Can games development embrace more flexible working patterns?

Develop has today published a five point guide highlighting what the games industry must do to get the most out of the newly emerging workforce management models.

As the industry evolves, a flexible approach to employment has had to emerge, and now short-term contracts, the hiring of freelance creatives and outsourcing is a standard part of the development of any game.

Exploring this change in the infrastructure of project management, Owain Bennallack has taken a look across the various issues effecting workforce management, from the fluctuation of team sizes to the problem of balancing staff contentment with financially sound development cycle.

"The trouble is shipping work overseas might be a short-term imperative, but it will be a pyrrhic long-term solution if it hollows out the UK talent pool," suggested Bennallack. "We instead need to enable UK creatives to target their skills at the higher ‘value adding’ parts of game-making, so they can play a pro-active role in the shift to flexibility, rather than it being a slow erosion of security."

In light of this view, Bennallack has put forward a list of requirements to make this alternative to workforce operation a viable option. To read the full feature, click here.