Why ‘crunch time’ is still a problem in the video game industry
[翻譯] 為何加班仍是遊戲產業的問題
（IGDA將針對業界的加班問題開始自清計畫）
縮網址：http://wp.me/pBAPd-vK
原文網址：
http://venturebeat.com/2016/03/20/why-crunch-time-is-still-a-problem-in-the-video-game-industry/
Dean Takahashi March 20, 2016 11:23 AM
[譯按：我（NDark）必須事先聲明，本篇文章是翻譯文章，並非代表我的個人立場，一直
以來我都很關心在遊戲產業中管理的議題，我一直希望透過國內外的案例，正反方的論述
，讓大家能聚焦在這個議題上，共同試圖解決勞工，老闆，及工頭的三角議題。相關文章
整理請見：http://wp.me/PBAPd-uT ]
Kate Edwards likes to do cosplay (costume play) as characters like Thor, a
valkyrie, Indiana Jones, and Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones. That may
give her the fortitude to handle her next big task as executive director of
the International Game Developers Association. Last week, during the Game
Developers Conference, Edwards announced the IGDA is going further in
measuring the “crunch time” practices, or mandatory uncompensated overtime
required to finish projects, at major game companies.
Kate Edwards 喜歡用索爾，女武神，印第安納瓊斯，以及權力遊戲的布蕾妮來角色扮演
。這些角色給予她堅毅的感覺來處理她的下一個任務：IGDA 的執行監督。上周，在 GDC
活動時期，Edwards 公佈 IGDA 將進一步評估大型遊戲公司關於實務上加班的時間或為了
完成專案所得到的加班報酬。
The group has already been doing those surveys for the past couple of years.
Now, it will gather more precise data from employees of game companies, and
it will report on the companies with the best crunch time practices later
this year. And next year, the IGDA will reward the companies that are doing
the best. But if companies with bad reputations refuse to change, the IGDA
might publicly report companies that continue to force employees to work
uncompensated crunch time.
這個組織已經在過去幾年做了不少問卷調查。現在它將針對遊戲公司員工收集精確資訊，
結論會在今年下半年發表實務上加班時間數字。下一年，IGDA 將會獎勵那些執行最好的
公司。如果惡名昭彰的公司拒絕改善，IGDA有可能會公布那些迫使員工無償加班的公司。
In an interview with GamesBeat, Edwards said that surveys for the past two
years show at least 37 percent of game developers say they are not
compensated for crunch time, when they work long hours in a day or week to
finish a game.
在一場與 GamesBeat 的訪問中，Edwards 說道過去兩年的問卷顯示出最少百分之三十七
的遊戲開發者在長時間工時中為了完成遊戲無償加班。
“We know it is a persistent problem,” she told me. “Now, what do we do
about it? We’d prefer to highlight the companies that are doing really well.
If there’s an exemplary company, we will highlight them. If we found an
example that is grievous, we’ll probably highlight that as well.”
她告訴我：我們知道這是一個長久的問題。而現在我們打算怎麼改善？我們要表揚那些做
得好的公司。假如有個模範公司，我們就要表揚他們。假如我們發現一個難以忍受的例子
，我們也會公布出來。
Uncompensated crunch time has been a challenge in the industry for the
longest time, and it was drawn into the open by the “EA Spouse”
controversy, when developer Erin Hoffman wrote an anonymous screed
criticizing Electronic Arts for requiring employees to work long hours in the
final process of shipping games — and then moving them on to new crunch time
projects as soon as they finished. The 2004 episode drew a lot of attention
to crunch time, but the issue has almost been forgotten again.
無償的加班對產業來說是一個挑戰，最早可以追溯到 EA 配偶的爭辯。當時開發者 Erin
Hoffman 匿名檢舉：美商藝電讓員工在產品上線前超時工作，然後讓這個情形在專案結束
持續延長到其他案子。在 2004 年這個事件吸引了對於加班議題的關注目光，顯然現在大
家都已經遺忘這件事。
Edwards said the IGDA board of directors will privately raise their concerns
with leaders at companies practicing uncompensated crunch. If those companies
do not change their practices, then the IGDA may take more action, including
publicly speaking out about those firms, Edwards said. Here’s an edited
transcript of our conversation.
