Does the concept of professionalism apply to the game development Industry?

What is professionalism?

Professionalism in the game development industry has multiple aspects – project professionalism and social professionalism. Project professionalism refers to taking a professional attitude towards the development of your project (being diligent, attempting to meet deadlines, and not cutting corners with the current task etc). While social professionalism refers to taking a professional attitude towards social interactions with those in your work environment (respecting team members, listening to the ideas of others, providing fair notice before resignation, employers providing fair hiring practices etc). It is important to note that these two aspects are interlinked, as project professionalism is likely to lead to positive social opinion from others in your team and social professionalism is likely to lead to positive attitudes and increased teamwork.

Why does professionalism matter in the game development industry?

It is equally important for both employers and employees to behave professionally in the game development industry. It is only when both employers and employees work together in a professional manner that a successful working environment is created. Furthermore, there can be negative consequences for either group when professional behaviour is not upheld.

Unprofessional behaviours of employees may:

• lead to conflict within the development team.

• lead to the termination of their employment.

• damage their reputation and make it difficult for them to secure work.

• affect the reputation of the company that they represent.

• result in legal action being taken against the employee.

Unprofessional behaviours of employers may:

• create a negative work environment which may turn away prospective employees.

• lead to lazy development and employees feeling demotivated.

• lead to current employees becoming distressed or leaving the company.

• lead to lawsuits or legal action being taken against the company.

• damage the company reputation and may lead to public backlash or boycotts.

Upholding reputation

As stated above it is important to utilise and encourage professional behaviour in the workplace, as unprofessional behaviour can damage the reputation of both the employee and the company.

Awareness of ethical issues in the game development industry has greatly increased over recent years. Ethical issues in the game development industry have taken the media by storm and have come to the forefront of public attention. This has often led to direct action being taken by the public, such as petitions, boycotts, or lawsuits.

An especially prominent case was the Blizzard Activision staff strike and fan boycott. This was a very serious case which was highly publicised. This case goes to show that unprofessional behaviours can lead to devastating consequences for those affected by these behaviours and can cause public outcry against those involved in conducting or facilitating the behaviour.

Ethical guidelines

It is important to note that unprofessional behaviours are not always intentional. An employee or employer can be acting unprofessionally without even knowing that they are doing so. Unintentional unprofessional behaviours can happen in either the social or project domain. For example, unprofessional project behaviours can occur when assets are used without a full understanding of the permissions that are involved. While, unprofessional social behaviours can occur when social rules and appropriate workplace conduct are not fully understood. Therefore, it is essential that ethical codes, guidelines, and training are provided to both employers and employees. This means that everyone is able to understand what is expected of them in order to behave in a professional manner.

The concept of the pillars of responsibility gives a general outline of professional behaviour as follows: professional behaviour involves commitment, integrity, responsibility and accountability. While ethical guidelines, such as the W3C Ethical Guidelines and IGDA Scotland Code of Ethics, provide a more detailed account of professional behaviour.

Advice for new developers

Don’t use assets without permission

There have been many cases of developers using assets without permission. Sometimes this is done by independent developers who either feel that they do not have the resources to create their own assets or do not fully understand asset permissions. While it may seem intimidating, it is important to ensure that you fully understand these permissions.

Don’t post fake reviews

It can be difficult to gather attention to a new project, especially if its your first project. Its difficult to standout when there are so many other games that are already well more established than yours. One temptation is to post or purchase fake reviews for your game in order to give it a kick start. However, this is a bad idea. Fake reviews are often extremely obvious since they show a sudden dramatic spike in interest for your project. Once this has been noticed your reputation could suffer and even legitimate reviews on future projects may not be believable. Instead, utilise video sharing platforms such as YouTube and social media platforms to advertise your project. Share your game with communities who would be genuinely interested.

Find out more about companies

When choosing a company to work for try to research which companies have good professional practices. You could find out more about their hiring practices, past legal disputes, and employee attitudes. It is important to work somewhere that coincides with your own professional ideals.

Undertake training and refer to the ethical guidelines

To ensure that you (and the rest of your team) understand what is expected for professional behaviour in the workplace it may be helpful to undertake training, which will often be available through your workplace. If you work independently, ensure that you are adhering to the ethical guidelines (outlined above).