BMOS In the News!
Research shines light into darker side of gaming industry
In its early days, the video game industry was perceived as a fun, high-tech business where young creative types were ‘paid to play games all day.’ Then, in 2004, in an open letter to Electronic Arts (EA) executives, a disgruntled partner of an EA employee brought the darker side of the industry to light in an anonymous blog post. Her exposé told of seven-day, 80-hour work weeks, uncompensated overtime and a management mantra of ‘put-up, shut-up or leave.’
“The post was quite damning,” recalled Johanna Weststar, a DAN Management and Organizational Studies professor. “A wholesale criticism around the work practices of EA – and the entire gaming industry – bled into health and relationship concerns.”
