Employees of game studios explained why "developers" should be called not only programmers

Alana Pearce, who is currently working on God of War: Ragnarok, decided to remind the players that the writers are also part of the development team. It was supported by many developers from other companies. They stressed that games are made not only by programmers, but also by all studio employees — be they marketers or HR specialists.God of War: Ragnarok

Initially, Alana Pierce shared a photo of a T-shirt with the God of War: Ragnarok logo, which was given to all team members.

In a separate post, she clarified: “Video game screenwriters are also in fact part of the development team.”

Something clearly VERY IMPORTANT that I need to address: video game writers are, in fact, on the dev team. Thank you for your time. https://t.co/kPH6ZLqxtF
— Alanah Pearce (@Charalanahzard) September 11, 2021

Other developers responded to Pierce’s message by sharing their thoughts on this topic.

Mark Kilborn, the sound designer of Forza and Call of Duty, said that not considering screenwriters as developers means not understanding how games are actually created. “I constantly work with screenwriters and narrative specialists throughout the entire development process — from pre-production to sending the game to print. They participate in recording dialogues, writing text for quests and missions, subtitles, etc.,” he wrote.

I can’t believe this even has to be said. I work with writers and narrative folks constantly throughout development, from preproduction to ship. They’re involved in dialogue recording, implementation, quest/mission text, in-game readable text, subtitles, all of it. https://t.co/Yr59toKRMk
— Mark Kilborn (@markkilborn) September 12, 2021

The position of the Pier was also supported by Viktor Lundberg, director of technical design of Battlefield.

“Sometimes, even in the industry itself, there is this mandatory division into those who are “really” working on the game, and everyone else. It’s sad that you have to constantly point out such things,” he said.

This unecessary division of who “really” works on a game is sometimes seen even within the confines of the industry. So sad that this needs to be pointed out consistently. https://t.co/sNPIJVprbo
— Viktor Lundberg (@ViktorALundberg) September 12, 2021

According to QA specialist Rodrigo Morales, the term “developer” should not be applied only to programmers.

“In reality, a lot of people with a lot of different roles are engaged in development. From those who write the code to the screenwriters, they are all part of this process,” he wrote.

ugh, why does this have to come up every 2 weeks?! you know the people in the credits of the game? yeah?! those are all devs. yes, hr too. you’re welcome. https://t.co/whxIY7nPyF
— Lorenzo Salvadori????????????????????????????

(@zeroaleph) September 12, 2021A similar thought was expressed by Scott Lowe, director of marketing and communications at That’s No Moon studio, as well as a former employee of Naughty Dog and Activision.

“The games we make would not be possible without each individual specialist. In almost all teams, anyone — regardless of their position and role — can contribute to the game by giving feedback, offering ideas, etc.,” he stressed.