Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

It’s Crunch Time: Burnout, Job Demands and Job Resources in Game Developers

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Videogame Sciences and Arts (VJ 2020)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1531))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Although game development is a recent profession, many of its issues have been associated with the straining working conditions experienced by workers to keep themselves in the industry. This requires balancing job demands and job resources, and, in cases of extreme and prevalent job demands, it can elicit burnout as an occupational phenomenon. This study aims to identify burnout and job demand-resources levels among game developers, their relationship, and variation according to social individual/labour characteristics. An online questionnaire collected data from 193 game developers. Regarding burnout, results showed moderate levels of exhaustion and disengagement, while job demands revealed high levels of mental and concentration demands, moderate levels of time, emotional, material, and physical demands. For job resources, we found high levels of autonomy and moderate values of personal development, quality of personal relations, ethical, and social utility of work. Exhaustion is positively correlated with working hours per week and job demands, and negatively with job resources. The same happens with disengagement, except for mental and concentration demands. Time demands explained 27% of exhaustion, and personal development explained 14% of exhaustion and 51% of disengagement. Therefore, game developers face very demanding work conditions, alerting to the need to develop strategies for burnout prevention, and for the adequate manage of job demands using job resources, thus, promoting happier and healthier workplaces.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. WHO: https://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/burn-out/en/. Accessed 22 Aug 2020

  2. Santos, P.A., Romeiro, P., Nunes, F., Hollins, P., Riestra, R.: A survey of the video game industry in Portugal. Revista de Ciências da Computação 12, 1–24 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Macgregor, J.: https://www.pcgamer.com/the-pressure-to-constantly-update-games-ispushing-the-industry-to-a-breaking-point/. Accessed 01 June 2019

  4. Freudenberger, J.: Staff burn-out. J. Soc. Issues 30(1), 159–165 (1974)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Maslach, C., Jackson, S.E.: The measurement of experienced burnout. J. Organ. Behav. 2(2), 99–113 (1981)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W.B., Leiter, M.P.: Job burnout. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 52(1), 397–422 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Demerouti, E., Bakker, A.B.: The job demands–resources model: challenges for future research. J. Indust. Psychol. 37(2), 1–9 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Maslach, C., Leiter, M.P.: Understanding the burnout experience: recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psych. 15, 103–111 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Demerouti, E., Bakker, A.B., Nachreiner, F., Schaufeli, W.B.: The job demands-resources model of burnout. J. Appl. Psychol. 86(3), 499–512 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Schaufeli, W.B.: Applying the job demands-resources model: a ‘how to’ guide to measuring and tackling work engagement and burnout. Organ. Dyn. 46, 120–132 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Colombo, V., Cifre, E.: The importance of recovery of work: a review of where, how and why. Papeles del Psicologo. 33(2), 129–137 (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Meijman, T.F., Mulder, G.: Handbook of Work and Organizational Psychology, 2nd edn. Erlbaum, Hove, UK (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Hockey, G.R.J.: Attention: Selection, Awareness, and Control: A Tribute to Donald Broadbent. Oxford University Press, New York (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Gauche, C., de Beer, L.T., Brink, L.: Exploring demands from the perspective of employees identified as being at risk of burnout. Int. J. Qual. Stud. Health Well-being 12(1), 1361783 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2017.1361783

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Kent, S.L.: The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon and Beyond the Story Behind the Craze that Touched Our Lives and Changed the World. Three Rivers Press, New York (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  16. GlobalData. Video games - thematic research (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Newzoo. https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/700740/Reports/Newzoo_2018_Global_Games_Market_Report_Light.pdf. Accessed 22 Aug 2020

  18. UK Interactive Entertainment Association. https://ukie.org.uk/research. Accessed 22 Aug 2020

  19. Valentine. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-05-13-grand-theft-auto-v-has-sold-110m-copies. Accessed 22 Aug 2020

  20. McGuire, M., Jenkins, O.C.: Creating Games: Mechanics, Content and Technology. Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton (2008)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  21. Weststar, J., Kwan, E., Kumar, S.: Developer satisfaction survey 2019.In: International Game Developers Association (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Weststar, J.: Understanding video game developers as an occupational community. Inf. Commun. Soc. 18(10), 1238–1252 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Ea-spouse. https://ea-spouse.livejournal.com/274.html. Accessed 22 Aug 2020

  24. Edholm, H., Lidström, M., Steghöfer, J., Burden, H.: Crunch time: the reasons and effects of unpaid overtime in the game industry. In: 39th International Conference on Software Engineering, pp. 43–52 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Peticca-Harris, A., Westsar, J., McKenna, S.: The perils of project-based work: attempting resistance to extreme work practices in video game development. Organization 22(4), 570–587 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Halbesleben, J.R.B., Demerouti, E.: The construct validity of an alternative measure of burnout: Investigating the English translation of the Oldenburg burnout inventory. Work Stress. 19(3), 208–220 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Sinval, J., Queirós, C., Pasian, S., Marôco, J.: Transcultural adaptation of the Oldenburg burnout inventory (OLBI) for Brazil and Portugal. Front. Psychol. 10, 1–28 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Morin, E.M.: Bilan de la recherche sur le sens du travail. Université de Montréal, Montréal (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Gonçalves, S.P., Neves, J., Morin, E.: Looking for the Positive Side of Occupational Health at work. Universitat Jaume-I, Beniccàssim (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Chowdhury, R., Shah, D., Payal, A.R.: Healthy worker effect phenomenon: revisited with emphasis on statistical methods – a review. Indian J. Occup. Environ. Med. 21(1), 2 (2017). https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_53_16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Harvey, A., Fisher, S.: “Everyone can make games!” Feminist Media Studies (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  32. EUROFOUND. Burnout in the workplace: A review of data and policy responses in the EU. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (2018)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Joana Mendes & Cristina Queirós

Authors
  1. Joana Mendes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cristina Queirós
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cristina Queirós .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Mirandela, Portugal

    Inês Barbedo

  2. Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Mirandela, Portugal

    Bárbara Barroso

  3. Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain

    Beatriz Legerén

  4. University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Licínio Roque

  5. Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, Mirandela, Portugal

    João Paulo Sousa

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Mendes, J., Queirós, C. (2022). It’s Crunch Time: Burnout, Job Demands and Job Resources in Game Developers. In: Barbedo, I., Barroso, B., Legerén, B., Roque, L., Sousa, J.P. (eds) Videogame Sciences and Arts. VJ 2020. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1531. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95305-8_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95305-8_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-95304-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-95305-8

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation