Developer’s Dilemma: The Secret World of Videogame Creators by Casey O’Donnell (review)

Developer’s Dilemma is creative in its conception, method, and mode of delivery. Rather than take the road most traveled in terms of formatting, Casey O’Donnell takes the reader on a ride as a player of a game/text. Framing reading in terms of game levels and worlds, his refreshing approach mimics the industry he analyzes. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in both the United States and India, O’Donnell fashions a playful journey across pre- and postproduction worlds, providing insight into often unsustainable work practices. Through nuanced exploration of these practices, he not only discusses the exploitative politics of the game industry that thrives on young passion and the blurring of work/life boundaries, but also shows how this contributes to broader structural inequalities in the creative industries, particularly related to the organization of work. As O’Donnell notes, “videogame developers—programmers, artists, game designers, and managers”—are “used as windows into understanding these complex issues” in and around videogame development (p. 6).

O’Donnell focuses on the role of collaborative practice within the creative industries. Having outlined the key literature in STS, media and game studies, new economy, and globalization, he dives into fieldwork, exploring the politics of shifting power and labor involved in collaborative practices. His descriptions of work conditions begin with Vicarious Visions (VV)—the place where his initial focus on software development in practice quickly unfolded into studying the game industry. O’Donnell talks vividly about the confusion his role represented within the videogame work structure, and how this liminality worked both in his favor (as a confidant) and against him (when viewed as a spy).

The book is divided into eight “worlds” (rather than chapters) that move the reader through the structure of industry as if it were a game. These worlds are divided into three sections—preproduction, production, and publishing/distribution. The first world consists of a tutorial, world 2 entertains the underlying structures, while world 3 explores assembling experimental systems. This is followed by world 4’s focus on game tools and world 5 exploring Leeroy Jenkins. World 6 draws on actor network theory to consider the politics of accessibility, while world 7 considers the “Industry’s Actor-Networks.” The conclusion—or epilogue—finishes by considering the game design document. As O’Donnell notes, the structure is “performative” to make the “work experiences of developers decipherable” through tools for the reader to “debug game developer culture” (p. 1).

O’Donnell’s book clearly intersects with other key ethnographic work done in and around the videogame industry and new creative industry work paradigms—most notably that of John Banks and T. L. Taylor. His writing traverses many of the interdisciplinary debates around the reorganization of work while also grounding the discussion in insightful vignettes from his fieldwork. While the game-like structure might put off a few readers, I found it really worthwhile to persist. As a reader/player it quickly becomes apparent just how compliant players are in the accelerating timelines, hastening modes of efficiency, and untenable schedules that are part of game work. The behind-the-scenes stories, with their graphic depictions of fraught subjects, definitely ask for a reflection on the ethics of gameplay, given its role in many of the unsustainable practices discussed. This situation, as O’Donnell points out, isn’t just isolated to the videogame or creative industry but is rather part of a more general push for a casualization of work practices that inevitably “bleed” across work/life distinctions (Melissa Gregg, Work’s Intimacy, 2011).

Developer’s Dilemma highlights the entanglement between play and work within the creative industries. O’Donnell shows in great detail the new paradoxes in and around changing labor cultures. On the one hand, we are witnessing the rise of indie games and cultures that challenge the dominance of the videogames named to the highest class—AAA. On the other hand, some of these indie cultures are themselves partaking in...