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98-513: Kojima Productions Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game development studio founded in 2015 by Hideo Kojima , creator of the Metal Gear series. It is the spiritual successor to a production team inside Konami also known as Kojima Productions originally founded in 2005. The independent Kojima Productions has a slightly altered Japanese name and is based in Shinagawa , Tokyo . The company

196-593: A database , Voice over IP , or add-in interface software; this is also known as middleware . Examples of this include SpeedTree and Havoc . Independents are software developers which are not owned by (or dependent on) a single publisher. Some of these developers self-publish their games, relying on the Internet and word of mouth for publicity. Without the large marketing budgets of mainstream publishers, their products may receive less recognition than those of larger publishers such as Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. With

294-450: A free-to-play with downloadable content (DLC) along with a mechanism to monetise user-generated content to reward the best creators for their innovation. After viewing GDC 2007, Kenneth Young joined the studio in 2007 as their audio and music lead after being infatuated by LittleBigPlanet , Healey, and Evans. Some time before its release, the development of a sequel began. In July, Media Molecule had 28 employees. LittleBigPlanet

392-461: A game creation system , at Sony Interactive Entertainment 's press conference at E3 2015 . In April 2019, the game was made available via early access , a first for a Sony game. In December 2019, Sony announced a February 2020 release date which it met. In September 2020, Evans announced he was leaving after serving for 13 years as a technical director at the studio, saying he wanted a break from game development. He has since joined Nvidia as

490-462: A 'satellite' (small) studio in Brighton, East Sussex. They opened this workspace to accommodate a group of developers who had been commuting to and from their headquarters, allowing them to reduce travel times. The venue where the office is located is called the "Lighthouse" and hosts offices for other organisations like Culture24 . The company announced Dreams , a sandbox video game with

588-429: A Develop conference, the co-founders said they were still involved with LittleBigPlanet 2 pointing to the upcoming PlayStation Move level pack as an example of their on-going work. Healey remarked that, "It's a bit like, if you think of LittleBigPlanet as having a child, Sackboy was our child, you get to the stage where they want to leave home, It's kind of like that." Evans elaborated by saying that Media Molecule

686-452: A culture of "toxic geek masculinity" within the workplace. In addition, the conditions behind crunch time are far more discriminating towards women as this requires them to commit time exclusively to the company or to more personal activities like raising a family. These factors established conditions within some larger development studios where female developers have found themselves discriminated in workplace hiring and promotion, as well as

784-571: A first-party company. As a balance to not being able to release their game for other platforms, second-party developers are usually offered higher royalty rates than third-party developers. These studios may have exclusive publishing agreements (or other business relationships) with the platform holder, but maintain independence so that upon completion or termination of their contracts, they are able to continue developing games for other publishers if they choose to. For example, while HAL Laboratory initially began developing games on personal computers like

882-410: A fixed period and generally work similar hours as full-time staff members, assisting across all areas of video game development, but as contractors, do not get any benefits such as paid time-off or health care from the employer; they also are typically not credited on games that they work on for this reason. The practice itself is legal and common in other engineering and technology areas, and generally it

980-428: A game featuring a "never before-seen concept" and leveraging Microsoft's "cutting-edge cloud technology". Kojima and Jordan Peele appeared at The Game Awards 2023 , while revealing the game OD . At The Game Awards 2022 , Kojima officially announced a sequel to Death Stranding . A second trailer was shown during a State of Play presentation by Sony on January 31, 2024, confirming its subtitle, On The Beach , and

1078-418: A game idea. They pitched an early precursor of what LittleBigPlanet was to become dubbed Craftworld to Phil Harrison , the head of development for Sony Worldwide Studios . Craftworld was a physics-based 2D side-scrolling game similar to LittleBigPlanet . Its main character was Mr. Yellowhead, who would later become Sackboy . Evans said that the pitch, which he described as "pretty vague",

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1176-403: A game on schedule. The complexity of workflow, reliance on third-party deliverables, and the intangibles of artistic and aesthetic demands in video game creation create difficulty in predicting milestones. The use of crunch time is also seen to be exploitative of the younger male-dominated workforce in video games, who have not had the time to establish a family and who were eager to advance within

1274-406: A game's profits. Current examples of first-party studios include PlayStation Studios for Sony, and Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Gaming . Second-party developer is a colloquial term often used by gaming enthusiasts and media to describe game studios that take development contracts from platform holders and develop games exclusive to that platform, i.e. a non-owned developer making games for

