Developer and publisher QYJO released a demo today on Steam for their upcoming game Gamedev Beatdown. The satirical depiction of the games industry's common practices allows players to work for and create the studio of their dreams (or nightmares). Both members of the two-person studio are ex-EA employees who want to shed a light on the gaming industry's practices, highs, and lows. From their Steam page:
Game development is a sometimes enriching and sometimes utterly frustrating journey. We love playing and making games, but we wanted to make a game about what really goes on behind the scenes when making games. Gamedev Beatdown is our attempt at making a game that highlights those stories packaged with lots of action and the ability to influence the direction the game goes in. To allow the player to discover situations that they might end up in with seemingly insignificant decisions, and as developers to laugh at events that happened to themselves at some point in their careers as well.
The early access release, slated for April 2020, will require management and decision-making skills. In addition to the evolving conditions of the studio, players will also engage in gladiatorial turn-based combat. Stress tolerance acts as a health of sorts, forcing players to conserve health and resources as well as pick and choose their battles. QYJO took inspiration from both real and comically exaggerated issues, and players will have to fight to have their developer's voice heard. Win, and the studio implements your suggestion. Lose, and things might just take a turn for the worse. Rogue-lite progression adds an element of randomness to the events, making each playthrough different.
QYJO released a trailer on their YouTube channel, which can be found below.
Quick Take
I'm happy to see more and more attention paid to the industry's working conditions in the past couple of years. People are caring more and more about the conditions at companies they buy from.
