The Price of Virtual Entertainment - Capstone
For my capstone project that began in the summer of 2020 and was completed in the spring of 2021, I wanted to create something that would have a significant impact while also still being close to one of my favored activities. As a result, I wanted to create a project focused around addressing worker abuses within video game development.
As development progressed, my project took on a more defined form, becoming a motion piece that could be the central component of a larger information campaign.
I would also like to show thanks to Caitlin Sloan on Fiverr, who narrated this script and can be found here:
Final Key Frames
Process
Ultimately, my choice of topic was decided by recent events. I had seen articles and videos about worker abuses and other issues within video game development with increasing frequency in recent years, and I wanted to base my project around addressing these problems.
Once I had settled on a topic, I began to examine exactly what I would need to keep in mind throughout designing it, particularly constraints and outcomes.
Constraints
Audience
The first constraint I would need to consider would be my target audience. As I began the project, my idea of a primary audience consisted of those who are interested in video games, but are not necessarily aware of the work that goes into producing them.
Content
The second constraint would be the type of content that I could gather together to use in research. In my initial explorations I had already found a sizable amount of research into the issue, and I believed I would be able to find a good deal more. I intended to have a mix of logical and emotional appeal within the narrative of this work, so that it would be able to reach and affect the largest amount of people.
Medium
The third constraint would be the type of media that I could produce for this campaign. As mentioned before, I was mostly experienced in print design with some experience in motion, so I wanted to have those mediums be the primary focus of this project. However, I also wanted it to be clear that the visual style of this campaign could be applied to other works beyond what I was able to create here.
Space
The final constraint was deciding exactly what space the different components of my project would exist in. I eventually settled on this project being one that could exist in both large and small scales. Specifically, components such as a large video could be presented during large conferences and expositions and htus reach a large number of people, while components such as smaller motion graphics and posters would be able to connect more closely to individuals.
Outcomes
Immediate Outcome
The audience becomes more informed about a problem they had not previously been aware of, and are motivated to take action and spread the word to help address it.
Secondary Outcome
Workers within the industry who see components of this campaign would be able to see that they are not alone in their struggles, and that there are organizations that exist who are able to help confront these issues.
Long-term Outcome
This campaign plays a role in significant reform within this industry, allowing these works of art and entertainmet to still be produced without being at the expense of the workers who create them.
Research
As I accumulated information from various sources, I sorted key pieces of information taken from them in a structure like this that color coded those chunks of information based on the specific category they fit into.
Typography & Aesthetic Inspiration
After acquiring information to use, I began working towards building up a base of aesthetic inspiration. I wanted to appeal to the inherent qualities of video games so as to draw in my audience, and so I focused on old arcade typography and pixellated art to use as the basis for my work. I also examined iconic video game box art to understand what principles made them compelling.
The collage on the left examined the cover art for iconic games, while the one on the right examined games from the past and present to see how they've changed.
Benchmarking
As part of my research, I also looked at examples of successful information and activist campaigns to see how they succeeded and what kinds of imagery they used.
Application Concepts
While developing the information campaign, I wanted to codify the specific touchpoints the campaign would exist in to satisfy the constraint of space. I decided that the three touchstones that would work best would be a large video that could be played for multiple people at a time, a mobile graphic that could affect individuals, and a poster that would exist in a public place and be able to reach out to multiple people.
Development
These initial sketches happened around when I decided that a large motion piece would be the center of this project. I experimented with different forms of structuring my visuals and arranging information.
I then wanted to begin visual development of my project. To start with, I began producing poster concepts based on the visual references I’d gathered. These posters examined the different ways I could present the information I’d gathered and were intended to be supplemented by smaller motion pieces.
I then worked to refine these posters further by basing them on further benchmarking, trying to make them more focused on a single image. Even though I moved away from these directions, they formed the basis for my visual style moving forward.
Initial Script
It was at this point that I decided to shift my focus from developing posters to developing a motion piece that would serve as the centerpiece of the information campaign. I felt that I was more passionate about making this a motion piece than I was about making this a poster series, and I wanted my final project to reflect that passion. The first step to doing this would be developing a script, and so I compiled the information I’d gathered into the following narrative:
Introduction:
In 2016, the video game industry reached $100 billion in revenue for the first time.
Since then, the amount of revenue has only increased, with the industry having been projected to reach $179 billion in 2020 and only growing in response to the pandemic, especially compared to other entertainment industries.
Revenue isn’t the only aspect in which video games are constantly increasing. The technical capabilities, complexity, and amount of content in games has only grown, with many recent video games including Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Last of Us Part 2 being praised for their storylines, beautiful and realistic graphics, and overall gameplay experiences.
Shift & Introduction of Conflict:
However, all of this growth raises a question: what does it cost?
What goes on within the companies that produce these works of art?
