Haze Developer, Free Radical, Paying Its Staff Overtime

Game developers have come under some flak in recent years in regards to how their employees are sometimes treated. It’s well-known that a position programming a high-profile game usually entails long hours, little compensation for extra work, and the inevitable “crunch time” prior to a major release. However, Free Radical Design, who is about to enter a crunch for their upcoming Haze, are looking to change all that by paying its staff overtime wages for extra hours. Co-founder of the studio, Steve Ellis explains:

“Traditionally, people are asked to do a variable/unpredictable amount of work in a fixed amount of time. This inevitably results in people crunching – particularly at the end of a project. Pay is usually fixed, with the vague promise of some sort of bonus at the end of it all. But the days of bonuses that pay off your mortgage are long gone. So we’ve decided to start paying people for the work that they do – even when that work is outside their normal hours.”

Ellis also explained that he believes this trend will begin cropping up across the whole industry. For the sake of the “programming widows” out there, let’s hope he’s right.

Via Develop