DEVS: Can Games Be Made as Quickly via Remote Work; GAMERS: Are You Willing to Wait for Next Gen Consoles and/or Games

[Deleted member 56752]

Hey, I have been tossing these two questions around for a while.

I know developers are on here. I want to know how games are uploaded/saved and worked on throughout teams. It is unclear to me right now whether remote work will have a tremendous impact on the speed of development. I also am curious about which parts of the development process would be the most taxing for remote developers. Like, is a game like Ghosts of Tsushima in a better spot because it's in polish stage or does that require more QA time, which in turn, requires more in person work? I don't know. I want to learn. I want to know what to expect. Most gamers expect no changes. Some journalists like Jason Schreier have indicated that there's likely going to be widespread delays. I just want some insight.

For gamers, are you okay with delays? Or are you upset internally? I don't need to know what you aspire to feel. I want to know what you actually feel. How does this impact your game purchases, console purchases, choices as to what you play etc etc. I'm curious about this too. Because I personally don't care. I want to catch up. I might - if this persists and things get delayed - pick up death stranding, sekiro and control. I might finish Yakuza Zero, Life is Strange 2, Batman Enemy Within, Kingdom Hearts 1 (or maybe not) and 2 and 3, final fantasy games when they hit game pass, etc.

 

[Mekanos]

I always buy new consoles late so this changes nothing for me, but I do hope certain developers come out and admit if their games will be delayed/postponed instead of leaving us in the dark. Their health/safety comes first. I'd rather not know they're working at risk.

I'm perfectly fine though, I used to joke my backlog could last me a decade and now that's gonna be put to the test.

 

[OSHAN]

I'm OK with delays. This isn't a time to be upset.

 

[Lobster Roll]

Delay everything for all I care. Make sure the developers and other workers remain healthy and safe. If shutting down temporarily, pay everyone. Consoles and games are luxury toys, and should take a backseat to combating this virus.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Anyone not "okay" with delays is a fucking psycho.

 

[Vitamin_B_Complex]

Lives of people bringing me joy>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>their product that bring me joy.

 

[SageShinigami]

Devs should stay at home too. If they can do the work from there, even if it's slower, that's fine with me. Everyone needs to be safe.

 

[Snake Eater]

More time to finish this generations backlog, this definitely has slowed down development of next-gen titles

 

[Deleted member 56752]

Devs should stay at home too. If they can do the work from there, even if it's slower, that's fine with me. Everyone needs to be safe.

Click to shrink...

I'm curious what that means though. Are they uploading to a server? You would imagine they HAVE to. How many edits to the same file can they do at home and how much longer does remote desktop/servers take to complete? My remote server for my company is abysmally slow and it just runs practice management type stuff. PDF files. MS word. How awful would it be for games

 

[adj_noun]

There's a global pandemic going on. I don't give a shit if consoles are delayed.

 

[CloseTalker]

Smaller more agile dev teams can probably make it work without much of a hit in productivity. Large teams can function, but 100% productivity will take a hit. Simply too many moving parts

 

[StrikeFirst117]

Don't care if the consoles get delayed and what games get delayed I'd rather every game industry employee takes priority of their health rather than the game coming out on a deadline.
I'd expect a bunch of big AAA games to be affected in some way, in what way though remains to be seen.

 

[alpha]

Sure, delay what you have to. Employee safety is the more important thing here, and there are plenty of great games already out to play in the meantime.

 

[bishoptl]

We're figuring it out.

 

[Zhao_Yun]

Anyone not "okay" with delays is a fucking psycho.

Click to shrink...

This. We have bigger problems to deal with right now than the delay of games and consoles.

 

[johnnyquicknives]

I think one of the biggest issues is probably around security, both in terms of controlling the codebase and avoiding leaks. Studios are generally very protective about leaks and have pretty intense NDAs. I would imagine that there are a lot of concerns about, for example, someones flatmate seeing something and posting it on reddit or whatever.

 

[Deleted member 27751]

I'd actually say game developers are probably more accustomed to work at home attitudes and usage then the general public has been forced into. With cloud services and github etc it was quite easy for my team to do a lot of our work when creating a uni game four years ago so I doubt things have changed.

 

[Deleted member 51306]

Delay whatever needs to be delayed. Keep everyone safe.

