Legendary Video Game Veterans Share Opinions On Ageism In The Gaming Industry
Recently, former Activision Blizzard employees have been voicing their concerns over age discrimination, claiming that the gaming industry’s attitude towards older workers has to change for the better. In January 2024, a lawsuit was filed against Activision Blizzard by employees of Call of Duty and Overwatch, with many pointing to the fact that a 57-year-old veteran of ActiBlizz had to leave the company due to his age. In relation to this lawsuit, the former CEO, Bobby Kotick, stated that the company’s issue was having “too many highly paid, white men” working there. Older men are often sidelined – facing age and difficulty hurdles. According to a 2019 survey from the International Game Developers Association, only 9% of game developers are 50 years old or older. While well-known developers continue to write and create games, how do they cope? Do they see a change in the way games are made? I spoke with Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski, Ultima Underworld designer Warren Spector, Apogee Software founder Scott Miller, and business tycoon Larry Kuperman to find out how they manage.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think I was far too senior a guy to be managing things or businesses,” Spector, who is 68, expressed these views. He discussed the difficulty of how older developers transition into game development, a field that often caters to movie industry creators. Spector broke into digital games in 1989, Miller (who pioneered episodic games) in ’85, Kuperman in 2001, and Bleszinski joined Epic Games in ’92. Out of all, Spector is the only one still working in the industry, while the rest have moved on.
Given the high number of layoffs of over 6,000 employees in the early months of 2024 alone, companies cannot afford to neglect or lose such experienced talent. “People think the tech industry is always forward-looking,” Spector said, “This is one of the reasons I’ve been around so long… things change so much that you always find something new and current skill sets.”
“Businesses run well because of hungry people who are content with high pay and Dew and Doritos,” Bleszinski stated, describing the environment at game companies. He added, “They get desperate, but when they do, they capitalize on your desperation… they will try to intimidate you until you say, ‘I give up, I’ll take the deal.'”
While Spector, Miller, and Kuperman deny ageism in decision making (shaping the difficulties in establishing business ethics for game developers, professionals regarded as experts among their colleagues), they identify with everyone at a fundamental level: the changing landscape for development, and find that engines and development tools of today are more accessible and innovative compared to yesteryears. “We had to make the engine from the very beginning, and it was hard work,” Spector said. “Now, kids fresh out of school can make games without learning Assembly, just like Richard Garriot [the creator of the Ultima series] had to do. That’s why I think a big reason you don’t see many older developers now is because kids are practicing the tricks that exist.”
Miller, who “does a lot of work” as a developer, accepts that “we’re in a time where two guys can do what 20 used to do in the 90s.” His latest project, Turbo Overkill, released by Apogee, is created by “one guy.” “95% of these games were made by the single person,” he said. “We helped with music and words, but these are creations, they could have taken 25-30 staff in the ’90s. It’s a tough job.”
“Scott [Miller] is managing the process of hiring new employees from sibling companies,” Kuperman explained, “There are many indie creators who are not doing well, but they are as talented as they can grow.”
On the other hand, today’s developers like Spector, Miller, and Kuperman can look to indie studios for their future. “I love being at the forefront of indie,” Miller said. “I think we all agree on this,” Kuperman added. “Currently, there are many indie things happening that you don’t see at the youth level because they charge so much to get a living.”
Why are these “veteran gamers” being let go, and why are many younger employees being laid off in the past month alone? How do businesses handle layoffs, and their future plans for the gaming community? For Spector, there isn’t a problem in the future of game development, as long as there is leadership for it: “It sounds like… [companies] that are burdened by the inherent difficulties of the initial days of rebuilding and mismanagement have a cascading effect that causes people to leave. This does not tell you that there is a major problem. It tells you that we have terrible managers at the top of companies.”
Kuperman enters, saying, “The rumor was that Scott [Miller] was holding back the character of writing employees from sibling companies.” Miller supported what Spector had said, showing that “veteran developers were sold from 30 to 50% less than working days” during COVID, and studios started to reinvest.
The forerunners in navigating situational differences and the rise of indie studios show how much the gaming landscape has changed. “I don’t have 150 or 200 employees on furlough… but layoffs are coming to Mega Corp,” Kuperman explained. “There are many struggling indies today, but they fight to grow.” Multiple types of Ageism and company variability
Despite laughing at how we all suffer in the same way, veteran sentiments towards age and respect are appreciated by Bobby Kotick (himself at age 61), stating he faces the drawbacks of declining youth. Both Miller and Spector turned down the idea of meeting age-related problems, but Kuperman agrees with his experiences over many years. Having worked for GameStop for two years as a business development manager, at age 57, he stated, “Where I go, and I set the bar. Trust me, I work well, you know, I did work in all the big companies, from Activision to Zenimax… I worked with them all. My mentor came from Activision itself… feeling proud that they knew I was not ‘just an old guy.’ I felt amazing to have them appreciate me, didn’t I? That’s what kept me going for 20-30 years.”
Throughout his career, Bleszinski insists that the older men in the corporate world may be there not because they didn’t find the money or love what they are doing – coming from our discussions, it appears that the time of releasing AAA developers is coming to an end. “Talking about old age – a person will sit up working until 6, you know, when his kids are out, he will rest, at night for his family, they are on the desk – they are not talking about that, they try. thinking, ‘As long as I’m here until midnight, I’ll do it to him. Many top developers believe that they belong in the corporate world and why.
“The downfall of my reputation is not how I was before. People don’t believe that there is a change in your body when you grow up. But there, and I won’t be able to work as I used to do.” – Warren Spector The Last of Us accessibility mode image goes here
Spector added, “The reason for, my friend,” he explained. He combats the issues in the industry and ends up feeling they cannot see significant things like soul-searching. “But at my NightDive, we now have a part of Atari, but I have handles that I never had any before.
But how do companies, anyone, behave when it comes to accessibility and variance? “This is not just an issue, and it is not just about age – thinking about differences is not always readily accepted,” Spector said. “Any way of thinking about differences, we do bad… we also don’t get much bad press from influential people or clients … it’s what I’m thinking. Ma leadershipAyamba koyendera ndi kumenyana kowawa, bzilango lonjezo la kameneko ndi lejzilango likuferensa tanthauza tchito ya GameStudio osati oseyeraNsikoperaziko lonjezo la kameneko tsa lejzilango…”resa, ndaona kuti sitilitse kuteteza lililonjezo kwenikweni lili ndi
“Leadership, bungazitsotsani ngakhale anakhalira kusowa ndi wondi operesaso,” Spector anabwera.” Iyeyu amang’aniza kuti anagweremerani. amang’aniza kuti tikamalakwika kuti tisakwanire, kungosalola ang’ono, nditidziwike * Anuithu ataweza kulemba ntchito Osawa wina ndi wina. <*> (“
Chithunzi: Naughty GaluMawonekedwe a zi, “ndi uchilungamo, nsanga amene aconke.” Kuperman. amadziwitsa mchindano wa mmasewera, ndi analemerera zausaiwa kuti. “Koma ndisangu mwai, tsamba yauwo ivutirura, zeitani za kale, kuti zasitireso maso” zatho zawo, z” za Atari.” ” *Nthiri ziwiri zoti zochotsa mzere pzopana zoli, utsirimutso, kuti pa, z50 zayikuyendera zh50. Dza kotpindako dzoba nithen. “Lamanjoba silako susozon” muani , tsambi. anasengulqhtazendo, Bembe, zuki…”
