I think it's time developers got paid as good as CEOs of companies they work for

[Kane99]

Look at companies like Activision, Ubisoft, Rockstar, 2K and more. If you can view the pay of the developers, I say look into it. And then look at the CEOs and the people at the top, how much are they making? 

I am under the impression, that developers who work their asses off to produce a game, should also be paid fairly. And the CEOs of these companies shouldn't be also paid fairly, but not millions and billions of dollars. I think a director of a game, and various other key developers, should be paid more than CEOs and so on. I view it like this, an actor for a big movie is going to be paid a ton more than a studio head probably. But even so, that studio head is probably raking in the money. 

I'm basically saying this, let the money be a bit more equal throughout the people working there. Maybe not the smaller jobs, but even so, pay your workers well, and don't pay your CEO a shit ton of money and then lay off a bunch of employees, because that's just sick imo. 

What are your feelings on this? Do CEOs and other leaders deserve tons of money, while they force a dev team to work overtime to complete a game? I just feel, that the money should be better distributed to the whole team. It doesn't have to be equal persey, just be paid for the work put in. This means a CEO shouldn't be making a billion dollars just because he's a CEO. Why can't it be one set pay for each person? 

Sorry if this is a jumbled mess. I've seen a lot of stories about how publishers abuse the developers like this. While the publishers are making bank, the dev teams aren't making nearly as much. 

[m76]

I don't think anyone should be paid millions of dollars. Not CEOs, not game developers, not movie stars, nobody, while there are people literally starving to death. Or freezing to death without a roof.

You think game developers get paid too little compared to CEOs of these companies? How about clothing brands? Where the people in vietnam or china or wherever they happen to be get paid maybe $2 a day?

Or Apple selling their overpriced garbage engineered to fail, and not be repairable, that they make for pennies on the dollar in foxconn's sweatshops?

Even thinking about it makes my blood boil. And I'm powerless to do anything about it, because when anybody proposes change, they are instantly shut down. And not by the rich, no sir, other people who were indoctrinated to believe in the system. Who will label anyone even midldy criticizing it as a communist or worse.

Edited December 12, 2020 by m76

[Kane99]

51 minutes ago, m76 said:

I don't think anyone should be paid millions of dollars. Not CEOs, not game developers, not movie stars, nobody, while there are people literally starving to death. Or freezing to death without a roof.

You think game developers get paid too little compared to CEOs of these companies? How about clothing brands? Where the people in vietnam or china or wherever they happen to be get paid maybe $2 a day?

Or Apple selling their overpriced garbage engineered to fail, and not be repairable, that they make for pennies on the dollar in foxconn's sweatshops?

Even thinking about it makes my blood boil. And I'm powerless to do anything about it, because when anybody proposes change, they are instantly shut down. And not by the rich, no sir, other people who were indoctrinated to believe in the system. Who will label anyone even midldy criticizing it as a communist or worse.

That's a good point. I agree. It's more about being paid fairly if anything. CEOs shouldn't be paid boat loads of cash, and neither should the devs, but pay should equal out to the work put in. At least a fair livable wage for all. 

[skyfire]

I guess that is pretty much damaged views of how business works. Manufacturers don't get paid same as the sales people. People who make the sale hold the equity on the market and it was never changed in the history and will never be changed. Life isn't fair, social justice games are just temporary fix to life long equity lobbies that stop us from reality. Gaming industry is not like hardware assembly where people get paid below wage income, all people in gaming industry earn decent more than minimum wage income. 

[bomb]

They both should be laid fairly. Am if there is a lot of cash in the company account. I feel they should reach out to under develop countries and train up coming youth skills on how to programmed games. Build work station for the less privilege people. 

[killamch89]

On 12/12/2020 at 3:50 PM, m76 said:

I don't think anyone should be paid millions of dollars. Not CEOs, not game developers, not movie stars, nobody, while there are people literally starving to death. Or freezing to death without a roof.

You think game developers get paid too little compared to CEOs of these companies? How about clothing brands? Where the people in vietnam or china or wherever they happen to be get paid maybe $2 a day?

Or Apple selling their overpriced garbage engineered to fail, and not be repairable, that they make for pennies on the dollar in foxconn's sweatshops?

Even thinking about it makes my blood boil. And I'm powerless to do anything about it, because when anybody proposes change, they are instantly shut down. And not by the rich, no sir, other people who were indoctrinated to believe in the system. Who will label anyone even midldy criticizing it as a communist or worse.

It's the fact that the CEOs continue to get increased salaries and bonuses while the company covers that expense by firing a worker even if the company isn't meeting its goals. Activision, EA and a few other are the most recent examples of this and it's a shameful practice that needs to stop.

