Mythic isn’t bad, they’re just a victim of genre. Jen MacLean, Chairperson of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) and VP of Business Development at 38 Studios, recently set the record straight about the Mythic Warhammer Online credits controversy. For those not in the know, Mythic was targeted for press attacks when news got out that people who worked on the Warhammer MMO prior to the studio shift and lost over 3-4 years of work wouldn’t get credit.

MacLean explained: “When the credits story first appeared, Mark Jacobs, the GM of Mythic, was in the middle of a series of interviews in New York. After an interview with N’Gai Croal of Newsweek and Level Up blog, Mark asked N’Gai for his thoughts on the subject. N’Gai suggested simply putting the full credits online. Mark is in the process of implementing N’Gai’s suggestion, and in doing so, Mythic will move towards a greater level of credits inclusiveness.”

The Mythic team is taking the following steps to address credit policies:
- In-game and manual credits will be reserved for the launch team.
- Mythic will create an online database listing the name and title of everyone who contributed to a project, regardless of current employment status. Additionally, the studio will make best efforts to provide this information for its previous online games.
- Mythic has committed to working with the IGDA, leading game industry history and credit sites and other interested parties to establish a credits feed, listing all contributors, to promote fair and accurate credit reporting across the industry.
- Mark Jacobs will consult with the IGDA Credits Standard Committee to offer guidance on the issues and challenges posed specifically by MMOs.

“Fair and accurate credits and transparent standards for crediting remain a pervasive problem in the industry, and I applaud Mythic for taking steps to address this issue,” said MacLean.

The IGDA Credit Standards Committee makes an effort to resolve informal crediting procedures in game industry. First and foremost, they document how crediting currently occurs in the industry, but they are also revving up initiatives related to implementing an IGDA-approved “generally accepted practices” guide on crediting.

Jason Della Rocca, Executive Director of IGDA, feels that “accurate, complete, and fair credits are essential to ongoing employment, professional development, and artistic fulfillment for all developers. Further, having accurate credits helps employers make informed hiring decisions.”

“I’m personally looking forward to Mark’s involvement with the Credit Standards Committee, not only because of his depth of experience in online games, but because, more importantly, his personal commitment to fair and accurate credits sets an outstanding example for industry leadership,” MacLean added.

Credits are a pervasive issue in this industry, ranging from games like Manhunt 2 to Okami. As a game writer, I’ve certainly experienced the “not quite sure what to credit her on” and “company got bought out and the freelance writer’s work got forgotten in the shuffle” scenerios. Hopefully credit standards will be established and upheld as we grow as an industry. It could certainly help my résumé and sense of accomplishment.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 6:25 pm and is filed under RESOURCES. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.