Protekli tjedan gaming industriju su obilježili brojni članci o poznatom studiju BioWare, od detaljnog Kotakuovog novinarskog izvještaja o neuspjehu igre Anthem, lošim radnim uvjetima, ogromnoj količini cruncha i stresa koji su u studiju prisutni već dugi niz godina, preko BioWareovog službenog priopćenja o narušenoj radnoj atmosferi u studiju pa do činjenice da je vodstvo studija poručilo zaposlenicima da ne razgovaraju s novinarima.

Nakon svega toga, generalni direktor BioWarea – Casey Hudson – jučer je svim zaposlenicima poslao interni mail u kojem se referirao na Kotakuov veliki članak i napokon priznao da je studio u problemima.

“Članak spominje brojne probleme u razvoju Anthema i nekih od naših prethodnih projekata. Također povlači paralelu između tih problema i kvalitete našeg radnog mjesta i dobrobiti našeg osoblja. Ovi problemi su stvarni i naš je glavni prioritet nastaviti rad na rješavanju tih problema” – u mailu započinje Hudson, navodeći također kako nisu htjeli sudjelovati u članku i odgovoriti na pitanja, jer su smatrali da nije u redu da se prozivaju specifični developeri kao mete za javnu kritiku te da nije fer izdvojiti pojedince iz studija na takav način.

“Kad su mi ponudili mogućnost povratka na mjesto generalnog direktora BioWarea, prihvatio sam ponudu znajući da je studio suočen s velikim izazovima po pitanju zdravlja tima, kreativne vizije i organizacijskog fokusa“, u nastavku maila navodi Hudson te dodaje: “Bio sam – i još uvijek sam – uzbuđen oko činjenice da pomognem donijeti poboljšanja u tim područjima jer volim ovaj studio, a povrh svega želim stvoriti mjesto na kojem ćete svi vi biti sretni i uspješni“.

Pri kraju maila, Hudson obećava kako se studio trenutno uhvatio u koštac s nadogradnjom strukture firme te da će se direktori pojedinačnih odjela od sada potpuno fokusirati na karijere pojedinaca u svom timu i na njihovu dobrobit, uz postavljanje jasnijih ciljeva i uloga, jasnije vizije budućih projekata te ono možda najbitnije i što je Anthemu svakako falilo – značajnije i bolje raspoređen post-produkcijski period razvoja igara “koji će smanjiti pritisak i tjeskobu naših timova tijekom razvoja“.

Unatoč činjenici što teški radni uvjeti i ogromna količina stresa i pritiska, kako je dokazano u Kotakuovom članku, nisu nastali tek nedavno nego se kroz rad kompanije provlače već dugi niz godina, Hudsonov mail je vrijedan hvale, naročito ukoliko će se ispostaviti da ovo sve nisu samo prazne parole i floskule kojima studio želi smiriti trenutne tenzije i lažno uvjeriti javnost i zaposlenike da će stvari “nekad u budućnosti” biti bolje.

U svakom slučaju, Hudsonov originalni mail poslan zaposlenicima pročitajte u cijelosti u nastavku teksta.

Hey BioWare,

I wanted to get a note out to you to share my thoughts on the Kotaku article and the online discussion it has raised.

The article mentions many of the problems in the development of Anthem and some of our previous projects. And it draws a link between those issues and the quality of our workplace and the well-being of our staff. These problems are real and it’s our top priority to continue working to solve them.

What we found out-of-bounds was the naming of specific developers as targets for public criticism. It’s unfair and extremely traumatizing to single out people in this way, and we can’t accept that treatment towards any of our staff. That’s why we did not participate in the article and made a statement to that effect.

When I was offered the opportunity to return to BioWare as GM, I came into the role knowing the studio was experiencing significant challenges in team health, creative vision, and organizational focus. I was – and continue to be – excited to help drive improvements in those areas because I love this studio, and above all I want to create a place where all of you are happy and successful.

I’m not going to tell you I’ve done a good job at that, and on a day like today I certainly feel like I haven’t. But some of the steps we’ve taken towards this include a more focused studio mission and values, so that we have clarity on what we are here to do and how we define a high standard for our studio culture. We updated our studio structure around a matrix so that department directors can be fully focused on individual career support and well-being. We are defining better role clarity so that people can succeed better against clear expectations. And we are putting in place production changes that will provide for clearer project vision as well as a significant post-production period that will further relieve pressure and anxiety on teams during development.

But I know there’s much more to do, and we will talk in more detail about other actions we have been planning in response to internal feedback and postmortems at next week’s All-Hands. As always please continue to provide feedback on further steps we can take to make BioWare the best possible place to work.

I’m committed to getting us to a place where we are delivering on the highest expectations for BioWare games, through a work environment that’s among the very best in the world. With your help, we will get there.

Please let me know if you’d like to talk in person and I will be happy to set up time to hear your thoughts.

Casey