Free Radical implementing overtime pay ... seriously
The notion of paying overtime is absurd for many employees and observers in the gaming industry, but Free Radical (Haze) tells Develop magazine that they're looking to change perceptions of working in the industry by offering overtime pay to employees. Steve Ellis of Free Radical says the days of "bonuses that pay off your mortgage are long gone" and that they've "decided to start paying people for the work that they do -- even when that work is outside their normal hours."
Ellis says that the industry as a whole will eventually go this way, but they prefer to do it sooner rather than later. Although there are so many companies who are guilty of not paying their employees for working extra hours, EA gets picked on more often than not because of the infamous EA Spouse saga. Of course EA's image has changed recently to become a great place to work according to Fortune Magazine. Now please pardon us while we check with our local priest to make sure there wasn't an update on Hell freezing over we missed.
Ellis says that the industry as a whole will eventually go this way, but they prefer to do it sooner rather than later. Although there are so many companies who are guilty of not paying their employees for working extra hours, EA gets picked on more often than not because of the infamous EA Spouse saga. Of course EA's image has changed recently to become a great place to work according to Fortune Magazine. Now please pardon us while we check with our local priest to make sure there wasn't an update on Hell freezing over we missed.












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AmishPhysicist @ Oct 2nd 2007 8:05PM
Dude. If they actually come through on that, I might want to go work in the games industry again. I spent a month working on Medal of Honor Pacific Assault and it was not pretty.
Tho, no amount of money can get you the hours of your life you miss out on by making games. Cos you could be spending those hours doing something important... like playing games.
KeeferMadness @ Oct 2nd 2007 8:33PM
Well put!
Benergy @ Oct 3rd 2007 10:13AM
Im glad to see this change coming. Im in a crunch now with no over time. It hardly makes being in the game industry worth it. Hats off to the Free Radicals.
Erin Hoffman @ Oct 4th 2007 4:07PM
Fortune has always listed EA as a "great place to work". This generally seems to have more to do with PR payments companies make to the magazine and less to do with actually talking to people who work there.