Things got so bad that the developer eventually had to go and see a therapist and was diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
The developer has asked for anonymity, to protect their current job, after becoming one of several to leave developer NetherRealm because of the nature of the work.
‘You start to feel like an idiot for thinking about what the impact of working on that game has been on yourself. Other people I’ve talked to have been like, ‘I know what I’m working on, I know what I’ve gotten myself into here.’ And you start to blame yourself for being sh**** or weak or spineless.’
The developer doesn’t allege any particular wrong doing by NetherRealm as a company, although they imply that upper management often don’t realise the lengths they have to go to in order to create the fatalities.
Many gamers have also shown a disappointing lack of sympathy towards the people that make their games, including during the recent spate of revelations about long hours and poor work conditions that has encompassed not just NetherRealm but many other studios, such as Fortnite’s Epic Games and Anthem’s BioWare.
‘I think the process of making these things can be harmful for people’, says the developer. ‘It can cause them to burn out, or lose a sense of self, sometimes’.
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