A recent debate has lead to some very interesting discussions over game credits. The news is that over at Mythic (the designers of the new Warhammer MMO), they have decided to only give credit mentions to people currently employed at Mythic, if someone left the company after working on the game they would not be mentioned. Before I start this discussion I want to state for the record that my opinion is heavily biased due to my position in the games industry right now . For those that don’t know or haven’t read my bio, I’m trying to break into the industry now .
There are three sides to this debate: the gamers who play the games, the workers who create the games, and the producers and other people in charge who manage the workers. As a gamer I will admit that I do not read the game credits, and chances are most gamers on this subject will probably call for less credits so that we don’t sit through a 10 minute end scene. This discussion to be honest doesn’t concern the gamers even though they do interact with the credits (via the end scene).
As I mentioned above I’m still trying to get into the industry, and if there is one thing I’ve learned over this past year is that this is the hardest industry to get into. The end credits serve an important purpose for people in the industry. First it is recognition for their contribution to the title, and more importantly proof of their skills. The one truth I’ve learned about this industry is that once your in your in for life, all you need is one quality title that has your name on it. Without giving fair credit to the men and women behind these titles it would make getting them future jobs a lot harder. As someone whose main focus is on game design I can’t just create and ship a title on my own , my talents aren’t as easily quantified as an artist or programmer. Game credits are the proof that I have the creative and analytical skills needed for designing games. Right now I have three game credits, for titles I tested for Sharpnel Games and I make sure to mention that on any job site and on my resume. Having that proof puts me a little higher up as an potential hiree then the guy on the streets. Without game credits it would be very hard to prove to prospective hirers the talents of the people they’re interviewing. However there is another side to this argument, what constitutes the right way of leaving a company?
The viewpoint from the manager’s position, is that if a person was fired or laid off then they don’t deserve that recognition. Unfortunately this is really a grey area, what happens if someone had to quit due to getting into an accident or an unforeseen family problem? Should they be punished and hurt future job prospects for something completely out of their hands? On the other hand what about people who quit halfway through a game because they found a job that pays a few dollars more an hour? There are too many different cases I could use here, but you get my point. Just saying that because someone doesn’t work at a company anymore isn’t a concrete reason to remove their name from the credits in my opinion. I can understand the point of view if someone was just plain awful at their job and had to be let go, but it really comes down to what they contribute.
My opinion on this whole debate is as follow. Regardless if the person either works at the company at the end of the project or is let go for whatever reason, if anything they produced or contribute(for in house testers or QA staff) is used in the final version of the game then they should be mentioned on the credits. Even if it’s just a “special thanks” the company used something that the person produced or created that will be experienced by everyone who plays the game, so they should receive credit for it. If the company throws out the contribution or gets someone to recreate it or go a different route, then leaving the person off the credits is ok, but if the person is just copying what the original person created then they should be credited.
Unfortunately I don’t have clout on this topic to the big names of the industry, I don’t even know if they look at this blog. At this point in time I don’t know how this is all going to play out. From a designer point of view, having someone use my work without giving me the proper credit sounds very similar to plagiarism ; I know about that, having to cite my works from all the damn papers I’ve had to write over the years .
Josh
