May 8, 2024 • 18min

Inside video game economics (Two Indicators)

Planet Money

This episode of Planet Money's daily podcast The Indicator explores the economics of the booming video game industry, focusing on two key themes: the working conditions of video game developers and the push for greater accessibility in gaming.

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Key Takeaways

The video game industry is massive, generating over $184 billion in revenue in 2022, far exceeding the global box office for movies.
However, the video game industry is known for "crunch" - long, grueling work hours that are often seen as a necessary evil to produce high-quality games on tight deadlines.
Video game workers, including contractors and full-time employees, are increasingly organizing to push for better working conditions and benefits like paid time off and health insurance.
Game developers are making strides in designing more accessible games, with features like customizable controls and audio cues that allow players with disabilities to fully experience big-budget titles.
Accessibility in gaming is not just the right thing to do, but also makes good business sense by tapping into a large and underserved market of gamers with disabilities.

Introduction

This episode of Planet Money's daily podcast The Indicator explores the economics of the booming video game industry, focusing on two key themes: the working conditions of video game developers and the push for greater accessibility in gaming.

The video game industry generated over $184 billion in revenue in 2022, far surpassing the global box office for movies. However, this success has come at a cost, with video game workers often subjected to "crunch" - long, grueling work hours that are seen as a necessary evil to produce high-quality games on tight deadlines.

Topics Discussed

The Toll of "Crunch" on Video Game Workers (1:31)

Skylar Hinden, a quality assurance tester at Zenimax (owned by Microsoft), describes the "passion tax" that many video game workers pay - doing unpaid work or putting up with poor conditions because of their love for the industry.
Crunch, where workers put in 60+ hour weeks, is a normalized and expected part of the video game development process, not just an occasional occurrence.
Examples of extreme crunch include writers for Red Dead Redemption 2 working 100 hours per week for 3 weeks, and Epic Games employees regularly working 70+ hour weeks on Fortnite.
There is an economic explanation for crunch - the video game industry has a large "reserve army of labor" of people willing to work in the industry, allowing companies to pay less and impose harsher conditions.
The "Iron Triangle" of video game development - delivering on time, on budget, and within scope - leaves little room for flexibility, so the workers themselves become the most malleable part of the equation.

Video Game Workers Organizing for Change (8:17)

In recent years, video game workers have started organizing unions to push for better working conditions, pay, and benefits.
Skylar Hinden and 300 other quality assurance testers at Microsoft became the company's first US union in 2023.
Employees at Sega of America also unionized in 2023 and ratified a contract with pay raises and protections for laid-off workers.
The unionization efforts have been encouraged by organizing at other companies like Starbucks, as well as a generational shift towards more pro-union attitudes among younger workers.
However, the industry has also seen mass layoffs in the past year and a half, as growth has slowed and some companies have made expensive bets that didn't pay off.
Some laid-off workers are considering switching to other tech fields like software or web development, as the passion for games has "bled out" of the industry.

Designing for Accessibility in Gaming (11:09)

For decades, accessibility was an afterthought for major game developers, until Naughty Dog's 2020 release of The Last of Us Part II, which included over 60 different accessibility options.
Amelia Schat, a lead designer at Naughty Dog, was initially focused on making the game accessible to her own mother, a non-gamer, by simplifying the controls.
After consulting with disability advocates and gamers with disabilities, the team added features like the ability to reassign buttons, visual cues for hearing-impaired players, and audio cues and a "sonar pulse" for blind players.
The Last of Us Part II set a new standard for accessibility in gaming, winning the first-ever Innovation in Accessibility award at The Game Awards.
Accessibility not only helps players with disabilities, but also makes good business sense, as an estimated 13% of the overall population has some form of disability, and the percentage may be even higher in the gaming community.
However, Steve Spohn, who runs the nonprofit AbleGamers, cautions that progress on accessibility can't be taken for granted, and companies need to keep prioritizing it.

The Importance of Meeting Gamers Where They Are (20:30)

Steve Spohn, who has spinal muscular atrophy, has had to get creative over the years to keep playing video games as his condition has progressed.
AbleGamers not only advocates for accessibility features in games, but also provides individual consultations and assistive technology to help gamers with disabilities play.
Spohn emphasizes the importance of "meeting people where they are" - bringing the technology and gaming to the player, rather than expecting the player to adapt to the technology.
This approach should also be a priority for game companies, rather than just focusing on the games themselves.

Conclusion

The Planet Money episode highlights the stark contrasts within the booming video game industry. On one hand, the industry generates massive revenues, far exceeding the movie business. But on the other hand, the workers who create these blockbuster games often face grueling "crunch" conditions, leading to burnout and even prompting some to leave the industry altogether.

However, there are signs of change, as video game workers organize unions to push for better pay, benefits, and working conditions. Additionally, some game developers are making strides in designing more accessible games, tapping into a large and underserved market of gamers with disabilities. This not only expands the player base, but also aligns with the industry's growing recognition that accessibility is both the right thing to do and good business.

Ultimately, the video game industry's success has come at a human cost, and the workers, advocates, and designers featured in this episode are working to create a more sustainable and equitable future for the industry. Their efforts may hold lessons for other industries grappling with the challenges of balancing growth, creativity, and worker well-being.