 

[Deleted member 8468]

Willing to wait or not doesn't seem to be a viable choice right now. If it gets delayed, people are gonna have to wait lol.

I'm sure if this goes on long enough we will see game delays.

 

[Zombine]

Take all the time they need. There is currently nothing wrong with these consoles, I have a lot to play and enjoy, and with the economic uncertainty, the last things on my mind are two $400+ consoles.

I'll always be team dev safety.

 

[FrostweaveBandage]

The world of tech is one of the few places uniquely equipped to handle remote work. The difficulty is the distraction of being home.

 

[oofouchugh]

The issue isn't how fast people can work from home but security. Large developers don't want internet access to their files and some even go as far as to keep their source control completely offline and just on local networks including keeping dev machines off the internet. There are other solutions but this is generally the easiest/cheapest way to lock things down.

Trying to build out portable developer work stations, secure access to files, and prevent leaks is a huge headache that a lot of devs aren't likely to be ready for right now. The industry has always leaned hard into trying to trap employees at work as much as possible without calling it crunch with "benefits" tied up in their physical office space so quarantine is definitely catching them with their pants around their ankles.

 

[AstralTurfWarrior]

I'm curious what that means though. Are they uploading to a server? You would imagine they HAVE to. How many edits to the same file can they do at home and how much longer does remote desktop/servers take to complete? My remote server for my company is abysmally slow and it just runs practice management type stuff. PDF files. MS word. How awful would it be for games

Click to shrink...

I'm not a game developer, but I'd imagine they'd just take remote access to their work computer through a VPN. Basically the same as if you'd work at the office. Just no in person meetings.

edit: Or yeah, most devs could probably work locally too since there's version control

 

[Yung Coconut]

Working from home hasn't slowed down our studio. Between having my machine at home, being able to remote into a machine at work and communication tools like slack... I've only got more productive without having to waste 2+ hours a day commuting and going out for lunch. Our audio and art teams have also remained productive.

The real delays are going to come from the business side trying to pick the best window to release these products in.

 

[Sesha]

Seems to me the lack of a commute and potentially more flexible work hours will make certain things less of a headache for some devs.

As a gamer, I waited 11 years for DMC5. Anything else is easy pea soup. I can wait for whatever however long.

 

[MegaManTrigger]

Anyone who is going to act petty over delays should get perspective.

Lives of workers + their wellbeing >>>>> products

 

[LewieP]

I think game studios should probably let staff work from home, even without this pandemic.

I don't care if any games are delayed.

I do care about the health and safety of people making games, and their families etc.

 

[Foffy]

Delays are fine if health and wellbeing are at the forefront. Video games are not necessary to human life.

 

[Deleted member 56752]

Seems to me the lack of a commute and potentially more flexible work hours will make certain things less of a headache for some devs.

As a gamer, I waited 11 years for DMC5. Anything else is easy pea soup. I can wait for whatever however long.

Click to shrink...

bro. that wait was 100% worth it.

 

[Joffy]

We can't really be unwilling to wait can we? What's the alternative?

 

[Dremorak]

I'm curious what that means though. Are they uploading to a server? You would imagine they HAVE to. How many edits to the same file can they do at home and how much longer does remote desktop/servers take to complete? My remote server for my company is abysmally slow and it just runs practice management type stuff. PDF files. MS word. How awful would it be for games

Click to shrink...

In my experience you normally work off a shared repository anyway, working from home is the same.
Github makes it pretty easy nowadays.
Also you don't remote in to your work PC, you work locally on a PC at home and then you upload the files to a shared repository

 

[Transistor]

I'm OK with delays. This isn't a time to be upset.

Click to shrink...

.

 

[ScoobsJoestar]

In theory I don't think remote work would necessarily slow down game development as far as workflow goes, but here's a few issues:

1) Right now most companies(…okay most companies I have had experience with, can't speak for the industry since I'm just an indie dude now and working software stuff outside of that) honestly just aren't set up for a complete remote workflow and setting up that type of management takes some effort and experience to be honest, and even setting this up right now is not easy.

2) A lot of companies depend on crunch time to meet deadlines. Even 'voluntary' crunch is done by having the office culture peer pressure you into doing it. With a fully remote environment, honestly realistically I just don't see crunch being as easy to push because office culture dies down.

This is for AAA environments. Indie environments generally work mostly remotely anyway tbh so those should be fine. My projects are going fine at least, can't super comment on AAA friends because, well, yeah.

