1 Attachment(s)
Tencent Promises "Stress-Free" Work Culture At New Next-Gen US Studio
Tencent Games is opening a new studio in the United States to work on next-gen games and claims that it will make it a “stress-free work environment.” Though Tencent has been active in the game industry since the early 2000s, it was relatively unknown until recent years when it became the biggest gaming company on the planet, with more than $13 billion in yearly revenue.
Tencent is based in China, and it’s been the dominant player in that country’s game market for years now, but it became a global success when it began reaching more into other territories. In 2020 alone, Tencent acquired ownership of Funcom, the developer of Conan Exiles. The company also invests in other developers, recently announcing a partnership with Bayonetta developer Platinum Games. Tencent also owns a significant portion of Epic Games, which is just one reason why the Epic Games Store has faced harsh criticism since launching.
Soon, Tencent will begin operating a studio in Orange County, California to produce games for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, according to Gamesindustry.biz. The studio, called LightSpeed LA, will be headed by Steve Martin, a Rockstar Games studio manager who recently worked on Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2. LightSpeed LA’s first game is described as a AAA open world game for next-gen consoles. Martin claims that he will maintain “a crunch-free and inclusive culture” at the studio.
Quote:
"We're ushering a new era of game culture by combining world-class development with a stress-free work environment. From day one, our teams will be focused on building the highest caliber games while promoting integrity, proactivity, collaboration, and creativity."
Of course, building a crunch-free studio isn’t quite as easy as promising to do so. Crunch is a huge problem at many major game developers, forcing employees to work massively inflated schedules often with little to no reward, and is thought to contribute to the industry’s well documented burnout. Developers like Rockstar Games, Naughty Dog, and CD Projekt Red have all been accused of fostering a crunch culture, and the demands of next-gen development seem even more likely to breed exploitative working conditions, especially at the AAA level, where high-definition graphics and a thoroughly polished experience are expected.
There are signs that the game industry is moving toward better working conditions, with a push toward unionization among some developers and a long-overdue reckoning bringing to light abusive workplaces and starting needed conversations about reform. Only time will tell whether Tencent’s new LightSpeed LA studio will actually come down on the right side of the movement for more humane workplaces in the game industry.