Edwards 說道 IGDA 董事會私底下針對實行無償加班的公司領導者進行了瞭解。假如那些
公司不改變他們的實行方式，IGDA 會採取更多行動，包含公布公司清單。接下來是這次
訪問的逐字稿：
GamesBeat: It looks like you’re starting gradually, but it seems like you
have to get your data absolutely right now. It can’t be vague. If you
associate it with named companies, it has to be very strong data.
[GamesBeat]
看起來你正在逐步進行，但你必須取得明確的數據，不可是模糊的描述。假如你指涉了具
名的公司，就必須有明確的證據。
Kate Edwards: This will be the third year of the Developer Satisfaction
Survey. We’re launching today. We have two years of data, which is built on
several years of older quality of life data we’ve been doing since 2004.
Looking back over the stretch, it’s been obvious from the data we’ve
collected — we all know crunch is an issue.
[Kate Edwards]
包含今天發出的問卷在內，這將是第三年的調查了。我們至少已經有兩年的數據，那些數
據是來自從 2004 年關於生活品質的數據。拉長來看，我們收集到的數據非常明顯，加班
確實是一個議題。
We also know compensation can be an issue around crunch. Seeing the numbers
in the last couple years has given us an indication. Between 2014 and 2015 we
saw 38 and 37 percent of developers, respectively, stating they don’t get
compensation for crunch time. That’s ringing an alarm. That’s a huge
percentage. More than a third of developers get no compensation for something
that’s common in our industry.
我們也知道加班報酬也是另一個問題。從前幾年的數據來看已經顯示出徵兆。在 2014 年
及 2015 年間，我們看見百分之三十八，及百分之三十七的開發者分別都指出他們沒有拿
到加班的報酬。那是一個警鐘。因為比例很高。超過三分之一的開發者在加班盛行的產業
內沒有拿到加班費。
What we’re trying to do now with this initiative, which for now we’re
calling the Crunch Comp Initiative, is the next step. What do we do? We see
data that tells us this is a persistent problem. We’ve known anecdotally for
many years that it’s a problem. We’ve collected data that more specifically
shows it’s a problem. So what do we do?
我們現在試著要做的下一步就是這個自清行動，我們把它叫做加班工人自我審查。根據數
據告訴我們這是一個長久性的問題。我們在檯面下也都很清楚這陋習已經很多年。我們收
集的資料也顯示這是一個問題。我們要做甚麼？
The approach we’ve decided to take is to extend beyond that. We’ve
collected data from developers through our survey, but if we can get
developers to start offering their own experiences through a mechanism that
allows them to report in a style like Glassdoor, that kind of method, they
can show us. “Here was my experience. Here’s how I would rate the company
on this issue.” Hopefully, we’ll get a significant accumulation and be able
to see across the board.
我們決定要採取的行動會根據這個延伸，我們已經用問卷從開發者那邊收集資料，但是假
如我們能設計一個機制令開發者能夠舉報這些行為，細節，及評分（如 Glassdoor 這樣
的網站一樣），希望這樣，我們就能累積關鍵性的證據。
It’s going to take time to ramp this up and get feedback, but as we get that
feedback, we’d prefer to highlight the companies we see that are doing well
and say, “Look, this company is getting good feedback on this issue.” The
board does a positive impact award every year. Maybe if there’s an exemplary
company, we’ll say, “Let’s specifically highlight this company for what
they’ve done.”
這會花很多時間才能真正發酵並得到回應，但當我們得到回應，我們寧願表揚那些做得好
的公司，這樣才能讓表示這個行動真正能改變業界生態。董事每年都能夠給予正面的獎勵
。發現有模範公司時，我們就跳出來說：讓我們來表揚這間公司的行為。
Conversely, though, if we found an example that’s particularly bad or
grievous, we would probably talk about that as well. If we’re seeing, on a
scale of 1 to 100 or whatever, they’re rated at five by a lot of developers,
that’s obviously an issue.
相反地，假如我們發現一個特別糟糕的情形，我們也會提出來討論，關心開發者的評分是
否真的很差，確實發掘問題。
GamesBeat: You do it as a survey now. Would you have to change it at all to
have that Glassdoor capability, where people can approach you and say what
they think?
