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Per last repost, I don’t think people generally understand how games are funded or how the staff is paid. Even ”small” publisher funded games require credits roll of hundreds of people.

Publisher is the one getting paid, first and foremost. Oftentimes the developer studio gains a cut off a sold game only after the pub has reimbursed their funding and profit. Developers are paid a salary and contractors paid a contract fee.

You can see why contract work is so lucrative for studios: the contract can end when necessary in order to save on salaries. It makes sense in production too. Contractors can fill in a gap that is not feasible to be kept as a salaried position.

But here’s the rub: as games become ever more expensive to produce, so does the amount and quality of contract made assets too. The number of contractors grows as the work becomes more commonplace.

What this means for those making games, is that the success of a project only benefits them only tangentially. If a studio can keep the lights on and keep you on staff, great! Successful games are also nice to have in your portfolio, meaning you ideally have an easier time getting a new job.

But financially? No studio is ever paying residuals or otherwise profit sharing their staff.

Still, as things are, people working in games are generally happy if you buy the game they worked on even if it doesn’t show up as a number in their bank account. It’s an industry run almost entirely on passion. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work toward a better future!