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Occupational Burnout in Games: Causes, Impact, and Solutions

Raffael Boccamazzo  (Clincial Director, Take This)

Alicia Fortier  (Lead Game Designer, Spry Fox, a Netflix Game Studio)

Osama Dorias  (Lead Content Designer, Blizzard Entertainment)

Anna Brandberg  (Lead UX Designer, The Outsiders (Funcom))

Location: Room 215, South Hall

Date: Thursday, March 23

Time: 11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass, Summits Pass, Expo Pass, Audio Pass, Independent Games Summit Pass

Topic: Advocacy, Business & Marketing

Format: Panel

Vault Recording: Video

Audience Level: All

Much like the term "crunch," burnout is a workplace term that is talked about with a lot of assumed understanding, often as a synonym for exhaustion and being overworked. Many studios are rightly concerned about the burnout of their employees, as the human and fiscal impact is staggering, and studios are increasingly offering individual strategies to their employees to remedy burnout. While exhaustion and overwork are certainly part of burnout, they're only part of the story, and individualized solutions do not generally work because burnout is an issue caused by systemic, environmental factors.

This series of microtalks will offer attendees a foundational understanding of what burnout is and its causal factors before discussing the long-term impact via personal experiences. Recognizing that systemic solutions must be implemented to tackle the issue, this series will offer individuals resources and implementable steps to bolster their resilience against burnout.

Takeaway

Attendees will gain foundational understanding of occupational burnout and its impact. This includes a basic definition of burnout as a chronic occupational syndrome, the most commonly used model of burnout, six causal factors, as well as strategies for addressing burnout. Special emphasis will be placed on systemic causes.

Intended Audience

This is for anyone working in games, especially those who have ever felt overwhelmed in a workplace, suspect they are approaching burnout, have experienced burnout, and those who are responsible for the wellbeing of staff. There are no prerequisites for this session.