[GamesBeat]
你目前是以問卷的形式進行。你會改變為像是 Glassdoor 的形式嗎？人們可以舉報他們
所知道的事情？
Edwards: We’re planning to continue the survey every year. That’s still a
benchmark we use. We collect a lot of data in there that would not be
collected elsewhere. We’re looking into partnering with a third party like
Glassdoor or one of the others out there. They have the mechanism already.
[Edwards]
我們正在計畫每年進行這樣的問卷。這是一個用來評量的標準。我們在此收集了的資訊在
其他地方無法得到。我們正在尋求第三方的組織像 Glassdoor 來協助我們。他們已經有
這樣的機制。
If you look on Indeed.com, for example, they have subcategories for the
workplace. They have a work-life balance category for companies. If we can
work with them to get a couple additional categories, specific ones about
issues related to the game industry, and partner on those categories …
ultimately I’d like to see, if we can get this set up, we could roll out
all kinds of issues. How are they doing on diversity from an employee
perspective?
舉例來說，假如你觀察 Indeed.com ，他們有關於工作環境的子分類。關於公司的生活平
衡的類別。假如我們能夠跟他們合作設立部分新的分類，關注於遊戲產業的議題。如果這
樣可行的話我們可以展開各種議題。從員工的多樣觀點來審視這些議題？
GamesBeat: Your data is good enough to point people out publicly.
[GamesBeat]
也就是說你的數據足夠公布了。
Edwards: Now that we’re in this era where that kind of mechanism works and it
’s something that people are used to, we see it across the board with Yelp
and TripAdvisor and all these methods. There are imperfections in all these
methods we have to be aware of. Obviously, all of it’s going to have to be
vetted. We’ll have to look and see what people are saying, so someone’s not
going on there and randomly commenting. Which is why, again, we’d like to
use a method from a third party. They’re already doing that.
[Edwards]
現在我們正在決定應該用哪種形式運作，也會是人們所習慣使用的形式，我們考慮了像
Yelp 或 TripAdivsor 這樣的討論區。當然我們知道所有的方案都有不完美的地方，也
應該被審視。我們依然必須觀察大眾所說的，而避免只看我們收集到的資訊。這是為何我
們正在找第三方的協助。這件事正在進行中。
GamesBeat: Have you found that some people already feel like they can’t be
honest because they don’t trust the anonymity of it?
[GamesBeat]
你是否已經發現有些人因為不信任匿名性，而不願誠實以對？
Edwards: Yes. That’s part of it. You look at some of the examples out there,
like Glassdoor, there is anonymity there. You decide what level of anonymity
you want. I’ve seen Glassdoor reviews where you can pretty obviously pick
out who it might have been or narrow it down very closely. Maybe the person
doesn’t care, but they have the ability to dial in and out of anonymity.
[Edwards]
沒錯。這是其中的一個部分。看像 Glassdoor 的例子就知道，確實是有匿名功能的。你
會決定匿名的層級。我看過
Glassdoor 的設定，在那邊你可以選擇匿名的設定。也許大家並不在意，但是確實可以
提供匿名性的設定。
Something like TripAdvisor, you can set up an anonymous account with a fake
name or something. A lot of the stuff I see there is people logging in with
Facebook, though. They have no qualms about tying their name to reviews.
Typically, when people do that, they’re giving good reviews.
如同 TripAdvisor，你即便可以設定匿名或假名的帳號。仍有人會用臉書登入。他們回應
時就沒有必須填寫名稱的問題。通常這樣的人是準備提供正面意見。
GamesBeat: What do you already know as opposed to what’s going to be in the
next survey? You already know that 37 and 38 percent are a problem. Do you
know other things associated with crunch time?
[GamesBeat]
你在下一次的問卷中是否已經打算要針對甚麼？你已經知道百分之三十七及三十八是確實
的問題了。你知道其他與加班有關的議題嗎？
Edwards: We’re not just tracking compensation, of course, but just the
occurrence of crunch. When we look at the data between 2004 and 2014 — we
didn’t incorporate 2015 data into this particular segment — the occurrences
of crunch are declining. It’s not quite as often, and when it does occur, it
’s not quite as long. But it’s still happening. I’m expecting we might see
that continued trend. Looking at it on a yearly basis, maybe it’s not quite
as good of a snapshot. I don’t think it’ll change that radically. But we’
ll have to see.