Information
In many cases, companies in the video game industry are taking advantage of their workers.
53% of game developers have reported that crunch time, which consists of working more than 40 hours a week, is expected at their workplace.
In some cases, such as during the development of popular games Fortnite and Red Dead Redemption 2, workers have even reported 100-hour work weeks in the lead up to the releases of larger titles.
These harsh expectations put massive amounts of stress on developers, harming their health and well-being. Video game developers have reported stress-induced injuries such as ulcers, exhaustion and headaches, and in the case of Telltale Employee Nathan Allen Ortega, coughing up blood.
Even aside from the working hours put upon them, game developers have to deal with other harmful factors.
For instance, a lack of representation is also a significant issue in the industry: Less than one-fifth of game developers are women, and people of color and LGBTQ persons are also poorly represented amongst developers and management.
This lack of representation results in the creation of a hostile environment for developers, and is reflected by poor representation and stereotyping within the produced games themselves.
This creates a self-sustaining cycle of prejudice in the industry that compounds other issues and can only be stopped through acknowledgement and direct action.
Other issues include a lack of job security within video game development. There is an extraordinarily high turnover rate of 15.5% within the industry, and an increasing number of developers work on a contract basis instead of having more permanent positions.
Even when they have a more permanent position, that doesn’t mean they’re secure. A recent incident in 2018 involved the sudden shutdown of the company Telltale Games, resulting in 250 employees being let go without warning or severance pay.
Through these examples we can see that the industry has been treating its workers as disposable, trusting in the widespread desire to take part in the popular field to provide replacements for those the industry wears down to nothing and casts aside as a matter of course.
Conclusion & Resolution
To summarize, Worker abuse has become a significant issue within the video game industry. Developers often face excessive hours, hostile environments, and uncertain positions that continuously jeopardize their livelihoods and well-being.
Is virtual entertainment worth its current toll? We don’t believe so. However, it doesn’t have to be this way.
There have been several efforts to end the abuse of workers in this industry. The indie developer Supergiant has taken specific efforts to avoid crunch time and worker abuse, and has consistently produced games generating both critical acclaim and financial success. Organizations such as Take This and Game Workers Unite have been working towards providing support for developers and improving conditions within the industry through collective organizing.
We urge you to consider the treatment of those who labor to create the video games you buy, and do your part in working towards a healthier video game industry.
Sketched Storyboard
Once I had written my script, I used it as the basis to draw this sketched storyboard. Once the storyboard had been drawn, I used it in turn to design style frames based on previous visual development that I would use as the basis for my future design.
I then used the style frames and a recording of my voice reading the written script to see how well these style frames fit the narrative I had constructed.
Initial Key Frames
Iterative Process:
Basic Animatic
After seeing how the exact pacing of the script worked by setting the style frames to my narration, I also developed a very rough animatic to get a better grasp on the specific timing for each sequence.
This also allowed me to see what specific sequences in the script needed new visuals to set them apart from the rest, so I developed new key frames to use as the basis for these new visual sequences.
I also began to work on incorporating other visual styles beyond a completely pixellated one, so that legibility and organization could be maintained.
Animation 01
Using the previous critique, I incorporate the variances in visual style and new directions into the updated animatic. I also incorporated the new visual sequences such as directly showing the exorbitant working hours that workers must deal with, instead of just describing it in narration.
After this iteration, I made further revisions. I altered some elements to better separate them from the pixellated background. In addition, this current version used a large amount of red in its color scheme, and I was advised to experiment with having more colors in different sections. I also found other sequences that needed new visuals to represent them, and I developed those as well.
Animation 02
After further critique, I would revise some sequences such as the growth of revenue, the stress-induced injuries that workers face, and the lack of representation within the industry. The sequence concerning turnover rate was also adjusted to compare this industry to others. I also incorporated a new visual for a summary at the end, and further adjusted colors in the sequence.
Animation 03
This next update incorporated the revised visual sequences, further adjusted the timing, and tried to better distinguish the different segments through use of color.
At this point, I went in to revise the visual style even further, and set for myself a standard of having images in the foreground have a smooth, vector style while those in the background would stick to the pixelated style used previously. I also made adjustments to the final screen, using the logos of the external organizations as a call to action themselves. Finally, I also began revising the script to prepare for a more professional voiceover, which involved cutting out the summary sequence.
Animation 04
This version still utilized the old script and my own voiceover, but would be the last to do so.
I made further changes to existing sequences, such as incorporating characters representing other minority groups into the representation sequence and exaggerating the presence of the clocks in the crunch time sequence to drive home just how much workers had to deal with.
Refined Script
As I approached the point of shifting from a basic animatic to an actual animation, I wanted to have a more professional narration done then my own voice. I had also found several points in the script that were unnecessary and could be cut out to help streamline the story and better keep the audience’s attention. To facilitate both, I then produced this revised script:
In 2016, the video game industry reached $100 billion in revenue for the first time.
