Tim Schafer: hire-and-fire cycle bad for industry

I completely agree! It only seems good ol' Ninty doesn't do this.

Tim Schafer is an awesome person.

Not to take issue with the illustrious Mr. Schafer, but the companies that practice this have at times pointed at hollywood.  A group of individuals comes together to make a film, they work on it for several years, then they all shake hands and go on to their next project.  Its an industry designed around that, however.  The talent and the companies for making movies are concentrated in one geographic location so that its easy to roll onto your next gig.  Still, its hard for many people to work when there's no guarantee of steady income.  It will necessarily limit your hiring pool.  Plus for now the gaming industry is not cohesive enough and set up to work in this model.

There seems to be a critical mass that a development studio needs to hit so that they can keep - I'm going to guess about three - projects in the air at a time.  That way they have a smoother roll-off, roll-on cycle where they don't waste people's talents or have to lay them off until the next project needs writers or needs QA or whatever.

this off course. i wonder what companies can do until their next work? making a game is soo expensive nowadays

Of course! it also tells the rest of the world they aren't assholes. Though they must point at the issue for us to take notice, just like on this article.

Very wise words there, if somewhat overshadowed by the "naked chick" eyes in the photo.  

Tim is correct. If layoffs cannot be avoided, you'd think they'd have some system in place that would allow those individuals let go to come back at a later time when they are needed again. Not exactly preferential treatment, but in the event the company is hiring again for a new project, it would give those people they let go first dibs to come back.

One word: Valve. 

Their developers all cycle through different projects and can even propose their own if they like.

Everyone should read their employee handbook: http://newcdn.flamehaus.com/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.pdf

I couldn't work in such an industry. 

I have a passion for gaming, but I have an even greater passion for a paycheck.

yeah it would suck to be a game developer in the sense that ur always being hired then fired from ur job then u have to move on to the next one.

everyone needs some stability in there lives

Image caption: "The human body isn't supposed to bend like that!"

I'm on his side.

True

I rarely ever disagree with Mr. Schafer.

And this is not one of those times. Good going, man!

He could be Tim Burton's brother with that hair. 

I love you, Mr. Schafer

I think he's spot on with this comment. Unfortunatly, I don't think the rest of the industry is so blind that they don't realize this. Most companies are interested in maximizing profit though (rightly so, they are still a business after all.) and really don't care about the quality/efficiency of their next product, just selling the current one. It's not about making games anymore, it's about the bottom line.

That would be a terrible work environment. That would be like (I'm just making an example up) telling the makers of Super Mario Galaxy; "Even though you made a terrific game, guess what? You're fired." Can you imagine working somewhere once a game is done, you have to worry about losing your job? At least by not firing someone, you know what you are getting in the future. Hiring new people can be hit or miss.

Tim Shafer is a great guy and Double Fine is one of the devs I'd love to see having great success comercially. They sure deserve it. One of the few devs that still try to be different and inovative.

you do know a lot of these guys are on contracts and are freelancers right?

I've never played a game from this developer, but I have say I truly respect him for his principles in the industry

When I read this article I thought: a group just adds the skill of every member to get a result, but a team multiplies the skill of each and everyone to achieve success. There is an added value when you get to know your team members.

Tim Schafer; the wooden stake to Bobby Kotich's vampiric heart.

sounds like another result of the "short" view, very much like that which got us into the recent financial crisis.  I mean...controlling the margins is good business, but we must do a better job of valuing human capital. and when developers have worked on a game for years together, they invariably have upped their reserve of human capital...which is valuable.

Tim Schafer is the only guy that seems to get it, god wish there were more like him in the industry.

As a programmer, I'd argue it is, in the end, more profitable to keep those employees on your team, even when you are in between projects where they aren't as useful. Hiring whenever production starts and laying them off when it's finished means you constantly have a team that is not accustomed to the habits of one another, the work style, and the workflow.

It's not just charity, it makes sense from a financial standpoint to build a cohesive team rather than hire-and-fire with unblinking consistency.

When the big corps (EA and the like) started to take over what did you think was going to happen?  Everything to make more money.  

It makes me happy to know that on any given day, on any given website about video games, a story about Tim Schafer may appear with the image above. So damn happy. :)

The videogame industry historically treated it's employee's as desposable, Thus the games became desposable. At least they is some hope.

Interesting  comments by Schafer.  The gaming industry  is at a cross road. Do they use a more traditional  business model as Schafer suggestsor continue with the project driven model.  The entertainment industry has used this model for years. I look forward to see if the gaming industry will change or come up with a hybrid model.

On a somewhat unrelated note, you guys at Gamespot could NOT find a less creepier photo of The Man? =P

Tim Schafer is awesome. I wanna work for him. In fact, I'd actually make an effort for him... he's that awesome.

I agree 100%. Stop laying people off when they're more than qualified to make another game.

I love this man. No seriously, I love this man. He is everything that fans want developers to be in the industry. He is the counterexample to alot of the big wigs who whine about the direction of the industry. They are so busy defending their own practices and not comprehending why gamers are expecting more and better from them, and here is this man, who makes games for the sake of making games and furthering the medium.