Part two of four for the GDC, there are four sessions I will be attending or at least hoping to attend. Two of the sessions have capacity limits and have the potential to be goose-guarded unlike the GTC ones (open 15 minutes before the session starts).
Business & Legal Roundtable
by Will Bucher
6:30 AM - 7:30 AM NZDT
This session was on Zoom as an interactive call where you could ask questions to do with the topics addressed or bring up anything else with relevance. To kick things off we started with Epic vs Apple. Epic Games, responsible for the Unreal Engine game engine that created things like Fortnite and the Borderlands series, sued Apple on the grounds of 3rd party payments and Apple taking 30% of payments through the App Store. Not many really wanted to talk about this one so it was skipped quite early into this discussion (it wasn't even really a discussion). The next topic was NFTs and games. Apparently, someone tried to evade tax by using "Smart Contracts" which is not how they were and that is just tax evasion.
Someone asked "How would NFTs play into crypto? How would they interact was a form of payment?"
A: The host said (paraphrasing): It can more or less be the same as bitcoin and other cryptos. Game companies are reluctant to sell items that have huge power differentials, however, the dangers are things like gambling.
Q: "Can you use NFTs for logos, etc.?"
A: It depends on what restrictions the company has on the NFT/image. But mainly, you only own one line of code or a license for the image. You don't even own the art or the restrictions are big enough that the legal team get you on.
Another answer: There are already things in place that work well so no one's really working on it. Blockchain-wise, no one is really delving into this with it being too expensive, You have to take it down when you need to change it. Minor adjustments included.
Someone else, continuing from the previous question asked: "How do I prevent an NFT being created from my [blockchain art]?"
A: That is the main reason clients won't look into it. People have to be accountable. Do people who bought the NFT care about whether it is fraudulent? Will it actually be covered by blockchain for security?
Next, we moved on to the final segment of the roundtable, China's privacy laws on games. China has released that children will only be given three hours a week to play online video games. These are supposedly something like one hour lots that are used Friday to Sunday in the evening (one hour per day). Rather than focusing on that for too long it then became talk on how to launch for China.
In China, it can take too long to launch your game. It can be too much of a headache. However, on the flip side, it can be a way to get children to use VPNs.
Compliance - China has so many restrictions, you have to have some form of [facial] recognition to even get on the internet.
Someone commented that a parent or older person could just make an account for the child(ren) but parents are mainly reluctant. Another person suggested as both a statement and a question that single-player games may not apply to the law because it is not as internet-based.
Q: How do licensing agreements work for music worldwide?
A: Firstly, Bucher said to get a music lawyer.
There are so many components such as singer vs songwriter vs bass, etc.
Music law is complicated and what Bucher had talked about only applied to America.
"It depends," was a common answer for this one from anyone who commented or had an idea about it.
One thing to note was that you make sure you define what [the game] is
Q: If you're running a game store, can players own a copy of the game via an NFT?
A: It would take a lot and there's a lack of incentive because studios want to sell more actual copies.
Q: In the case of Indie Games, when would you recommend starting to think about legal help?
A: "When you have the money," was a big one as it tends to be the common answer/reply from people. Bucher said though, that if you're going to sign a distribution agreement, especially if you have a copyrighted image in the game vs in the marketing/promo. If it's in the game the creator probably wouldn't know other than from word of mouth, if it's in the marketing then it is a hard "get a lawyer." Another great time could potentially be before publication.
Q: When to deal with trademarks (on names)?
A: When you're thinking about marketing. One thing that was said particularly clearly was, "Don't get attached to a name."
Developing and Retaining Diverse Talent
by Annette Gonzalez and Jen MacLean
7:30 AM - 8:00AM NZDT
By diverse talent, they mean location, education, familial background, neurodivergency, and financial status rather than "just the standard gender diversity"*. Most diverse staff tend to leave the industry at twice the rate of cishet white men.
Q: What can the industry do to keep that diversity retention?
A: Stop stereotypical thinking - that primary caregivers will not give up something to get nothing from it.
Mentoring is great but [women/People of Color (POC)] get too much mentoring and not enough sponsoring/sponsorship. There is a bigger need for advisors to bring a specific level of knowledge to the forefront.
*Something I have to criticize about this session was how they felt the need to specifically mention what fit into the diversity they were speaking of. They made a point of saying diversity doesn't just mean gender, which, if you are someone who is diverse in many ways, would understand on an innate level. It somewhat irked me as successful trans/gender nonconforming game devs/designers are still few and far between. If there are mentorships, they tend to piggyback off being for a certain crowd PLUS [paste queer-identity.txt here] as if it's an add-on rather than a focus. Inclusivity has come a long way from where it used to be but it can still do better and it should strive to. In saying that gender (outside of the binary) doesn't matter in your success in landing a job, it kind of puts itself into a catch-22 situation, in my eyes. How does being queer gendered differ much from being a woman in the game industry in terms of struggles? I just don't see why it has to be a "one or the other" debate. To be clear, I want more inclusivity, we need more inclusivity, I was just uncomfortable and became disinterested in the talk because of strange distinctions.