1372-569: A new franchise for PlayStation 4 . Kojima stated that he "will be taking on a new challenge by establishing my own independent studio, and I am thrilled to be able to embark on this journey with PlayStation, who I have continued to work with all these past years". In contrast to most Japanese development studios, which he likened to "armies" due to strict hierarchy and the lack of respect given to employees, Kojima sought to establish "an intimate kind of studio" that "feel[s] like it's family". Kojima visited Media Molecule and cited it as an inspiration. He

1470-437: A position in a medium to large video game company. An experienced game-development employee, depending on their expertise and experience, averaged roughly $ 73,000 in 2007. Indie game developers may only earn between $ 10,000 and $ 50,000 a year depending on how financially successful their titles are. In addition to being part of the software industry, game development is also within the entertainment industry; most sectors of

1568-479: A range of different genres including point-and-click adventures , puzzle-platformers, and shoot'em ups . Players interact with the game's world by controlling an "imp", similar to a mouse cursor , to create new items and characters. Released in February 2020, it received "generally favourable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic. In April 2023, Media Molecule announced that it would stop supporting

1666-457: A release window of 2025. That same day, Kojima announced a new game with the working title Physint , in collaboration with Columbia Pictures . Described as both the film and game, it is scheduled to enter full development after working on Death Stranding 2 . In November 2024, Kojima Productions announced that they had reclaimed the intellectual property (IP) rights to Death Stranding from Sony Interactive Entertainment and had planned to bring

1764-645: A researcher. In December 2022, Ettouney announced he was leaving the company in January 2023. In April 2023, Media Molecule announced that it would stop supporting Dreams in September of the same year. Their future game will not be related to Dreams . John Beech was announced as the new creative director after Healey's departure. In October 2023, it was reported that Media Molecule had laid off about 20 employees. The company confirmed that layoffs had occurred, but not state how many people were affected. This

1862-592: A roundtable discussion with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), the professional association for developers. Statements made by the IGDA's current executive director Jen MacLean relating to IGDA's activities had been seen by as anti-union, and Game Workers Unite desired to start a conversation to lay out the need for developers to unionize. In the wake of the sudden near-closure of Telltale Games in September 2018,

1960-740: A sequel entitled LittleBigPlanet 2 ; they released it in January 2011 to critical acclaim. In June, it was confirmed that LittleBigPlanet PS Vita was not being developed by Media Molecule but by Double Eleven , Tarsier Studios and XDev . Development of Tearaway began in May 2011. In July at Gamelab 2011 in Barcelona, Reddy announced that Media Molecule were stepping away from LittleBigPlanet to focus on new game ideas. Media Molecule added on Twitter that they would always be involved in LittleBigPlanet to some degree. In July at

2058-407: A single publisher; one canceled game may devastate a small developer. Because of this, many small development companies are short-lived. A common exit strategy for a successful video game developer is to sell the company to a publisher, becoming an in-house developer. In-house development teams tend to have more freedom in game design and content than third-party developers. One reason is that since

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2156-612: A small focused team. I've had enough of working on big, bloated teams, you get too much deadwood in those situations. Everyone at Media Molecule matters." Healey added there are always tensions between people in development, however, once there are too many they can cause tensions comparing it to being in a soap opera . Media Molecule had 135 employees in 2023, before layoffs occurred in October. Other game developers have adopted this policy, most notably Hideo Kojima of Kojima Productions . After visiting Media Molecule in 2016, when he

2254-403: A strong STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) background for women at the secondary education level, but there are issues with tertiary education such as at colleges and universities, where game development programs tend to reflect the male-dominated demographics of the industry, a factor that may lead women with strong STEM backgrounds to choose other career goals. There

2352-697: A unique case where nearly all parts of its labor force, including white-collar jobs such as video game development, may engage with labor unions under the Employment Protection Act often through collective bargaining agreements. Developer DICE had reached its union agreements in 2004. Paradox Interactive became one of the first major publishers to support unionization efforts in June 2020 with its own agreements to cover its Swedish employees within two labor unions Unionen and SACO . In Australia, video game developers could join other unions, but

2450-401: A uniquely close relationship with SCE. Over the years they have consistently shown their dedication to Creative Gaming and Media Molecule, not only through their support of the company, but their willingness to take risks and embrace our often unusual approach and ideas." It brought the total number of developers at SCE Worldwide Studios to fifteen. In May 2010, the company officially announced

