Warhammer Online Not Crediting All Developers

EA-owned developer Mythic Entertainment will not be recognizing former staff members that contributed to its upcoming PC MMO Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the studio has confirmed with Shacknews.

"Over the years, we've had hundreds of people work on the game, and we thank everyone who helped us bring our Warhammer passion to life, but only current employees that have continued until the end will be credited in the final game," Mythic VP and general manager Mark Jacobs told Shacknews.

"Accreditation in Warhammer Online recognizes the incredible team that has poured their heart and soul into making WAR an amazing MMORPG experience," he added.

An ex-employee of Mythic, who requested anonymity, described the surprisingly frequent move as "dogging out many, many developers."

"This has been an ongoing problem in this industry for many years," they informed Shacknews, while expressing confidence that their work appears in the final product. "I spent three years on WAR and I, including many other people who spent just as much if not close to the same amount of time, will NOT be credited in the game."

Mythic announced that it had acquired the license for Warhammer Online in 2005. Following numerous delays, the title is slated to launch on September 18.

"I was told they made SURE to not include anyone in the list who was not at the office the day of the credit list creation," the one-time staff member continued. "This is wrong on many levels and should not go unnoticed."

The subject of accreditation and the criteria surrounding it is a major issue among the development community.

"Game credits are often inconsistent from game to game within the same company," claimed the International Game Developers Association, which has formed a dedicated committee to draft crediting standards for the gaming industry.

At present, the IGDA suggests its members credit "any person...who has contributed to the production of the game for at least 30 days of a 12-month or greater project...[or] any person who has contributed during 10% of the project's total time in development [for projects shorter than 12 months]."

A glance at the IGDA's list of studio members reveals only three EA studios as members--EA Montreal, EA Mobile Montreal and EA Partners--suggesting that EA does not have a blanket policy on accreditation and leaves those decisions up to the individual subsidiaries.

"The actual people who do the menial tasks and long hard hours deserve their credit," our source concluded. "If our work is to be 'shown' in a game and 'shipped' on a released game then that developer should be credited...I wish to get all former employees of EA Mythic / Mythic Entertainment together to discuss this and possibly take legal action against EA."