2018-07-13
kaf 10328006
Thread: I think Activision made a mistake including BlackOut mode in COD IIII
Out of curiosity - where did you read this?
Link: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10328006/
Archive.is (legacy): https://archive.is/lcgkl
2018-07-10
kaf 10243693
Thread: Multiple 'Sims 4' Veterans Reportedly Fired / Moved to Mobile Teams
They are, actually known for being one of the best companies to work at.
Link: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10243693/
Archive.is (legacy): https://archive.is/qKNqM
2018-07-10
kaf 10206146
Thread: Waypoint - "We Asked Nintendo, Microsoft, and 12 Other Devs How They Deal With Crunch"
It's fairly typical in a lot of studios. When they need to ramp up contractors are brought in on a short term (anywhere from 6 months to over a year) basis. EA, Activision, Sony all do this. With more heads, you can distribute the workload better and you minimize crunch. There is also a reliance on outsourced development houses, sometimes in the US and others like Virtuous in China that make their bread and butter on being able to provide high levels of quality with good turnaround rates. Obviously you can't ramp up on a dime, and this takes a lot of planning but a lot of studios have been doing this for the past decade (and even longer) in order to keep up with production scopes.
Link: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10206146/
Archive.is (legacy): https://archive.is/aLcof
2018-07-09
kaf 10177104
Thread: Anyone remember when you could start a game and it would just work?
It can be very expensive to ship a game with game-breaking bugs, and even then you really can't get away with this. When you submit a game to Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft you are essentially paying money to rent their QA teams to test the game and make sure it doesn't fail their checklists. This can be a huge cost (like $20,000 per submission) for a larger title. And just so you know, there were bugs that shipped before internet patches were a reality, but they were often fixed in subsequent printings of the games. Just not publicized like patch notes.
Link: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10177104/
Archive.is (legacy): https://archive.is/oCwBC