2548-547: A variety of levels. The series features user-generated content, allowing players to create levels which can be shared and played by others online. The three games have collectively sold 8.5   million units. Sackboy has featured in every LittleBigPlanet game and is a mascot for the PlayStation brand. In 2011, Media Molecule stepped away from the LittleBigPlanet series. Despite this, they have collaborated and contributed with other studios for other games in

2646-516: A world made of paper. The game utilises the PlayStation Vita's numerous sensors and inputs when interacting with the in-game environment like the rear touchpad, touchscreen , and cameras. Both games received "generally favourable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic . Dreams is a game creation system allowing players to create and share their own levels similar to that of LittleBigPlanet . Players can create games from

2744-482: Is also a significant gap in racial minorities within the video game industry; a 2019 IGDA survey found only 2% of developers considered themselves to be of African descent and 7% Hispanic, while 81% were Caucasian; in contrast, 2018 estimates from the United States Census estimate the U.S. population to be 13% of African descent and 18% Hispanic. In a 2014 and 2015 survey of job positions and salaries,

2842-449: Is expected that this is meant to lead into a full-time position, or otherwise the end of the contract. But more recently, its use in the video game industry has been compared to Microsoft 's past use of " permatemp ", contract workers that were continually renewed and treated for all purposes as employees but received no benefits. While Microsoft has waned from the practice, the video game industry has adapted it more frequently. Around 10% of

2940-533: Is generally illegal, companies often target their oldest workers first during layoffs or other periods of reduction. Older developers with experience may find themselves too qualified for the types of positions that other game development companies seek given the salaries and compensations offered. Some of the larger video game developers and publishers have also engaged contract workers through agencies to help add manpower in game development in part to alleviate crunch time from employees. Contractors are brought on for

3038-410: Is no longer a "single-threaded company" and noted developing similar games all the time would become stale. In January 2012, Media Molecule had spent £4.1 million on research and development on new, innovative games aiming to reduce the reliance on the LittleBigPlanet brand name. In August 2012, they announced Tearaway led by Smith and Rex Crowle, with 15 developers working on it. The rest of

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3136-494: Is still their primary activity they are generally described as "publishers" rather than "developers". Developers may be private as well. In the video game industry , a first-party developer is part of a company that manufactures a video game console and develops mainly for it. First-party developers may use the name of the company itself (such as Nintendo ), have a specific division name (such as Sony's Polyphony Digital ) or have been an independent studio before being acquired by

3234-474: Is usually conducted in a casual business environment, with t-shirts and sandals as common work attire. Many workers find this type of environment rewarding and pleasant professionally and personally. However, the industry also requires long working hours from its employees (sometimes to an extent seen as unsustainable). Employee burnout is not uncommon. An entry-level programmer can make, on average, over $ 66,000 annually only if they are successful in obtaining

3332-604: The AFL–CIO writing an open letter to video game developers encouraging them to unionize. In January 2020, Game Workers Unite and the Communications Workers of America established a new campaign to push for unionization of video game developers, the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE), in January 2020. Initial efforts for CODE were aimed to determine what approach to unionization would be best suited for

3430-456: The International Game Developers Association (IGDA), are conducting increasing discussions about the problem; they are concerned that working conditions in the industry cause a significant deterioration in employees' quality of life. Some video game developers and publishers have been accused of the excessive invocation of "crunch time". "Crunch time" is the point at which the team is thought to be failing to achieve milestones needed to launch

3528-516: The MSX , they became one of the earliest second-party developers for Nintendo, developing exclusively for Nintendo's consoles starting with the Famicom, though they would self-publish their mobile games. A third-party developer may also publish games, or work for a video game publisher to develop a title. Both publisher and developer have considerable input in the game's design and content. However,

3626-528: The Me Too movement and have tried to address the symptoms of these problems industry-wide, the video game industry has yet to have its Me Too-moment, even as late as 2021. There also tends to be pay-related discrimination against women in the industry. According to Gamasutra 's Game Developer Salary Survey 2014, women in the United States made 86 cents for every dollar men made. Game designing women had

3724-653: The PlayStation 4 . Crowle and LittleBigPlanet programmer, Moo Yu, founded Foam Sword in November 2015 and released their debut title Knights and Bikes in August 2019. Whilst Media Molecule may have moved away from LittleBigPlanet , they have collaborated with other studios and contributed to new games. This includes: 2009's LittleBigPlanet , 2010's Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves , 2012's LittleBigPlanet Karting , and 2014's LittleBigPlanet 3 . In October 2016, Media Molecule opened Media Molecule Brighton

