IGDA: Mythic 'Disrespectful' for Not Crediting Entire Warhammer Staff, Labels Policy Misleading
The statement comes in response to word that Mythic will only credit current staff members for its upcoming PC MMO Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, a move that excludes ex-staffers, such as one that worked on the game for three years.
"Everyone who is currently at Mythic who's worked on Warhammer is going to be in the credits," studio VP Mark Jacobs said of the policy. " And that's good enough for me."
While Mythic's policy is the latest example of improper accreditation, the IGDA affirmed that incomplete credits "are not unusual." In a recent IGDA study, 35% of respondents claimed they "don't ever" or "only sometimes" receive a mention in a game's credits.
The current lack of an industry-wide crediting policy and the abundance of accreditation issues was the impetus behind the International Game Developer Association's formation of a crediting policy committee. However, the IDGA only recommends, but does not require, that its members adhere to those guidelines.
"Some people claim that providing complete credit information...encourages people to leave their job before a game is complete," MacLean explained in the latest IGDA newsletter. "These reasons are simple window dressing for policies that are arbitrary, unfair, and in some cases even vindictive, and they simply don't hold up."
Last week, Myhtic's Jacobs argued that "[all-inclusive credits do] a bit of a disservice as well to the people who are still part of the team, who are still working on the game...I'll worry more about the people who are with me right now, then those who decided that they didn't like the company or they wanted to take a better job."
MacLean also addressed the popular criticism that "credits aren't important because 'nobody reads them anyway.'"
"The number of people who read a game's credits is irrelevant," she added. "Even if only one person reads the credits of a game, integrity demands that all work be accurately and honestly represented."
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"Everyone who is currently at Mythic who's worked on Warhammer is going to be in the credits," studio VP Mark Jacobs said of the policy. " And that's good enough for me."
That is unbelievable. -