BioWare dev calls for more transparency

The game industry would benefit from greater transparency in the development process, says BioWare’s senior gameplay designer.

Manveer Heir argued that not only would more communication between developers make for better games, but could also have a therapeutic effect for industry workers.

As an example, Heir pointed to the sort of communication that happens at an event like GDC.

"The process needs to be transparent," said Heir on the official GDC podcast.

"So coming to GDC, you see all these people talk about their processes, mostly transparently. You have talks with people over drinks that, frankly, could get lots of people fired, but you learn so much from those talks.

"There are discussions and inside secrets [and you realise], ‘Oh all these other great games are going through the same kinds of problems I’m going through,’ and you feel a little better."

Communication in the industry outside of these conferences usually revolves around a few high-profile figures. For Heir, this isn’t enough.

"What I propose is that we don’t need ‘rockstars,’ but developers who are public, and willing to speak about their craft," he said.

"Maybe a lot of bigger companies – and I work for a bigger company – sometimes don’t really want that, because once you create a persona for yourself, you’re creating value for yourself as a person, but that value might become a problem for the corporation, right? Like, you could just walk away if you get enough name recognition."