3822-530: The PlayStation ;3 . The deal included SCE owning the intellectual property and that LittleBigPlanet would be available only on PlayStation consoles. Evans said, "SCE have proven to be the perfect partner for us. They immediately understood both our ambition for the game as well as our development style." Pre-production was extended until August when Media Molecule met with Sony executives, including Harrison, to decide whether to greenlight

3920-504: The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) union doing work for video games struck several major publishers, demanding better royalty payments and provisions related to the safety of their vocal performances, when their union's standard contract was up for renewal. The voice actor strike lasted for over 300 days into 2017 before a new deal was made between SAG-AFTRA and

4018-645: The video game industry . He told the Los Angeles Times : "Someone who was part of the co-creation of that world and those characters isn't getting a credit or a nickel for the work they put into it. Maybe we need unions in the video game industry to be able to protect creators." Media Molecule Media Molecule Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Guildford, Surrey . Founded in 2006 by Mark Healey , Alex Evans, David Smith, and Kareem Ettouney, Sony Computer Entertainment acquired

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4116-560: The Destination PlayStation meeting. SCE Studio Cambridge had been the primary developer, alongside Media Molecule. They released it in November to positive critical reviews. It was announced on 2 March 2010 that SCE had purchased Media Molecule for an undisclosed sum. Shuhei Yoshida , president of SIE Worldwide Studios, praised the studio's innovation and noted they had "world-class credentials". Evans added that, "Since Media Molecule's inception, we've had

4214-446: The IGDA found that people of color were both underrepresented in senior management roles as well as underpaid in comparison to white developers. Further, because video game developers typically draw from personal experiences in building game characters, this diversity gap has led to few characters of racial minority to be featured as main characters within video games. Minority developers have also been harassed from external groups due to

4312-600: The Patriots . Kojima said the merger relieved him of business management and administrative burdens he had as Konami's vice president, and that as head of Kojima Productions he could focus on making games. While having a position on the Konami board, Kojima wanted to persuade the staff and invest the company in his idea. As well as developing Metal Gear titles, Kojima Productions developed the Fox Engine . In March 2013,

4410-493: The Year from the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards . Media Molecule's philosophy is to have as few employees as achievable. Four former Lionhead Studios' employees—Alex Evans, Kareem Ettouney, Mark Healey , and David Smith—founded Media Molecule, incorporating it on 4 January 2006. Chris Lee and Mags Hardwick are also among the founding team. Evans and Smith were both technical directors until 2020 when Evans left; Healey

4508-535: The acquisition of Activision Blizzard , stated it supported these unionization efforts. After this acquisition, the employees of Bethesda Game Studios , part of Zenimax under Microsoft, unionized under the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in July 2024. Over 500 employees within Blizzard Entertainment 's World of Warcraft division also unionized with CWA that same month. Sweden presents

4606-572: The advent of digital distribution of inexpensive games on game consoles, it is now possible for indie game developers to forge agreements with console manufacturers for broad distribution of their games. Other indie game developers create game software for a number of video-game publishers on several gaming platforms. In recent years this model has been in decline; larger publishers, such as Electronic Arts and Activision, increasingly turn to internal studios (usually former independent developers acquired for their development needs). Video game development

4704-431: The closest equity, making 96 cents for every dollar men made in the same job, while audio professional women had the largest gap, making 68% of what men in the same position made. Increasing the representation of women in the video game industry required breaking a feedback loop of the apparent lack of female representation in the production of video games and in the content of video games. Efforts have been made to provide

4802-507: The company established Kojima Productions Los Angeles , the secondary studio in Playa Vista, Los Angeles . However, the studio was closed down as part of Konami's plan to restructure the company in 2015. On March 16, 2015, Konami announced that it had restructured the game development operations to change the production structure to a headquarters-controlled system, "in order to establish a steadfast operating base capable of responding to

4900-416: The console manufacturer (such as Rare or Naughty Dog ). Whether by purchasing an independent studio or by founding a new team, the acquisition of a first-party developer involves a huge financial investment on the part of the console manufacturer, which is wasted if the developer fails to produce a hit game on time. However, using first-party developers saves the cost of having to make royalty payments on