[Edwards]
我們不只是希望追討加班報酬，而是希望追蹤加班的事實。當我們查看 2004 年到 14 年
的資料時－這裡還不算 2015 年的部分－加班的事實是在下降的。這很少見，加班發生時
不會很長。但這件事仍然發生了。我期待這個趨勢繼續。雖然以年作為基準觀察並不是一
個好的級距。但我不認為這會快速改變。我們仍要持續觀察。
We always ask — and I don’t expect the answer to change — about the cause
of crunch. It’s pretty consistent. Poor project management. Inexperienced
managers. Things like feature creep. Those are usually the big ones.
雖然並不期待該做甚麼才會改變，我們還是問加班的成因。答案很一致：差勁的專案管理
。沒有經驗的經理。新規格的加入。
GamesBeat: I always thought that mobile was going to be different. I wonder
about the categories now, whether you’d be able to identify problems in
certain categories. It seems like mobile would be worse for crunch time
because the updates happen all the time in free-to-play games. They operate
24 hours. They’re always connected. It’s an always-on environment.
[GamesBeat]
我以為行動遊戲可能會不一樣。我想知道詳細的分類，在指定的分類中是否也能夠看出問
題。似乎行動遊戲加班更加劇烈，因為在免費遊玩的遊戲中，更新發生頻率更高。二十四
小時都上線。總是有玩家連線上來。沒有停機的環境。
Edwards: The thing that helps with mobile, though, when it’s always on, there
’s a level of predictability. It allows you to predict staffing and content
flow and work flow better than when you have something like a massive RPG
that you’re trying to do over the course of years.
[Edwards]
隨著行動平台而來的變化是，當持續上線時，就導致一定層級的可預期性。員工的調度，
內容增加，工作流程。比做多人角色扮演遊戲時預估得更好。
A lot of the mobile stuff tends to have better control over feature creep for
example. It’s usually a specific type of game. There isn’t often room for
feature creep, depending, although you might have cases of something like
adding a whole new set of power-ups you can buy. But even there, when I’ve
talked to people in the industry, they have an understanding of what work
that entails. It’s not as if at the eleventh hour someone says, “We need
another power-up set.”
行動平台的開發者應在控制新規格處表現得更好，舉例來說，因為遊戲類型很明確，沒有
空間作規格變動，雖然你可能要增加一系列可購買的裝備。當我跟業界的人談過後，它們
都了解相關的工作互相之間的關係。在超時的情形下不會有人說要加規格。
The potential is there for any game project to feature creep or just run away
with people. But in mobile, it comes down to a company culture issue. If they
want people to be constantly crunching on their content that will never end,
that’s a pretty dismal future for most developers. I don’t think it would
be sustainable from a workplace standpoint. With something like a large
triple-A title where you expect a light at the end of the tunnel, even if the
light keeps creeping further away because of schedule changes or features.
但潛在的問題仍在那裏，規格變動的時候就會造成人員流動。在行動平台時這變成是公司
文化的問題。假如公司希望員工持續加班增加那些永遠不會停止增加的內容，對大部分的
開發者來說這情況是淒涼的。我認為這情況將無法支撐好的工作環境。在高預算的案子中
，對專案結束的希望引領我們前進，即使規格變動導致彼岸越來越遠。
The problem I’ve seen in the triple-A space with crunch is partially just
because it’s part of the creative process. Whether or not they call it that,
people crunch in film, in television. Writers crunch to finish that last
chapter the editor is yelling for. It’s the nature of creative work, that it
’s never really done. The only reason a film releases is because someone
sets a date and backs up the schedule with marketing and everything else that
has to happen.
我所看過的問題在於高預算的專案中加班部分是因為創意發想的流程。不管他們怎麼稱呼
，在電影業或電視業的加班。編劇加班把編輯逼著要的劇本寫完。創意發想流程的本質就
是如此，永遠都不夠好。電影業的發售日訂下來之後，其他東西就只好達標。
It’s why we have director’s cuts. “Well, that wasn’t exactly what I
wanted. Here’s this version that shows you what I would have done.” With
games, we can kind of do that. We just release DLC or do a patch.