Since then, that amount of revenue has only increased. Video game development was projected to reach $179 billion in 2020 and has only grown in response to the pandemic, especially compared to other entertainment industries.
Revenue isn’t the only aspect in which video games are constantly growing. The technical capabilities, complexity, and amount of content in games has only increased, with many recent video games such as Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Last of Us Part 2 being praised for their storylines, beautiful and realistic graphics, and overall gameplay experiences.
However, this growth raises a question: what does it cost? What goes on in the companies that produce these works?
In many cases, companies in the video game industry are taking advantage of their workers.
53% of game developers have reported that crunch time, working more than 40 hours a week, is something expected at their workplace rather than a problem to be avoided.
In some cases, such as the development of popular games Fortnite and Red Dead Redemption 2, workers have even reported 100-hour work weeks in the lead up to these larger titles’ releases.
These harsh expectations put massive amounts of stress on developers, harming their health and well-being. Video game developers have reported stress-induced injuries such as ulcers, exhaustion and headaches, and in the case of Telltale Employee Nathan Allen Ortega, coughing up blood.
Even aside from the working hours expected of them, game developers must deal with other harmful factors.
For instance, a lack of representation is a significant issue in the industry: Less than one-fifth of game developers are women, and people of color and LGBTQ persons are also poorly represented amongst developers and management.
This lack of representation results in the creation of a hostile environment for developers, and is reflected by poor representation and stereotyping within the produced games themselves.
This creates a self-sustaining cycle of prejudice in the industry that compounds other issues and can only be stopped through acknowledgement and direct action.
Other issues include a lack of job security within video game development. There is an extraordinarily high turnover rate of 15.5% within the industry, and an increasing number of developers work on a contract basis instead of having more permanent positions.
Even when they have a more permanent position, that doesn’t mean they’re secure. A recent incident in 2018 involved the sudden shutdown of the company Telltale Games, resulting in 250 employees being let go without warning or severance pay.
Through these examples, we can see that this industry treats its workers as disposable, trusting that the widespread desire to take part in a popular field will provide replacements for those the industry wears down to nothing and casts aside as a matter of course.
Is virtual entertainment worth its current toll? We don’t believe so. However, it doesn’t have to be this way.
There have been several efforts to end worker abuse in this industry. The indie developer Supergiant has taken specific efforts to avoid crunch time, and still produces games generating critical acclaim and financial success. Organizations such as Take This and Game Workers Unite have been working towards providing support for developers and improving conditions within the industry through collective organizing.
We urge you to consider the treatment of those who labor to create the video games you buy, and do your part in working towards a healthier video game industry.
Animation 05
After receiving the completed voiceover, I applied it to the animation in progress and readjusted the timing to better suit the new narration. This was also the first iteration in which I applied a shifting pixellation effect to the background imagery.
After critique, I made further visual revisions, such as adding text to the sequence detailing the different ways video games have grown, and altering the stress-induced injuries sequence to better reflect the other human characters within the animation. I also rearranged the sequence detailing turnover rate within video game development so that it would read more cleanly.
Animation 06
I continued to adjust timing to better fit the narrative.
Other changes I made going forward included adding a new sequence to visualize how workers are “cogs in the machine,” and altering the external organization logos at the end to be monochrome so that they would be easier to perceive compared to the shifting backgrounds. Finally, I made a change to the nearly-final sequence in order to better illustrate the number of workers laid off in the incident concerning the closure of Telltale Games.
Animation 07
As I approached the final version, I made several other changes to the script, taking out a “However” that was deemed unnecessary and better adjusting the timing of the narration itself.
I also made a few last major changes to the sequences after this version was reviewed. I modified the opening question to be more sequential, adjusted the clock’s hands to be less ornate and more in line with the other vector images, and incorporated a transition component connecting the “Cogs in the Machine” to the clock to the stress figure, to better tie that sequence together.
Finally, the video was completed, resulting in the final version seen at the top of the page. The only steps remaining to adjust were a few last timing shifts and typography adjustments, and then it was done. The final video utilizes a strong core narrative, striking visuals, and support from both facts and firsthand accounts to convey this issue to the audience, motivating them to look further into these issues and make an effort to help improve this industry so that we can work for a future where we can still enjoy the works that this industry produces without the hardship that goes into producing them.
Applications
After finalizing the animation itself, I returned to developing concepts for applying the content I had created to my different touchstones. The three that I settled on were presenting the full video at large expositions, breaking it up into smaller motion graphics for mobile use, and applying the campaign’s visual style to printed posters.
I hope that these possibilities demonstrate how this video does not need to be the end of the visual style applied to this campaign, but rather could be the beginning.