And from a personal perspective of course I'm okay with delays.

 

[LycanXIII]

I've got a huge backlog. Delays until the fall would be great for me.

 

[Glio]

Am I okay with delaying entertainment products if that can save lives?

Yes, I am okay.

 

[Cantaloup]

I would guess that access to debug units and development kits might be an issue, especially for next gen consoles. I don't know if there would be enough to go around.

 

[McNum]

We're looking at a global pandemic of a virus that can be deadly.

So yes, if my entertainment gets delayed due to a global pandemic, I am okay with that. The Coronavirus has brought much of the world to a standstill. Demanding that video games take priority over that is just crazy.

We'll feel the aftereffects of this thing for a long time, and that's just how it is. Worry about saving lives. Video games are so far down the priority list compared to that that they might as well not be on the list at all.

 

[spam musubi]

Remote work can work, but it will usually end up being significantly less efficient for many scenarios in larger companies. If you are having a hard time waiting for games because of this, I would urge you to significantly re-evaluate your priorities.

 

[Vimto]

We don't get a choice lol

Whatever studios choose, it should be with safety of their staff first.

 

[SlightlyLive]

Delays will happen. Even the best remote set ups studios can provide will not ever compete with the status quo.

 

[RisingStar]

While many in this thread are being positive and understanding, let anyone screw up their next conference and it's going to be a different tune in here. Let's be honest, very few will tolerate delays on the internet. This community isn't one for being understanding.

 

[@dedmunk]

Push everything, i don't care if a single games doesn't release for the rest of the year.

 

[Roytheone]

Delays are fine, I just hope that when games come out after this is all over there will not be so many games suddenly out in the same time that some of them will fail financially because of that. Would suck for the devs.

 

[Pankratous]

I'm not a game developer but as an IT worker in an engineering team - no they cannot be made as quickly. Not having direct contact for collaboration or knowledge sharing as well as well as access to some equipment is seriously hindering, even if that equipment is just additional monitors.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

I'm curious what that means though. Are they uploading to a server? You would imagine they HAVE to. How many edits to the same file

Click to shrink...

You use collaborative tools like version control, usually git, to manage these things. It's not a single server, nor is it people working on a single file all at the same time. Version control lets multiple people work on parts of a larger project at once, then merge the results.

 

[Deleted member 45130]

Are we willing to wait? Absolutely, if it means saving lives. There is so much to play that these days you are spoilt for choice.

 

[OneBadMutha]

I'm hoping for delays at this point. I don't feel good about these devs and manufacturers being under these tight deadlines. Launch is coming in hot. Feels like they're all hanging by the end of the rope. Consumers are already financially impacted or facing uncertainty. We can all wait 4 - 6 more months.

 

[Deleted member 56752]

You use collaborative tools like version control, usually git, to manage these things. It's not a single server, nor is it people working on a single file all at the same time. Version control lets multiple people work on parts of a larger project at once, then merge the results.

Click to shrink...

Let me run a hypo. Three people. A, B, C.

Persons A, B, and C are all running 1.0 and all working from home. A is working on animation, B is working on sound, and C is working on engine/tech.

A alters 1.0 for his animation work. He saves/uploads that so that others can access it. Saves as 1.5.

B alters 1.0 for her sound work. She saves/uploads that so others can access.

C alters 1.5 to include her engine/tech patch and upgrades. She saves as 2.0.

Can you merge 2.0 and 1.0 into a 3.0? How easy is it?

 

[spam musubi]

I imagine this would affect next gen development more adversely to some extent considering the need for dev kits which are likely not very abundant and tend to be access controlled to prevent leaks. I can't imagine the unbridled gamer rage if next gen gets delayed, tbh

Let me run a hypo. Three people. A, B, C.

Persons A, B, and C are all running 1.0 and all working from home. A is working on animation, B is working on sound, and C is working on engine/tech.

A alters 1.0 for his animation work. He saves/uploads that so that others can access it. Saves as 1.5.

B alters 1.0 for her sound work. She saves/uploads that so others can access.

C alters 1.5 to include her engine/tech patch and upgrades. She saves as 2.0.

Can you merge 2.0 and 1.0 into a 3.0? How easy is it?

Click to shrink...

This is a solved problem in software development. There are very robust tools for dealing with this.

 

[Acidote]

People are dying.