[m76]

1 hour ago, killamch89 said:

It's the fact that the CEOs continue to get increased salaries and bonuses while the company covers that expense by firing a worker even if the company isn't meeting its goals. Activision, EA and a few other are the most recent examples of this and it's a shameful practice that needs to stop.

What I was getting at is that this is not unique to game development, every industry has the same issues. Fofusing on game developers alone is like trying to cut out a tree by trimming a twig.

Same goes for so called "crunch" which seems to be a hot topic now. I've witnessed crunch and even participated in it in other industries unrelated to videogames, so IDK why is it singled out as if it's the only industry where it happens.

[Reality vs Adventure]

A good company has a profit sharing program. That is something to look for while applying to that job. If people aren't flocking to that company for a job, then the company benefits package will change accordingly. We the people have all the power. Unfortunately, companies hire interns for cheaper pay and promise of a permanent job for people that want experience so they accept lower benefits/wage in companies. Any bill that gives companies a tax break should include profit sharing to its employees, but a good company would do it regardless. The capitalistic system is infected as a whole and any program to help decrease the gap between rich and poor is called socialism by the corporate elite who lobby the government for their backwards interest all in the name of 'trickle down' economics which is a pyramid scheme. 

[Shagger]

A bit late to the show, but the notion that companies should pay their employees more if the company makes more money is, unfortunately, just not the way it works. What a company pay you is defined by how much money they make, it's defined by how much they would have to pay someone else to do your job abd how easy such an individual would be to find. 

 

Going on to top level executives, their job is to make that company as profitable as possible, that's the demand of shareholders. Like it or not, laying off staff and paying them the minimum they can get away with for maximum productivity is thier job, and if that includes decisions that leave hundreds of people out of work, the so be it. Like it or not, that's what they get paid for. 

 

However, what I really can't stand, and it happens way to often in the gaming industry, is when executives are paid huge bonuses for failure. Studios closing, share prices have dropped, the companies reputation harmed, yet these "Captains" are "thanked" with millions of dollars for abandoning that burning that ship that they set alight in first place with everyone below them still on board. I can't wrap my head round that at all. 

[Kane99]

I think my main issue with devs not getting paid fairly, is the countless times studios forced crunch on their employees, some to the point they weren't paid overtime or bonuses and such. I just hate seeing CEOs and big company heads taking the lump of the money when it should be divided up more evenly. And even so, I don't mind if the CEO is paid a lot. I hate it when they get paid bonuses, all the while they're laying off hundreds of people on their staff. 

I figure the devs will always be the ones paid less compared to the big studios and publishers they are under, but I think devs deserve a lot more pay and benefits for sure. Maybe not near the level of a CEO, but a fair wage increase indeed. Especially paid overtime, and paid time off and other benefits while we're at it. 

[killamch89]

1 hour ago, Shagger said:

However, what I really can't stand, and it happens way to often in the gaming industry, is when executives are paid huge bonuses for failure. Studios closing, share prices have dropped, the companies reputation harmed, yet these "Captains" are "thanked" with millions of dollars for abandoning that burning that ship that they set alight in first place with everyone below them still on board. I can't wrap my head round that at all. 

My sentiments exactly! It should be the case at all. - I see companies like EA and Activision do this despite experiencing losses. In some cases, over consecutive years and I'm confused as hell.

15 minutes ago, Kane99 said:

I think my main issue with devs not getting paid fairly, is the countless times studios forced crunch on their employees, some to the point they weren't paid overtime or bonuses and such. I just hate seeing CEOs and big company heads taking the lump of the money when it should be divided up more evenly. And even so, I don't mind if the CEO is paid a lot. I hate it when they get paid bonuses, all the while they're laying off hundreds of people on their staff. 

I figure the devs will always be the ones paid less compared to the big studios and publishers they are under, but I think devs deserve a lot more pay and benefits for sure. Maybe not near the level of a CEO, but a fair wage increase indeed. Especially paid overtime, and paid time off and other benefits while we're at it. 

Unfortunately, in the gaming  industry, unionization and things like that don't exist as yet, That's why they're able to get away with such disgusting practices.

[skyfire]

People who believe in fair pay, never run any business it seems. The moment you get on the business runner CEO or the founder positions, you realize the valuations of the positions that makes you profit at that price this whole "fair pay" game seems so rigged that no wonder performance of the good organizations around the world is going down when people are been paid more for low amount of work. "Fair pay" sounds good in charities not in companies that produce something that gets profitable. Even govt get into bankruptcy for giving out money for the sake of "fair pay". That system sounds good in theory. 

[Heatman]

Yeah - it actually looks and sound good that developers and other employees should be paid as the company's CEO's they work for but that's far from becoming a reality. I'm not sure if it's ever going to happen. Yes, workers should be paid well but it can never be 50/50.