But tasks like localization and community management are more explicitly work, with actual responsibilities attached. Still, it's very common for studios to involve fans in their development processes, particularly for testing: Blizzard has invited free help to test Overwatch 2(opens in new tab), for instance, and fans are lining up to get in. In that case, though, it turned out that the community translators were paid for their work(opens in new tab). ![]() Interestingly, similar complaints about the use of fan translations were also leveled against Hades developer Supergiant in 2021. Unionization at major studios is the big focus, but smaller organizations are not immune: In 2019, for instance, publisher Chucklefish(opens in new tab) faced criticism for taking advantage of unpaid fan labor during the development of the 2016 sci-fi game Starbound. In more recent years, though, and with videogames now well established as a multi-billion-dollar business, its practices have fallen under far greater scrutiny. The games industry has a long history of taking advantage of fans for unpaid labor, particularly with regards to testing: You won't see my name in the credits of MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries, for instance, but I was actively involved with beta testing its online component ahead of release. The studio said that in 2021 it used "a well-known large studio" to localize the sleeper hit Propnight(opens in new tab), but the results were unsatisfactory and had to be redone with help from members of the community, who also "found bugs, dealt with cheaters, and even organized our Discord communities." More contentious is Fntastic's use of unpaid volunteers to help translate games into different languages. For example, many people have offered their help in this week's testing of a new version of our game Propnight, published by our partner Mytona." "We also have 40 external US and worldwide volunteers (supporters) who help with testing and reviewing our products at a very early stage. ![]() ![]() "Today we have over 100 full-time internal volunteers (employees) from Singapore, Russia, the Netherlands, Thailand, Ukraine, Finland, Kazakhstan, and Belarus who work as engineers, artists, HR professionals, etc," the studio said. In a statement shared with PC Gamer, Fntastic suggested that its intent was essentially lost in translation: The studio is a commercial operation but also embraces the spirit of volunteerism, and is basically opening that door for its fans, too. The title of this Steam discussion thread cuts right to the point: "Don't work for free(opens in new tab)." Rewards might be "cool" but they are not a substitute for pay, and asking for unpaid help to create a game that Fntastic expects to make money on-potentially a lot of money-did not sit well with many of its followers. Part-time volunteers also can offer their unique skills to improve our projects or create new special features." Part-time volunteering at Fntastic includes various activities ranging from translating to community moderating. ![]() "Anyone can be a part-time volunteer to contribute to the Fntastic community and get cool rewards, participation certificates, and free codes. Full-time volunteers work for salaries, and their number is limited," the Fntastic website states in its Volunteer(opens in new tab) section. "There are two types of volunteers at Fntastic: full-time and part-time. So why is the studio trying to avoid paying people for their work? The criticism was simple: Fntastic is an established developer and The Day Before has the potential to be a major hit: It holds the top position on Steam's list of most-wishlisted games(opens in new tab). Propnight developer Fntastic recently came under fire after putting out a call for "volunteers" to help it finish work on its next game, an open-world survival MMO called The Day Before(opens in new tab).
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