GDC Main Stage: The Developer's Renaissance
by David Anfossi, Davina Mackey, and Mike Wilson
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM NZDT
David Anfossi from Eidos-Montréal started things off for the main stage talk with "Reimagining Eidos-Montreal: Shifting our Organizational Culture". He was the only speaker to present remotely in this talk as he was in Quebec where a new variant of covid had just gone rampant. His section of the talk was on what Eidos-Montréal did to help their staff before and during the first covid wave. They started by shifting to an organizational culture and looked at what the results showed. They moved to remote working even before the public health department's announcements. They really asked themselves how well they actually knew their team, thus they sent out wellness surveys. Things they set up in response to the survey results were studio and project showcases for more visibility and weekly studio meetings called "Virtual Beer Time" every Friday. They started online sessions with psychologists for people who felt isolated or overloaded with family. They improved insurance coverage and organized lots of activities. And with all of this, they acted quickly but it wasn't enough. The next questions that arose were "how can we fix the problem of circulation of information?" and "how can we get to know each other better?" With the wellbeing of employees in mind, they took a new approach based on intelligence and accountability. Move away from the standard environment and toward one that supports and promotes self-expression. This too needed to be refined, however.
And then there was the question of "was this the best time to be implementing this?" The short answer was YES as the status quo was not an option.
The biggest challenge they faced was deprogramming themselves but they persisted with the mindset of "there is no magic recipe, everything goes through communication, communication, communication." And this started two initiatives to promote empowerment and autonomy, flexible working hours and workplace flexibility. This went hand-in-hand with taking an agile approach to work. Things that were removed as a result of the transfer from industry standard to this organizational culture were job descriptions, rest management (taking days off or holidays), and training more people in leadership.
The next segment had Davina Mackey from Black@Playstation, speaking in person at GDC, and her talk on "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DE&I)" In this talk, Mackey went over the current need for paradigm shifts.
To start out she talks about large movements such as the Civil Rights movement, Women's Rights, the Right to Vote, LGBTQIA+, #MeToo, and Black Lives Matter. And how all of these movements make and are making changes in society. Every industry has to face these changes and the games industry is not exempt, if anything, it has to face this now. To change the culture in our industry, we need a paradigm shift.
Mackey then talks about life before covid-19, pre-pandemic. At the time, at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), their employee networks were about bringing awareness to their culture in the organization. To be and become more inclusive they had ethnic food days and dances, keynote speakers making them aware of current events or key times in history for a demographic. And it wasn't amazing but that was fine for the time, they had cultural awareness. But there is more to DE&I than cultural awareness, and this is where the need for a paradigm shift stemmed from. They didn't have transparency or global demographic data, and that was fine for SIE, but they needed a global strategy. As an example Mackey says "pre-pandemic, there were less than 3% of Black employees at SIE, and at the director and up, I would say that I was a pink unicorn. I was the highest-ranking Black female employee in Playstation Studios, and there was no one like me." Mackey thought, even with the sprinkling of other employees like her, that she was fine being a trailblazer, she could roll up her sleeves and bring being a part of the Black@Playstation movement.
Then the pandemic hits, and with it, George Floyd's death. This prompted an unprecedented movement from Sony and SIE in their reaction and support. SIE posted a statement on Twitter denouncing systemic racism and violence against the Black community with the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, Mackey thought she was in a parallel universe. Their CEO at the time Jim Ryan then wanted an audience with Black@Playstation, and he was attentive and authentic, he listened to them. And so they could ask for what they wanted with no retribution, so they asked for programs, sponsorship, and proper funding, and they got it. It was then that Jon Platt, the first Black Chairman and CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, released an article called A Change Must Come.
*Although I would love to continue with as much as I can from this talk I have to cut it back now.*
As a result of the combined efforts of Jon Platt and Black@Playstation, they managed to host a panel where a Black CEO was present to answer questions. All of this prompted better DE&I efforts, so they became global. The DE&I global team are in the US, Europe, and Japan, and together they drive a global strategy. Pride@Playstation got diversity within the workplace for nonbinary pronouns and identities. Equity@Playstation created a leadership team that represents the global consumer base.
Post-Pandemic, there is now training for managers on inclusivity and equity to remove biases. There are sponsorships of women and underrepresented people and rotational leadership. Now there is a diverse studio to represent the global consumer market. And SIE has created courses to get children into SIE and into potential future jobs. Below is the MERIT-Worth Framework they created for DE&I.
The Last segment for the main stage was from Mike Wilson with his talk "Killin' it with Kindness... Devolver and Beyond" This talk by far had the least notes written about it but only because much of what he spoke about was his story in and out of the game industry. It was informative, entertaining, devastating at some points, and had a twist that the end. Unlike the other talks, though, this one wasn't so much on the paradigm shift until near the end.
Starting with why he was there, Wilson mentions a Facebook post he'd made that someone from GDC saw that prompted them to invite him to be a speaker. The post in question was about how Devolver Digital made it to the London Stock Exchange for as he says, "a ridiculous amount of money" But what he wanted people to know about was that they'd managed to achieve that level of success without compromising that values that they started with. The value he states is just kindness.