這是為何我們還會有導演版，那是創作者真的想要的東西。也許遊戲我們也可以做類似的
事。可以開放下載內容或更新。
GamesBeat: Although it seems like DLC’s made it so you lost whatever
downtime you used to get when you finished a game. Now, a game’s never
finished.
[GamesBeat]
下載內容讓時程可以在完成遊戲後繼續。但似乎導致遊戲開發似乎永遠不會結束。
Edwards: Exactly. That’s one thing that brings it closer to the mobile
model. With mobile, games tend to be more confined in their scope and more
predictable in how their content rolls out. The DLC model being applied to a
triple-A console game is almost like you’re trying to apply the mobile model
and expecting people to sustain that same workload — especially if a game
becomes really popular. “Oh, we need more DLC.” That’s not sustainable.
[Edwards]
沒錯，這是行動平台的模式。行動平台遊戲對於內容方向比較侷限，知道自己要端出甚麼
內容。下載包的形式就是把行動遊戲的模式套在高預算家機遊戲，期待開發者承受相同的
工作模式。已經有名的遊戲，卻會被要求要有更多內容，這是難以承受的。
GamesBeat: The Zynga team on FarmVille got more relief when they opened an
India office. They didn’t have to be on 24/7 anymore. They could hand it off
to a team on the other side of the world. It seems like that’s one way to
relieve the time pressure.
[GamesBeat]
Zynga 的 FarmVille 團隊開啟了印度辦公室後得到了解脫。不再需要加班，而是將超出
的工時交給地球另一端的員工。似乎這是唯一的方法。
Edwards: Absolutely. It’s just making sure you staff and plan for it. We’re
seeing a lot of companies where .. as we see crunch time diminish a bit in
the industry, that’s part of a maturation process. I hope it’s a maturation
of management at game companies, understanding that this model had its time
in our industry’s histories, but … as industries mature, like we’ve seen
in the general IT sector, a lot of companies are pushing their employees to
take better care of themselves. Even if it means being in something like a
company-town environment. “Go use the gym at our office.” They lavish their
employees with ways to take care of themselves. We’re seeing some game
companies do that too. But I’d say not on the scale that we see outside the
game industry.
[Edwards]
沒錯。只要確保團隊對此有計畫。我們看到在產業縮減了加班情形，這是成熟的表現。我
希望遊戲公司的管理更加成熟，了解加班在業界確實應該被解決，並向一般IT產業效法，
希望員工能更加注重自己的身心。有些公司在公司建立生活圈及健身中心。我看到有些遊
戲公司已經這樣做了，但還沒有到產業的層級。
GamesBeat: They’ll also do it just to keep employees at work all the time.
[GamesBeat]
但這會讓員工持續被綁在工作上。
Edwards: No, certainly. Developers think about the ulterior motive. “Why do
they give me this incredibly good food for dinner every night? Oh, they want
me to stay here and eat it.” It can be a trap. I understand why companies do
it. But that kind of model, where it becomes something we’re used to …
during the DICE awards, some of the winners on stage accepting awards were
talking about how they missed … their kids. It struck me as I was listening.
I’d love to ask them as a parent — OK, 10 years from now, what would you
rather have? The award or the time with your children? I can guarantee what
the answer’s going to be.
Edwards：不，不是這樣。開發者有時會腦補。公司給我這些食物就是因為想把我留在辦
公室。這一定是圈套。我很清楚了等等的。但是我看過在 DICE 的頒獎典禮上得獎人會說
他們留太少時間給孩子。這讓我很困擾。我想要問那些身為父母的得獎者，十年後你希望
得獎還是把時間留給小孩？我打包票答案仍舊很明顯。
It’s about the value of your time. Trying to get a perspective on that in
our industry is something we still struggle with. We’re passionate about
making games. We love making games. Developers want to make games
indefinitely. When we ask them these questions, they’re very clear about
that. But you don’t want to do it at the expense of everything else in your
life.
這是關於我們時間的價值問題。業界對此問題的角度是很糾結的。我們對製作遊戲有熱情
，甚至是愛。開發者當然想要做遊戲，當我們問他們這些問題時答案很清楚。但是你不想
占據生命中的其他時間。
GamesBeat: You’re almost trying to tell people this for their own good.
Sometimes they’re not realizing that crunch has a cost for them.