4998-508: The console. This established the use of licensing fees as a model for third-party development that persists into the present. The licensing fee approach was further enforced by Nintendo when it decided to allow other third-party developers to make games for the Famicom console, setting a 30% licensing fee that covered game cartridge manufacturing costs and development fees. The 30% licensing fee for third-party developers has also persisted to

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5096-444: The developer if the game is not meeting expectations. When each milestone is completed (and accepted), the publisher pays the developer an advance on royalties . Successful developers may maintain several teams working on different games for different publishers. Generally, however, third-party developers tend to be small, close-knit teams. Third-party game development is a volatile sector, since small developers may depend on income from

5194-473: The developer released a sequel, LittleBigPlanet 2 . LittleBigPlanet spawned a series of games developed by other studios, often in collaboration with Media Molecule. The studio developed 2013's Tearaway and its extended remake, Tearaway Unfolded . In 2016, they opened a small studio in Brighton, East Sussex . Dreams was released in February 2020. The studio has won numerous awards, including Studio of

5292-417: The developers are the publisher's employees, their interests align with those of the publisher; the publisher may spend less effort ensuring that the developer's decisions do not enrich the developer at the publisher's expense. Activision in 1979 became the first third-party video game developer. When four Atari, Inc. programmers left the company following its sale to Warner Communications , partially over

5390-467: The entertainment industry (such as films and television ) require long working hours and dedication from their employees, such as willingness to relocate and/or required to develop games that do not appeal to their personal taste. The creative rewards of work in the entertainment business attracts labor to the industry, creating a competitive labor market that demands a high level of commitment and performance from employees. Industry communities, such as

5488-404: The event by Konami's lawyers, requiring Big Boss 's actor Kiefer Sutherland to accept the awards for The Phantom Pain on his behalf. On December 16, 2015, in a joint announcement with Sony Computer Entertainment , Kojima announced that he would start an independent studio—also named Kojima Productions—alongside Yoji Shinkawa and Kenichiro Imaizumi. The studio announced that it would develop

5586-528: The firm in 2010. It became part of SCE Worldwide Studios (now PlayStation Studios ). The company is best known for developing the LittleBigPlanet series, 2013's Tearaway , and 2020's Dreams for PlayStation consoles. Before the company's formation, the co-founders, led by Healey, developed Rag Doll Kung Fu , whilst working at Lionhead Studios . They left Lionhead in 2005 and presented an early precursor of LittleBigPlanet to Sony . Sony

5684-544: The first two games— LittleBigPlanet (2008) and LittleBigPlanet 2 (2011) for the PlayStation 3—in addition to co-developing the PlayStation Portable version of the same name (2009) with SCE Studio Cambridge, the primary developer. It is a series of puzzle platformer games that follow Sackboy a small, brown, anthropomorphic, humanoid creature made of fabric with a zip fastener and button eyes across

5782-572: The first video game-specific union, Game Workers Unite Australia, was formed in December 2021 under Professionals Australia to become active in 2022. In Canada, in a historic move, video game workers in Edmonton unanimously voted to unionize for the first time in June 2022. In January 2023, after not being credited in The Last of Us HBO adaptation, Bruce Straley called for unionization of

5880-413: The founders noted it had similarities to 2007's Portal . They also demonstrated it at GDC 2005. The founders met with Valve who were interested in hiring them to develop The Room or another game idea, but nothing came of it. Evans noted if they had, Portal may not have been developed. The founders left Lionhead Studios in December 2005 and met with Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) regarding

5978-448: The game at the 2005 Game Developers Conference (GDC). Valve employees were in the audience because the firm was interested in the game. They were looking for a "low risk, low cost" third-party game to test on Steam ; it became the first non-Valve game to be released on the platform in October 2005. Also in 2005, whilst at Lionhead, the co-founders were working a game called The Room using clay tubes and portals. In retrospect,

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6076-551: The game to additional platforms, coinciding with the immediate launch of Director's Cut on Xbox Series X/S , Microsoft Store for Windows, and the Amazon Luna cloud gaming service. In November 2019, Kojima Productions announced their plans to make films. Two years later, in November 2021, the studio announced that it would open a new business division for films and television series in Los Angeles . In December 2022, it

6174-422: The game's production. Harrison described the pitch for production as the best meeting he had ever had. Media Molecule then started full development. In 2019, Harrison reaffirmed this sentiment, citing Evan's different approach. Instead of using PowerPoint , he wrote his own interactive 'PowerPoint' so that the game was playable through the presentation. Harrison said this demonstrated their innovative thinking and

