacLean.

“What that means is that there is going to be a lot of turmoil, there’s going to be instability and there’s going to be innovation. I think you’ll see more opportunities for indies and different types of games experiences.

“I think what Microsoft is doing with acquiring companies who make those experiences is very interesting.

“I think they’re probably looking at how to innovate and I’m looking forward to seeing what they and other companies do. EA with its indie publishing efforts is very much the same thing.

“So while there are certainly going to be challenges ahead, at the same time there are going to be more opportunities. Just opportunities that aren’t the same as what we’re used to seeing.”（source：pocketgamer.biz）