The International Game Developers Association announced on Monday that it is launching a health care program through an alliance with Association Health Programs, a service reserved for members – and one of the goals founder Ernest Adams dreamt of way back when he created the organization, only to be (along with a bevy of subsequent leaders) thwarted by the global nature of the organization and the immense legal complexities involved.
While details of the program are still unknown, this is kind of a big deal.
For years the IGDA has been criticized (by me as well as others) that it doesn’t provide sufficient services to really justify membership. At $48 a year, the cost to be an IGDA member isn’t really that big a deal, but professional organizations, be they unions, guilds, or simply associations, have a certain responsibility to provide something. Otherwise, why join, except to promote a sense of solidarity?
Well, the solidarity was good enough for many, as the IGDA has over 15,000 members; and it’s unfair to say that the Association doesn’t do anything for people. Actually the IGDA does a ton: sponsors events, publishes books, provides advocacy, oversees 500 chapters globally, organizes special interest groups, and much more. But you didn’t actually have to be a member to get access to most of that stuff. Plus, as great as those things are, they all fall into the category of “stuff that should be free.”
Game development is a really rough business, particularly for developers themselves, who exist in an industry dominated by big-money publishers and are often employed at the whim of an executive who knows nothing about games and cares nothing about the importance of the medium as an entertainment art form. And since developers often get into the business out of passion rather than true savvy, they often make mistakes or need guidance. Arguably, the role of the IGDA should be to help developers avoid mistakes, and to provide guidance and support. And so the addition of this health care program, however limited, is a huge step in the right direction.
Furthermore, as the game development industry grapples with its challenges, developers can benefit not only from professional guidance but also from courses in holistic health and wellness. Recognizing the intense demands of the field, platforms like Scholistico in Deutsch offer specialized courses that address the unique stressors faced by game developers. These programs go beyond traditional skill-building, incorporating elements of mental and physical well-being tailored to the specific needs of individuals immersed in the gaming world. By embracing a holistic approach, developers can not only enhance their professional skills but also cultivate a healthier work-life balance, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and fulfilling career in the dynamic realm of game development.
In an industry as demanding and unpredictable as game development, professionals must have access to comprehensive healthcare options that can support their well-being, particularly during uncertain times of unemployment or transitions between projects. The urgent care Bayside, Queens plays a significant role in providing accessible and efficient healthcare services for various non-emergency situations. These centers offer a wide range of medical services, from routine check-ups to specialized care, ensuring that developers and individuals in the gaming industry have a reliable resource to address their healthcare needs promptly and affordably. By having access to urgent care services, game developers can prioritize their health and well-being, knowing that they have a dedicated medical support system to rely on during their challenging journeys in the industry.
Is this health care program going to be better than the one a developer gets at his or her company? Probably not. But it’ll be cheaper than COBRA, and the idea of being unemployed and uninsured is pretty terrifying to most people. For the simple cost of a membership, American IGDA card-carriers are granted some peace of mind through the rise of this program.
American. Yes, that’s a clincher. The program is (currently) only available in the United States, a fact that some have already started bitching about, in a tone similar to those people who complained about Left 4 Dead 2; emitting outraged squawks as though Valve owed anyone anything. Of course, the IGDA does owe members something, and it’s giving it to them. Let’s bear in mind that a huge majority of IGDA members live in North America, and that nothing about the program precludes expansion into other territories, or alliances with other providers. Plus health coverage in the rest of the world isn’t quite as barbaric as it is in the United States, so arguably America’s the country that needs it most.
To be perfectly honest, health care wouldn’t have been the first new service I’d have launched if I was in charge, but I’m not complaining. The knowledge that I’ll still have access to some form of health coverage, however minimal (and we don’t know how comprehensive or not the program will be yet), if my day job falls through, well, lemme tell you, that’s a relief I never even knew I needed until I got it. Three cheers for the IGDA as it begins a long journey toward being the kind of organization that developers can depend on for more than just my brilliant monthly meanderings.
I have to say this is surprisingly great news. Not for me personally, obviously, but just seeing how an American (or at least helmed-by-Americans) organisation linked with gaming realises that there is real life out there and that health insurance is damn important. I guess you guys all voted for Obama and are supporting his health reform as well?
I couldn’t speak for the rest of Europe, but over here health insurance is virtually free for unemployed people as long as they are registered in the system and are working with it. I mean, there are MANY bad things I can say about our health care system but at least the idea is sound. I realise that in America though, this is kind of a heretical idea. Great that IGDA thinks otherwise. Way to go, guys!
