Ever worked for a vanity company?

As an employee the general rule is that it doesn't matter what the profits of a company are as long as you get paid. But have you ever wondered how many companies are just vanity companies? Some example:

A rich person wants to make games so starts a company employs lots of people and keeps the company going for years despite massive losses and being bailed out by their rich parents. But despite not making any money this boss is happy to be in his dream job as the head of a game studio.

Another example is the "vanity game department" of a company. For example:

A massively rich investment firm decides it needs games on it's website and apps in order to give it a PR boost. Despite no-one ever playing or going on their website. But it keeps the boss happy.

Or the vanity websites of public owned companies such as NHS or the BBC who decide they need games and apps. And have plenty of public money to throw at them.

Every children's BBC program seems to come with an app and a website these days.

Or on the NHS website I'm sure there are a bunch of games about how to keep healthy despite this having no effect on people's eating habits.


Do you ever feel guilty about making a game for a client that you know won't have the affect the client is expecting? Or do you just take the money and run. And what happens when the Emperor realises he has no clothes? On the other hand would you feel more guilty if a load of the public bought your game and it was only rated 1 star out of 5?

 

Why? It's not an ethics industry. It's someone wanting a product, and paying you to make a product. Providing you make it as close to what they ask for, what is the problem?

The concept of guilt here is bizarre.

In any case, who made you the grand judge of what is effective or not? Do you have experience in those industries? Probably not. In which case even less reason for guilt.

 

I'm not seeing the purpose of this thread. Is it to discuss how rich people spend their money? About guilt over producing the product that was paid for? I guess if someone paid you $500,000 to make a game and you gave them flappy bird and ran you should feel guilty. I'm not sure why you would bother asking that question on an Indie game forum though. How many people here get multi-million dollar contracts to make games?

Is the point to feel guilty that you're making a legit program that was paid for even if nobody uses it properly? Honestly, that's the level of guilt that people get therapy for. You can't control how someone uses your game. If they are eating donuts and drinking shakes while browsing your healthy eating app, its not your problem. You can only give people tools. You can't swing the hammer for them. If you're going to feel guilty over the 90% of the people that don't benefit from some health app (maybe 99%), then you might need a different line of work.

 

Maybe some people care beyond money. And money isn't the only thing that matters in the world to some.

 

This sounds like Curt Schilling and 38 Studios. A wealthy retired major league baseball decided that he wanted to make a video game, and hilarity ensued.

 

Guilty is an odd way to feel in this case. Unfulfilled is probably a better way to describe it.

 

Well, there was a lot more to that. They did get screwed by RI with a ridiculous contract, but they should have read it way more carefully. Who loans money to a game developer and then expects monthly payments like it's a mortgage?

Also, I wouldn't call it hilarity. Families ended up living on the street because of it.

Anyway, I still don't get the point of the OP. I wouldn't deliver a product the customer doesn't like. If they have insane expectations and no budget, then then I'll pass on the project.

 

The point I was making is that if you worked for a vanity publisher in books could you look at yourself in the mirror?

But replace books with video games.

And the second point I was hinting at is that 90% of the games industry is actually vanity publishing and how do you feel that your job is simply to prop up someone's ego?

It would be like being asked to develop a new fragrance of perfume: essence of hedgehog, knowing full well that no-one in their right mind would buy such a thing.

For some people pride in their job is more than just money.

 

If you really want to take pride in your job then work for yourself, you'll get the most benefit from that.

 

You would be surprised to find out how seriously some of those studios are run. Go look for the one studio that has made most to all of the barbie games and you might start thinking a lot more of these vanity studios aren't all that vane. There are plenty that are products of marketing departments, but those projects rarely hire industry people.