6272-503: The game, much more than we had previously thought." The keynote included a demonstration by Healey, Evans, Harrison, and Peter Smith (senior producer on LittleBigPlanet ) showing core gameplay elements throughout a game level and explaining players could create their own levels with tools provided to them within the game. LittleBigPlanet was one game that Sony considered fit their "Game 3.0" concept of user-generated content . Harrison originally suggested having LittleBigPlanet

6370-566: The game. Evans described the company's formation as a combination of the boost from Rag Doll Kung Fu , some new ideas bubbling in his head, and the new wave of consoles around the corner. In March, they moved into a studio in Guildford, Surrey ; around this time Siobhan Reddy , the studio director, joined Media Molecule. Reddy is occasionally regarded as the fifth co-founder. On 1 June 2006, Media Molecule announced they had signed an exclusive deal with SCE. This agreement allowed Media Molecule to create an original game exclusively for

6468-404: The gaming industry, while a 2017 IGDA survey found that the female demographic in game development had risen to about 20%. Taking into account that a 2017 ESA survey found 41% of video game players were female, this represented a significant gender gap in game development. The male-dominated industry, most who have grown up playing video games and are part of the video game culture , can create

6566-457: The industry by working long hours. Because crunch time tends to come from a combination of corporate practices as well as peer influence, the term "crunch culture" is often used to discuss video game development settings where crunch time may be seen as the norm rather than the exception. The use of crunch time as a workplace standard gained attention first in 2004, when Erin Hoffman exposed

6664-431: The lack of respect that the new management gave to programmers, they used their knowledge of how Atari VCS game cartridges were programmed to create their own games for the system, founding Activision in 1979 to sell these. Atari took legal action to try to block the sale of these games, but the companies ultimately settled, with Activision agreeing to pay a portion of their sales as a license fee to Atari for developing for

6762-559: The movement again called out for the industry to unionize. The movement argued that Telltale had not given any warning to its 250 employees let go, having hired additional staff as recently as a week prior, and left them without pensions or health-care options; it was further argued that the studio considered this a closure rather than layoffs, as to get around failure to notify required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 preceding layoffs. The situation

6860-448: The nature of the video game culture. The industry also is recognized to have an ageism issue, discriminating against the hiring and retention of older developers. A 2016 IGDA survey found only 3% of developers were over 50 years old, while at least two-thirds were between 20 and 34; these numbers show a far lower average age compared to the U.S. national average of about 41.9 that same year. While discrimination by age in hiring practices

6958-540: The news, there have typically been followup discussions towards the potential to form a union. A survey performed by the International Game Developers Association in 2014 found that more than half of the 2,200 developers surveyed favored unionization. A similar survey of over 4,000 game developers run by the Game Developers Conference in early 2019 found that 47% of respondents felt the video game industry should unionize. In 2016, voice actors in

7056-694: The present, being a de facto rate used for most digital storefronts for third-party developers to offer their games on the platform. In recent years, larger publishers have acquired several third-party developers. While these development teams are now technically "in-house", they often continue to operate in an autonomous manner (with their own culture and work practices). For example, Activision acquired Raven (1997); Neversoft (1999), which merged with Infinity Ward in 2014; Z-Axis (2001); Treyarch (2001); Luxoflux (2002); Shaba (2002); Infinity Ward (2003) and Vicarious Visions (2005). All these developers continue operating much as they did before acquisition,

7154-414: The primary differences being exclusivity and financial details. Publishers tend to be more forgiving of their own development teams going over budget (or missing deadlines) than third-party developers. A developer may not be the primary entity creating a piece of software, usually providing an external software tool which helps organize (or use) information for the primary software product. Such tools may be

7252-429: The publisher's wishes generally override those of the developer. Work for hire studios solely execute the publishers vision. The business arrangement between the developer and publisher is governed by a contract, which specifies a list of milestones intended to be delivered over a period of time. By updating its milestones, the publisher verifies that work is progressing quickly enough to meet its deadline and can direct

7350-467: The publishers. While this had some effects on a few games within the industry, it brought to the forefront the question of whether video game developers should unionize. A grassroots movement, Game Workers Unite , was established around 2017 to discuss and debate issues related to unionization of game developers. The group came to the forefront during the March 2018 Game Developers Conference by holding

7448-436: The rapid market changes that surround our digital entertainment business". The Kojima Productions branding was quietly removed from company websites and buildings. A few days later, an anonymous Konami employee stated that Kojima and the studio's senior staff had planned to leave Konami in December 2015 following the conclusion of their contracts and the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain . Konami denied that Kojima