It flabbergasts me that it’s a heretical idea for half of America. Anyone who’s even glanced at a hospital bill couldn’t possibly believe that health care in the U.S. isn’t desperate for reform.
I for one voted for Obama and personally I wish his health care plan was even more aggressive. Unfortunately there are a lot of uneducated people in America who believe in the sound byte, and when somebody says “big government” or “socialist” they freak out and head to the bomb shelters even though I’d bet that 85% of the country couldn’t define what socialism is.
I’m really excited about this IGDA health care plan, and the response has been hugely positive in general. It may not be perfect, but it’ll definitely help… especially these days, when so many are losing their jobs.
Hell, I lived in socialism for 20 years and, let’s face it, I may find it just as hard to define what it really is. For me it’s a great humanitarian idea wrapped around a totally paradoxical economic model and this is why it almost never works. China makes it work by going as far away from it as possible in terms of the actual market economy and I am not sure if their success is down to “good” socialist model or merely due to good appropriation of a capitalist model on a market that is not yet saturated. On the other hand, scandinavian countries, most notably Norway are nominally capitalist but very much socialist in actual practice. Then again, they shit oil…
Either way, I would love if everyone could just agree that affordable health care should be something beyond dispute because that is what being civilised is about. I have to say that all those stories I hear about health care system in the USA scare the shit out of me (despite the fact that I most probably will never even see USA up close).
What is the first new service you’d have instituted? Health care was pretty much always #1 on my list.
People in the US have a perception problem. They can’t discern between health insurance and health care first of all. Like anything else in the US, health is seen as something you consume off the shelf because you can afford it or deserve it due to correct “values”. The idea that everyone here should have a base level of health care just means that someone is going to take something from you. Those who can’t afford the ridiculously priced insurance can just die. That proposition is just dandy with an amazing amount of people in the US. We have no use for the poor and esp. the poor sick. It should scare the shit out of you Meho. The logical end to this system is pretty dark.
Darius: my first reform would have been the establishment of alliances with attorneys in various countries, to provide subsidized online legal guidance to developers: answer questions, perform trademark searches, read and comment on contracts, red-pen legally binding agreements to make sure devs don’t get screwed, advise on IP, etc etc etc. Ultimately I’d expand this service into conflict mediation, moderation, and arbitration services. But believe me, I ain’t complaining about health care. 🙂
Scout: that’s a great way to put it. So many Americans have this view that to help Person A we’re stealing from Person B. It’s absurd, and horrifying in this modern world. A people and its government should be judged and defined by how they support each other, not by how effectively they can be independent and greedy. It’s appalling.
Meho, a common story in the U.S. is middle and upper-middle class families being reduced to abject poverty simply because a family member – perhaps an elderly parent, etc – gets sick and doesn’t die right away. Our insurance system is based on NOT covering people rather than covering them, and the bills quickly grow into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. No one has that laying around. These are people who were making a very good living, ruined, because of our healthcare system. It’s criminal, and heartbreaking, because what child or parent wouldn’t give up everything for the care of a loved one?
Health care in the US is something one can lose access to by becoming unemployed. Lose your job, lose your insurance, lose your health, lose your life, leave big bills to those left behind. There is really no safety net.
If one is lucky, one lives in a Scandinavian-settled state (most likely northern mid-western) that subscribes to the idea that we’re all in this together and provides a state-sponsored insurer-of-last-resort no-one-is-rejected program. If not, well, you’re obviously not living in the right place and you take your chances.
It’s criminal.
Guys… you’re doing nothing to put my fears to rest. Quite the opposite.
Don’t feel bad, Meho. You just have to find the silver lining.
For example, I had a terrible case of pneumonia in 2002. Had me down for three weeks. I had no health insurance at the time as I was self-employed as a consultant. Total cost: $3,000.
But you know what?? I lost 25 pounds. It was the best diet I’ve ever been on. I was creaking the scales at around 180lbs before I got the Big P; after I was healed, I was down to my fighting weight.
PLUS, if I’d have died, all my problems would’ve been over!
3,000 doesn’t sound so bad… Then again, that’s basically four or five my monthly salaries. I had a surgery some 13 years ago. In the end it was nothing special in terms of life-endangerment, just a stange looking mole, but the doctors wanted it removed in case it started mutating into a tumor. So they drugged me, spreadeagled me on a table and cut it off (sounds sexier than it was). I never paid a penny. If I didn’t have any insurance it would have set me back some $ 15,000-20,000. I was unemployed at the time and my father – the only working person in my family at the time – was making probably 200 dollars per month. So… if it really WAS a tumor… well, draw your own conslusions.