[GamesBeat]
你正試著說，人們並不了解加班損耗了他們的人生。
Edwards: It does have a cost. It has a long-term effect. It takes a real toll
on health. If you work 70 hours a week, that’ll affect your health without a
doubt. We understand that there are reasons it happens, but there are also
many good reasons it doesn’t have to happen or at least not to the degree it
does.
[Edwards]
確實是損耗，而且是一個長期的影響。影響健康。假如你一周工作七十小時，那無疑會影
響健康。我們知道加班發生一定有理由，但是有更多好理由告訴我們可以不要這樣做。
Better project management is part of that. But one of the things that will
feed that, especially in the game industry, is having a better handle on the
creative scope of what you’re making. That’s a harder task. When you set
out to create whatever massive project it might be — I understand. I’ve
worked on many games. I get how the energy of the creative process is so
important that it changes the scope and changes what you have in mind. I’ve
been involved with projects where that last-minute inspiration hits. It’s
the weekend before cert and somebody says, “Oh my God, we need to do this. It
’ll change everything. Let’s stay for a 72-hour stretch and get this done.”
更好的專案管理是其中一個部分。但在遊戲產業中，我們更希望能貢獻的是創意發想的流
程，這是更困難的問題。我在很多案子工作過，我知道當巨大的案子要填入各式各樣的創
意時會如何。持續創意的能源是很重要的。我遇過很多次創意都是在最後一刻上架期限前
才發生，也通常就會導致加班的時候。
You have to weigh it. Is the player going to care that much about the time you
’re spending? Or is it something you can do in another version or in DLC
later? Is it really something you have to put yourself out there for? I don’
t know if game companies tend to be as judicious as they need to be in
thinking about the overall effect of that. It’s hard. They know their launch
must be successful. But in my view, if you’re not already sure about that in
the creative vision you started working on, maybe you should have had a
different creative vision.
你必須權衡這些。玩家是否真正在意你所花的時間？或是其實可以放在下一個版本中？是
否這是應該要犧牲自己去做的東西？我不知道是否遊戲公司能明智的權衡利弊得失。這很
困難。大家都知道發售不能延遲。但從我的角度假如你還不確定這樣的創造流程是否能夠
真的實現你要的東西，不如跳脫出來用不同的角度來看事情。
GamesBeat: Do you get a sense of whether good managers are the ones who
restrain their employees from doing crunch? Do employees want to crunch
without realizing the cost to it? Or are people being forced to crunch when
they’d rather not?
[GamesBeat]
你是否覺得好的經理會阻止員工加班？員工是否不知道加班會造成的傷害？還是員工是被
迫要加班？
Edwards: It’s a mix of both. Long-standing tradition in our industry has
been one where it’s been more about forced crunch. Sadly, I’ve heard this
many times from different developers. They say, “I can’t complain about it,
because the standard response is just, ‘Go ahead and go. We’ve got 20
people to take your place.’” Which instantly ascribes a lack of any value
to the specific employee in the company. You’re just a cog and easily
replaced. That’s not a great morale-builder to begin with.
Edwards：兩者都有。長久以來是有被迫加班的傳統。遺憾地，很多次開發者自己卻講：
我沒辦法抱怨，因為一貫的回應都是"要走就走，你的位子有二十人排隊要幹"。也就是指
出公司看員工只是認為是勞力，隨時可以取代。這樣無法建立士氣。
When I give talks, sometimes I have a slide that’s a frame from Bridge on
the River Kwai. In that movie, the Japanese general kept telling the POWs, “
Be happy in your work.” Sometimes we get that attitude coming in the game
industry. Just be happy. You’re lucky to be here. We want to see that go
away. People should have a choice.
當我演講時，有時候我會放上一頁有著桂河大橋的投影片，在那部電影中，日本將軍告訴
英國戰俘，要樂在工作。有時候我們在產業也接受這樣的態度。我們很幸運可以在產業裡
，我們希望那些事情不存在，人們應該可以有選擇。
A lot of it comes down to, when you’re hiring into a company, if you’re
interested in working for a company, companies should be explicit about how
much they typically crunch. Be upfront about it. “We look back on our work
data over the last few years, and we generally crunch a third of the time.”
Disclose an idea of what crunch is like, and tell people about whether or
not they’ll be compensated for it. Then, developers can at least make an
informed choice.
很多事情歸結於，當我們被公司雇用的時候，假如你關注公司的工作狀況，公司會明確說
明加班的情形。坦白說：在過去幾年的數據中，我們有三分之一都在加班。揭露加班的實
際狀況，告訴員工是否有加班費。開發者至少能有選擇。
When it comes down to individual managers, it’s important for them to be
monitoring both the physical and mental health of their employees. “Hey, you
’ve been here three days straight. Maybe you should take a break?” At the
same time, there’s a certain level of creative freedom you want to allow. If
you have someone who says, “I don’t need to go home. I don’t have a family
to see. I want to work another 12 hours on this because my train of thought
on this issue will be complete, and I’ll get this done. Then, I can walk
away feeling good about it.”
到個別的經理等級時，他們必須觀察他們員工的身心狀況：嗨！你已經三天連續工作了，
你應該休息一下。當然也有一種情形員工能對創意的執著有所任性：我不需要回家，我沒
有家庭，因為我現在狀況正好，我想要再作十二小時直到做完，才會覺得事情結束心滿意
足。
There’s a balance. To some degree, if somebody is that into a particular
task — even then, managers need to step up and draw a line. “You’ve been
working on that for three days, and you still don’t have an end in sight.
Maybe you should clear your head and come back to it.”
這是一個平衡。某種程度來說，即便有些人會陷入特別的工作狀態，經理也都應該介入設
定下紅線。你已經工作三天，似乎短時間不會有結果。也許你應該讓腦袋清醒後再回來。
GamesBeat: Is there already any established practice as far as compensated
crunch at particular companies?
[GamesBeat]
對於特定的公司是否已經建立了針對加班報酬的實際規範？
Edwards: I don’t know specifics. It’s hard to get that information from
companies. We’re looking into it, though. If you look in the DSS data, we
have people reporting that they get certain bonus structures. We ask all
kinds of questions around bonuses, around whether or not the bonuses are
performance based or project based and so on. The 37 and 38 percent we’re
identifying are people who say, “We don’t get any of that. We just do it.”
[Edwards]
我並不知道個別的情形，從公司不容易取得這些資訊。但我們正在了解。假如你查看那些
資料。我們知道有些公司是用獎金制度的方式。我們問了各種關於獎金的問題，獎金是基
於怎樣的數據。百分之三十七及三十八的人說：我們沒有拿到任何東西。
GamesBeat: For the companies that show repeated problems, how are your board
members going to communicate with them? What are the steps you’d take before
going public?
[GamesBeat]
對持續有這些問題的公司，你們的董事成員在真的公布之前打算要怎麼與他們溝通？
Edwards: First and foremost, board members will approach the company
directly. “We’ve been noticing a lot of people reporting issues around this
problem in your company.” We’ll just sit down and have a conversational
approach. We’ll get the company’s perspective and understand their point of
view on the issue. We’ll see if there’s any acknowledgement or
understanding that it’s an issue. If there is, we’ll try to discern if there
’s a plan in place to fix this and change the way business is done. Or, is
this based on a specific anomaly, a specific project? Maybe it’s not normal,
but it spiked because of something in particular.
[Edwards]
首先，董事會成員會直接與公司連繫：我們注意到很多人舉報你公司有這個問題。我們會
試圖坐下來溝通解決這個問題。我們想要了解公司針對這件事的態度。想要知道公司是否
知道有這個情形。我們想要知道是否有個計畫來改變現況，或是改變工作流程。這是否只
是特例嗎？
Basically, we’ll just do some discovery and learn more about it. The process
from there is ultimately going to be up to the board to decide as far as how
vocal they want to be. Our perspective is that if we see an example of a
company where we’re able to determine with certainty that it’s a problem,
they know about it; they’re not willing to do anything about it; they’re
not taking steps to fix it; then, it’s likely at that point that the IGDA
will speak up publicly. “Hey, developers, if you’re looking for a job, here
’s an example of a space that you probably don’t want to consider. After
our repeated engagement with them and after collecting data on the situation
there, it’s probably not the best situation.”
基本上，我們會做一些調查，收集情報。流程會上報到董事會，讓他們決定是否要發聲。
我們的觀點是假如我們在這間公司看到一個例子，那麼可能這就是一個問題，他們可能知
道這是一個問題；他們可能不願意處理；他們可能沒有採取行動來修正；那麼 IGDA 就會
把這件事公開：嗨！開發者，你正在找工作嗎？這裡有間公司記得要跳過。當然這並非一
個最好的結局。
GamesBeat: Companies won’t be happy about that. Have you felt any backward
pressure yet on that topic?
[GamesBeat]
公司肯定不會喜歡這種情況。你是否有因為這樣的議題感到壓力？
Edwards: Some companies are uncomfortable with the topic because they
recognize that it’s an issue. A lot of what we’re dealing with, too, is a
certain degree of legacy. We’ve been on this industry train that just keeps
chugging along at a very fast pace. “We got the first game done. We have to
get the sequel out. We have to get the DLC done.” It keeps moving, and there
’s no chance to step back for a moment and say, “What are we really doing
here? What’s our workplace like?”
[Edwards]
一些公司對此並不愉快，因為他們知道那是一個問題。這些問題多半都是因循的陋習。這
個產業變動很快：隨著第一個遊戲作完，還有續作，及下載內容。總是沒有做完之後能夠
回頭好好想想工作環境的時候。
I don’t know to what degree there’s any deep introspection at the company
level. I know some companies do that. A lot of companies say they do. I’m
not saying I disbelieve that, necessarily, but I don’t know about the degree
to which they take action when they hear from their employees about issues
that come up.
我不知道公司層級是否自省到甚麼程度。我知道有些公司做了。很多公司說他們有做。我
並非說我不相信。實際上來說，我不知道的是：公司從員工聽到這些問題時採取行動到甚
麼程度。
That’s why, when it comes to the method we want to use, we want to do a
quiet engagement and give the company a chance to talk with us. Along with
this initiative, we’re going to take some of the data we have and stuff we’
ve done in the past around best practices and how you can avoid crunch and
create an environment that works. We’ll share with the companies and see if
they want to employ those ideas.
這是為何當我們要採取行動的時候，我們想用低調的方式進行，讓公司能夠與我們對話。
當然隨著這個自清方案的進行，我們會取得一些數據，提出我們基於過去經驗的建議來避
免加班，創造一個工作環境。我們會與公司們分享這些資訊，同時邀請公司貢獻意見。
I don’t think it’s going to be swift. Obviously, we want to give companies
a chance to react, especially if they’re open-minded. But I’m sure there
are some that won’t be. In those cases, the last resort we’d want to do is
basically outing a company as a potentially problematic workplace for
developers. That’s an absolute last resort.
我不認為這會轉變得很快。顯然地，我們要給公司一點機會反應，特別是假如他們也能夠
接受這些想法。但我確信有些人不會這樣想。在這些例子中，最後的行動就是指出一間公
司不是開發者應該去的地方。當然這是最後手段。
GamesBeat: Do you have a timetable for when you’ll get to finished data?
[GamesBeat]
你是否已經有實行這些計畫的時間表了？
Edwards: We probably will do some kind of listing, like what we do out of the
developer survey right now. We ask developers which companies they’d most
like to work for from a general perception standpoint. Valve is always at the
top of the list. We’ll do something like that — which companies were the
highest ranked every year in terms of how they deal with this specific issue.
I’m hoping that we can crank this up and get something open by Q3 of this
year. That’s when we’ll have something we can invite developers to start
giving input on.
[Edwards]
我們有清單，像是對開發者的問卷。我們從一個通用的角度詢問開發者想要在怎樣的公司
工作。價值的問題當然在清單之上。我們會問哪些公司你認為是好的，基於他們做了甚麼
事情。我希望我們可以讓這件事動起來，至少在今年第三季有東西可以公開，那時候我們
也會邀請開發者貢獻他們所知。
Kate Edwards is the Executive Director of the International Game Developers
Association (IGDA), appointed in December 2012. She is also the founder and
principal consultant of Geogrify, a Seattle-based consultancy for content
culturalization, and a unique hybrid of an applied geographer, writer, and
corporate strategist.
Kate Edwards 在2012年十二月開始擔任 IGDA 的執行監督。它同時也是 Geogrify 的創
辦人及主要顧問。Geogrify 是一間西雅圖針對內容本地化的顧問公司。Kate 也同時有地
理學家，作家，及企業戰略分析的背景。