7546-572: The series, including Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves (2010), LittleBigPlanet Karting (2012), and LittleBigPlanet 3 (2014). Media Molecule created the Tearaway series and developed Tearaway (2013) for the PlayStation Vita and co-developed Tearaway Unfolded (2015), an expanded remake of the earlier game, for the PlayStation ;4 with Tarsier Studios. Tearaway is a platform - adventure game that follows Iota or Atoi through

7644-537: The studio was working on another project— Dreams —which was in the research and development phase. Around this time, Media Molecule had over 40 employees. They released Tearaway in November 2013 for the PlayStation Vita . In March 2015, Young left Media Molecule to become a game audio freelancer, though he continued working on Unfolded . Two years later, Media Molecule and Tarsier Studios released Tearaway Unfolded , an expanded remake of Tearaway for

7742-545: The target of sexual harassment. This can be coupled from similar harassment from external groups, such as during the 2014 Gamergate controversy . Major investigations into allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct that went unchecked by management, as well as discrimination by employers, have been brought up against Riot Games , Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard in the late 2010s and early 2020s, alongside smaller studios and individual developers. However, while other entertainment industries have had similar exposure through

7840-484: The toxic nature of the video game culture. This racial diversity issue has similar ties to the gender one, and similar methods to result both have been suggested, such as improving grade school education, developing games that appeal beyond the white, male gamer stereotype, and identifying toxic behavior in both video game workplaces and online communities that perpetuate discrimination against gender and race. In regards to LGBT and other gender or sexual orientations,

7938-487: The use of crunch time at Electronic Arts , a situation known as the "EA Spouses" case. A similar "Rockstar Spouses" case gained further attention in 2010 over working conditions at Rockstar San Diego . Since then, there has generally been negative perception of crunch time from most of the industry as well as from its consumers and other media. Game development had generally been a predominately male workforce. In 1989, according to Variety , women constituted only 3% of

8036-508: The video game industry typically shares the same demographics as with the larger population based on a 2005 IGDA survey. Those in the LGBT community do not find workplace issues with their identity, though work to improve the representation of LGBT themes within video games in the same manner as with racial minorities. However, LGBT developers have also come under the same type of harassment from external groups like women and racial minorities due to

8134-678: The video game industry. Whereas some video game employees believe they should follow the craft-based model used by SAG-AFTRA which would unionize based on job function, others feel an industry-wide union, regardless of job position, would be better. Starting in 2021, several smaller game studios in the United States began efforts to unionize. These mostly involved teams doing quality assurance rather than developers. These studios included three QA studios under Blizzard Entertainment : Raven Software , Blizzard Albany , and Proletariat; and Zenimax Media 's QA team. Microsoft , which had previously acquired Zenimax and announced plans to acquire Blizzard via

8232-506: The way Media Molecule wanted to challenge conventions impressed him. "The green-light meeting in August: I would summarise it by saying in my career I've probably seen close to 1000 game pitches. This is the best meeting I have ever had. It was the best presentation of a vision executed perfectly, which was fun, which was playable, and showed the potential of where this could go. I must admit I floated out of that meeting room thinking that this

8330-504: The workforce in video games is estimated to be from contract labor. Similar to other tech industries, video game developers are typically not unionized . This is a result of the industry being driven more by creativity and innovation rather than production, the lack of distinction between management and employees in the white-collar area, and the pace at which the industry moves that makes union actions difficult to plan out. However, when situations related to crunch time become prevalent in

8428-407: Was "meant to be a 30-minute pitch for our idea for a game called Craftworld that soon turned into a three-hour brainstorming session". Despite this Sony were interested, partly because of Harrison's enthusiasm for the game, according to Smith. In January 2006, they secured their funding from Sony for six months. They set up their office, incorporated Media Molecule, and started pre-production of

8526-461: Was alongside about 900 layoffs across PlayStation Studios including the closure of London Studio . Media Molecule was reportedly near to being closed instead of London Studio. Media Molecule aims to have as few employees as possible. In 2006, Evans said that Media Molecule wants to stay as small as possible whilst being able to produce a AAA game , aiming to keep the number of employees below thirty. Healey said, "I am really intent on keeping us