To cut a long story short, he takes the audience through his journey in the industry. Skipping past most of the story, Wilson looks back at some of his career endeavours and how disastrous some of what they thought was cool was- especially when he started, mullet and all. The below image is his journey.
Some comments on the live chat cringed at seeing GodGames, others had seen previous talks of his and knew there would be some form of twist coming as there usually was.
Some interesting quotes I got from the talk, bearing absolutely no relevance to the industry were:
- "I feel I truly stand on the shoulders of shitheads." - this was related to GodGames and how they tried to fill the gap in the industry, what it meant to get a good deal from a publisher. They wanted to be respectful to artists, give them their intellectual property rights, pay them fairly, and wanted to make sure they were always credited above [them]. After this Wilson says, "I can tell you without the hyperbole, when I signed that deal," when GodGames was essentially selling out. "It felt like I was signing my own suicide note," then he adds, "it went pretty well, as suicide goes."
- "I want this from the bottom of my peepee." - This one I found hilarious, especially in conjunction with the name of the company, Gamecock Media Group (Gamecock for short). This stemmed from him talking about years after selling GodGames off, they wanted to do it again. "And then, you know, I did what every group does that has a good run in their 20s. We put the band back together in our 30s. It was called [Gamecock]." It had the same principles, except their brand, their sense of humor, was very much about Wilson at the time. Another great one-liner was "Suffice to say, midlife crises are real." That related to being in Gamecock while having a midlife crisis and economic collapse, which Wilson reckons you should totally do/have both at the same time. But they hired Nigel Lowrie who wrote to them the quote that started this part off.
From the ashes of economic collapse and the time at Gamecock came Devolver. And this was no longer about Wilson.
Moving past his time talking about Devolver, he then mentions the recently announced Deepwell Digital Therapeutics. It is a collection of volunteers from game developers, psychologists, neuroscientists, clinicians, and regulatory professionals. As Wilson says, "They have been volunteering for the last three to fifteen months in service of defining a way where we can medicinalize games." It's not gamification or edutainment, it's about how games are already quite therapeutic for people and how a lot of people are already using them to self-medicate in times of crisis. "And for me, it has been such a gift to myself, to my coworkers, and to my family to get up every day with a little mission, something that matters to me, a purpose. And that's what I wish for all of you, is you go forth and do battle to create the most compelling entertainment in the history of people, that can also- we've learned- can be quite beneficial for people, both for those creating them and those playing them."
To finish up, he leaves us with the upcoming game jam called "May Day Mental Health Game Jam" which DeepwellDTX has partnered up with Global Game Jam for. It is on starting from the 1st of May to the 22nd.
The Progressive Art of Game Character Design Roundtable
by Chris Solarski (and Natasha Skult)
11:30 AM - 12:30 AM NZDT
I enjoyed this roundtable despite not getting great notes down for it. Most of the notes are comprised of games that are great examples of [something], readings that could be good to look at, and random other tidbits. I have asked someone who I know through GDC but they happened to miss this talk, I also asked the discord group that the hosts of the session are in, so I hope someone can provide me with some more notes or (even better) the transcript and chat from the roundtable.
The notes I collected verbatim:
- Mytale(?) - This has been further looked into and it is an MMORPG side scroller, that is also a puzzle game? Below is a promo piece I think?
- Game Art Specialist Group (???? is this the IGDA Game Art SIG discord that I joined? I have no idea)
- Look for his books - someone mentioned looking into Chris Solarski's books; Amazon links here and here
- Shapes and movement/gestures can make or break the characters and the fantasy built around them + color
- Look for an actor to pose and make the posture that just says [character/archetype]
- Armature + Spine
- Framed Ink - Marcus Matthew Smithstra
- Illusion of Life (Book)
- We're limited by formal game design
- Beyond Eyes (game)
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Audio wayfinding + showcasing the character's illness
- Interaction design
- Localization
I believe in this session I mentioned that Bayek of Siwa from Assassin's Creed Origins being a great character outside of combat, as many of the moves are very overpowered or are one-hit kills. And from memory, this answer was prompted by the question of who/what characters did we think were designed well. Similarly, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice was a game mentioned for how they portray Senua and the voices she hears. Another question that had been posed was something like "What more did we want to see in new character design?" I put down an answer that was something I didn't want to see, which was traditional tattoos and markings (from indigenous people) in games. By this, I mean that games like Path of Exile that have the "Noble Savage" or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 "Poly Face" should not be allowed to continue, especially when most of the time it is wrapped up in a jumbled mess of Polynesian cultures. A good example of the tāmoko being done well is Sid Meier's Civilization VI (Civ6): Gathering Storm where they appropriately used facial tattoos on the character Kupe, a visualization of the first Māori to discover Aotearoa. Below are pictures comparing Pro Skater vs Civ6.
This idea was not my own, it came to me after watching Timothy Russell's talk at Play By Play (NZ Games Festival 2021) "Putting the Noble Savage to Bed", and Lisa Blakie's talk at the same conference "The Real Secret of Mana: Māori Representation in Video Games"
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