Bungie’s former chief legal officer, Don Mcgowan, recently revealed that the studio hired fans as they were okay with working for a smaller paycheck.
During an interview with IATSE on YouTube (via TheGamePost), McGowan, a former member of Bungie’s general counsel, discussed how gaming companies hire fans to “get away with lower pay” because they are working on a game they love. McGowan states that they “totally took advantage of that at Bungie,” adding, “We hired fans because fans would work for less.”
McGowan has also previously worked with companies like Pokemon and Microsoft Games. During the interview, he reveals how peers asked him, “How much of a pay cut are they making you take?” when he moved to Bungie. He explained that people in the industry would assume that the studio is making you take a pay cut, which is “a horrible reputation for you to have”. “But when you only hire fans, you can get away with that”, concluded McGowan.
This is not the first shot at Bungie by an ex-employee this week; the former Marathon game director has also sued the studio and Sony recently. In other news, CDPR won’t let Witcher 4 be another Cyberpunk 2077 at launch. What are your thoughts on Bungie hiring fans to save money? Let us know in the comments or our new community forum!
For more from GPlayr, read about Naughty Dogs announcing Intergalactic The Heretic Prophet at The Game Awards. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.