Like pretty much everything else on the planet, the pandemic has knocked the video game industry on the ass. But while game lags, console shortages, and immature releases were the main issues players faced, they actually are manufacturing the games have encountered the same obstacles that many of us face; namely that they had to do a job that they would normally do in a home office.
That was hard! And that’s one of the main, if not the main, reasons why so many big games have been released in the last 12 months that felt a little underdone. Game development in a large studio is not only a wild collaboration, but also a highly technical experience with lots of specialized facilities and equipment needed for things like sound recording and motion capture. You can’t just snap your fingers and expect the results to be the same when suddenly everyone is working at their kitchen table.
Or at least that has been the case. Things are starting to change now; We have seen companies like activity and revolt are trying — and spectacularly botching — plans to bring employees back to their offices, because after two years of doing their work from home and slowly getting used to it, it turns out that a lot of people like not commuting and working all day having to sit at someone else’s desk.
So while some publishers and studios are starting to get developers to go back into the office, others are thinking fuck it, why not let people work from home forever. Bungie is one of them and announced today that the company is going “digital-first” and that “most current and future roles will be fully remote” in a number of states.
Why not every state? While this list covers many of the more populous areas as well as Bungie’s home state of Washington, there are many gray areas on this map. I’ve asked Bungie to confirm why that is, but the answer is most likely: taxes.
If you’re wondering how a studio the size of Bungie could work from home long-term, they actually made a small documentary in 2020 showing how they transitioned to the first wave of the pandemic. So imagine this still happening in 2022, only now everyone is like “wow, 2020 was five years ago, amazing”.
