So the point of boycott isn't just the financial bottom line or "voting with your wallet", it's also public pressure through other mechanisms like social media and the press. And also the larger moral issue of not personally supporting abuse, this is about sending a message that's not only monetary.
Legislation is another important avenue and making your voice heard there is also absolutely valid. This isn't a zero sum game, multiple approaches shouldn't be discouraged.
The toxic culture in the games industry is
exceptionally widespread, self-supporting
(many developers actually encourage it themselves), and has been the status quo for basically 30 years now.
Public pressure will not work. Boycotting will not work. Social media grandstanding will not work. It hasn't worked. It continues to not work now. It will not work in the future. This isn't a new phenomenon. This isn't something that just popped up. This isn't something that no one knew about until now. Developers have literally been fighting crunch for longer than most of ERA has been
alive.
Legislation is not 'another important avenue'. It is realistically the
only avenue.
It's not about being a zero sum game or 'multiple approaches'. Developers are literally telling you what you are doing does not accomplish the goal you are striving for. The people who you claim to be advocating for do not want you to do this.
All that boycotting or social media pressure or 'making your voice heard' accomplishes is make
YOU feel better about the situation. It only accomplishes temporarily absolving
YOU of the moral/ethical dilemma of being intimately involved in an exploitative industry. Because
YOU feel like you've done something, you've contributed, you've helped in some way. And it's largely hypocritical and vain.