8624-878: Was announced that Kojima Productions was partnering with Hammerstone Studios to produce a film based on Death Stranding , with Hammerstone providing funding. It was also announced that the film was in development under A24 . Video game developer A developer may specialize in specific game engines or specific video game consoles , or may develop for several systems (including personal computers and mobile devices ). Some focus on porting games from one system to another, or translating games from one language to another. Less commonly, some do software development work in addition to games. Most video game publishers maintain development studios (such as Electronic Arts 's EA Canada , Square Enix 's studios, Activision 's Radical Entertainment , Nintendo EPD and Sony's Polyphony Digital and Naughty Dog ). However, since publishing

8722-668: Was argued to be "exploitive", as Telltale had been known to force its employees to frequently work under "crunch time" to deliver its games. By the end of 2018, a United Kingdom trade union, Game Workers Unite UK, an affiliate of the Game Workers Unite movement, had been legally established. Following Activision Blizzard 's financial report for the previous quarter in February 2019, the company said that they would be laying off around 775 employees (about 8% of their workforce) despite having record profits for that quarter. Further calls for unionization came from this news, including

8820-597: Was formed as a subsidiary of Konami in April 2005, after the merger of several subsidiaries including Kojima's group at Konami Computer Entertainment Japan. The name of the team followed Konami's naming style used between 2004 and 2015. Other production teams include Pawapuro Production  [ ja ] , BEMANI Production  [ ja ] , Virtual Kiss Production  [ ja ] and Loveplus Production  [ ja ] . The team had around 100 employees, but grew to over 200 for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of

8918-539: Was impressed by its work culture, particularly its number of female employees and relaxed atmosphere. He set a limit of one hundred employees for the studio, similar to Media Molecule. In 2016, the studio opened a small division in Amsterdam , near Guerrilla Games , who developed the Decima game engine that Kojima is using. At E3 2016 , Kojima unveiled a trailer to Death Stranding during Sony's pre-E3 conference. It

9016-514: Was interested, so in January 2006 they secured their funding from Sony for six months and Media Molecule was incorporated . The studio signed a deal with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe in June. This allowed Media Molecule to create LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation 3 , with Sony owning the intellectual property . Soon after, LittleBigPlanet began production; it was released in October 2008 to critical acclaim. Sony acquired Media Molecule for an undisclosed sum two years later. In 2011,

9114-571: Was just the most fantastic opportunity that was in front of us." Phil Harrison , describing the LittleBigPlanet ' s green-light meeting in August 2006. Phil Harrison announced LittleBigPlanet at the Game Developers Conference on 7 March 2007, in San Francisco ; only upon arrival did Healey and others realise they were a part of his keynote with Healey. He noted that, "Sony were very, very much behind

9212-549: Was leaving the company and stated that he would still be involved with the company and the Metal Gear franchise. Kojima affirmed that he was still "100% involved" in The Phantom Pain and was determined to make it the greatest game he could. In December 2015, the production team was nominated for Developer of the Year at The Game Awards 2015 , but lost to CD Projekt Red . Kojima was reportedly blocked from attending

9310-409: Was re-establishing the company, Kojima modelled the new studio around Media Molecule, wanting "a small, intimate type of studio". Kojima praised the high number of female employees and the relaxed atmosphere comparing it to a family. He set a limit of one hundred employees at Kojima Productions, similar to Media Molecule. As the creator of the LittleBigPlanet series Media Molecule developed

9408-452: Was released between 27 October 2008 and 5 November across different regions. LittleBigPlanet was critically acclaimed by critics, winning over 90 awards including the Award for Artistic Achievement at the 5th British Academy Video Games Awards . By January 2009, Media Molecule had 34 employees. A month later, it announced LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation Portable at

9506-484: Was released by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2019, and a PC version was released by 505 Games on Windows in July 2020. Imaizumi left the company in 2019. In April 2020, the office was temporarily closed after an employee contracted COVID-19 . In October 2020, it was confirmed that the company is working on the next game in development. On June 12, 2022, during Microsoft 's digital presentation, Kojima announced that it had partnered with Xbox Game Studios to make

9604-520: Was the creative director whilst Ettouney was the art director . Healey left the company on 17 April 2023. Before the founding of Media Molecule, Evans and Healey worked at Bullfrog Productions for its co-founder Peter Molyneux . Molyneux later went on to co-found Lionhead Studios , with Evans and Healey being two of its first employees. Soon after, the co-founders, led primarily by Healey, developed Rag Doll Kung Fu in their spare time whilst working at Lionhead Studios. Healey demonstrated

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