Game Crediting: Is Standardization Really Needed?

Author: by Paul Hyman, Staff

Following the recent controversy over Warhammer Online's credits, Gamasutra has a comprehensive feature talking to reps from the IGDA, Mythic, and Valve - agreeing the need to credit those who worked on games, but not to standardize. Speaking to Gamasutra, Mythic's Mark Jacobs outlined his previously announced solution for the Warhammer Online MMO -- to have a separate public online database for everyone who worked on the game through its long history to be credited. But does he think this method should be used through Electronic Arts? "Now it’s up to EA to talk about it, and their studios can make up their own mind," he says. "What I think is really crucial is that studios need to each have their own policies. I don’t want somebody dictating to me how we credit." "Guidelines are fine, but if the IGDA intends to come up with a standard that says every studio must credit identically, I’d be against that. Frankly, I think the market will sort itself out. If a studio is particularly mean-spirited and doesn’t want to credit its people, no one will want to work there." IGDA board chair Jennifer MacLean, who also works at MMO firm 38 Studios, represents the independent organization very much in favor of proper crediting. In fact, the IGDA as a whole believes in specific credit standardization for games down to specific roles, setting up a Credit Standards Committee. MacLean notes in the feature: "I talked to some of our younger developers here at 38 Studios, and they said that it was really tough for them to find jobs because they weren’t officially credited on some of the titles they worked on." It's agreed that crediting people who worked on the game is important. But rather than crediting with specific named positions, there's another school of thought in the game business. It's those major developers, including companies such as Neversoft, Insomniac, and Valve, who list their employees collectively and alphabetically in the credits, instead of with specific regimented names. Gamasutra also spoke to Valve's Doug Lombardi -- unaffected by recent crediting controversies -- and he is skeptical of the concept: "You know, in the movie industry, some people put credits at the beginning of their films, some at the end, it’s a creative call. I don’t understand why it needs to be standardized." He continues: "It really feels to me like a big issue is being made of out … hey, we’re just talking about credits. I mean, if we didn’t list anybody, then I’d say, okay, that’s a little weird. But I don’t think we’ve ever lost a single employee because they were frustrated over the way our credits are done." The full Gamasutra feature on crediting, including lots more feedback from IGDA members, lawyers, and others previously involved in crediting controversies, is now available on the site.