The International Game Developers Association has announced that it’s launching a new reporting-based initiative to curb bad industry behavior.
The system comes hand-in-hand with a new set of “standards” for the video game industry, which cover topics such as game crediting, crunch and management abuse, and “event diversity,” which covers representation among speakers at video game events.
Though this new reporting form marks a proactive step for a long-lived organization, an interview with Gamesindustry.biz notes the inherent limitations of such a reporting system, and that the organization’s goals aren’t exactly to publicly shame companies submitted through the process.
“Rehabilitation is better than punishment, in any context,” stated IGDA executive director Renee Gittins. “It’s less about creating an industry blacklist.”
The IGDA’s reporting plan does include some levers for external transparency. The announcement notes that anonymized versions of submitted reports can be accessed by the public and press about amonth after the IGDA has made an effort to notify the company reported in the form.
Additionally, Gittins states that the IGDA hopes to create a public database tracking these reports to keep developers aware about the conditions at different companies.
This isn’t the first time the IGDA has announced a ramp-up in efforts to combat bad industry behavior. In 2016, it came out swinging against top-down instituted crunch under Kate Edwards’ leadership. However, we’ve heard concerns from developers in the last few years that the IGDA still may not be properly equipped to curb bad behavior at these companies.
After all, by its own insistence, the IGDA is neither a trade union, a guild, or trade organization. It’s a non-profit whose primary purpose is advocating for game developers. Though this announcement is a major new step for the long-lived organization, only time will tell if its reporting system is able to enact change among industry bad actors.