Former Blizzard President Suggests Players Should Have Option to Tip Developers

Former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra recently suggested an interesting concept that has sparked a debate among gamers - the idea of being able to tip developers after completing a game.

[LG_Fox_Brazil]

If I had a 100% way to be sure that this money would go to a fund or a reserve dedicated only to the guys who develop the games, be them designers, artists, programmers and so on, I could think about it.

But we all know that this 'tip' would only end up in a publisher's CEO pocket to buy a new yacht, so, no, I ain't tipping anyone anytime soon on this industry

[neutralgamer1992]

Exactly these companies were raising money for good causes and gamers were donation and come to find out they are keeping a good chunk of be pie

[PapaBop]

Yeah tip your developer, 5% proceeds go to developer, 95% to the publisher or whoever. Isn't tipping for staff not making minimum wage? How about they just pay their developers properly and like you know, give them fair bonuses? Too much to ask from Blizzard these days, Kotick saw to that and is now laughing all the way to the bank.

[MrDead]

It's the t**ts at the top looking at ways to cut devs wages and get the players to tip them like waiting staff, and I'll guarantee a percentage is skimmed and kept by Activision Blizzard. This is 100% for shareholder and CEO playouts.

[Popsicle]

I have to agree with this. On the surface tipping devs sounds like a great idea, but in the end it leads to pay cuts and subsidization of pay. Tips then become an expectation or the devs “can’t make a living.” Lastly, especially in the US, tip culture has gotten out of control, and it serves as an excuse not to properly pay employees. Sounds good but doesn’t end well.

[drizzom]

@ Popsicle

I think your right on the nose with how much tipping has become rampant. Instead of it being a relationship directly between the customer and the developer or employee, it now has a middle man ingrained in the system. DoorDash is one example. It ends up becoming a metric where the company can measure 'just how much more money you are willing to part with' before raising the price on the main product.

[1Victor]

Uh so they’re trying triple dip or more we buy the game that they’re already withholding/cutting content for dlc we was told that season pass would help the developers thrive we felt for it.
Now on top of all that plus their sales bonus they want tips enough is enough whatever happens to you create/built a good game get a bonus for sales milestones you care about your game and community we reward you with more sales not for doing 3/4 of a game then save the other 1/4 for dlc and passes after

[raWfodog]

The 'tip' is me buying your game in the first place.

[Demetrius]

Lmao ikr

[S2Killinit]

Very well said. If it was possible to send the money to either the developer or some organization for the betterment of gaming, sure. But we all know that will not be the case.

[Rynxie]

No, it would go to those on the top. They will still fire developers, have a bunch of microtransactions, raise prices of games and so on.

[GoodGuy09]

Oh shut up.

[H9]

So they eventually don't pay their workers and depend on our tips to pay them like the case with waiters!

[Deeeeznuuuts]

That kind of practice is only normal in the states, as far as I know anyway, what a backwards system

[H9]

No it's as well in a every country that wants to amercanize

[bloop]

Ireland is literally the first stop across the pond and we don't have a tipping culture. The only establishments here that would expect a tip are the tourist haunts that Americans visit. Other than that, you might tip in a restaurant as a sign of gratitude for great service and waiting staff would be paid a full wage anyway.

[Rebel_Scum]

Tipping is not customary iin most countries dude. Get a passport lol.

[Jin_Sakai]

Is this a joke? How about the big wigs giving up some of their pay for their hard working developers.

[MrBaskerville]

Maybe the CEO could earn his money based on tips.

[mastershredder]

good god. The devs are not baristas dude. Total 1% ideals. Fing Chadosaurus.

[-Foxtrot]

Here's a tip...shut the f*** up

[Relientk77]

All they care about is the money. It's pure greed, and it's disgusting

[Crows90]

Caring about making money ain't the problem. It's the greed which turns into predatory interests in making money at the loss of humanity and customer trust.

Caring about making money helps you keep everyone employed...but they only care about lining their own pockets not making many for everyone to benefit.

You nailed it as greed...that's the problem.

[OtterX]

Them: "We've figured out a way to squeeze you of more money, come on let us stick it in."
Us: "No."
Them: "Please! just the tip."
Us: "That's how it always starts."

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Where's that tip is actually going the CEOs pocket.

[staticall]

"Interesting concept"?! This is beyond idiotic.

First of all, developers have a salary and they earn a pretty decent wage.
Next, tipping culture is awful overall and should be abolished, i think. People don't see it as a token of gratitude for the job done well (as it should be), they see it as their own money that you must give them, no matter how they do the job. Look at some places, tips became mandatory and they are a fixed percent of your order, for some reason (especially in kids playrooms). You'll give them an inch and they'll take a mile and then another one on top. Look at macrotransactions, started on free to play games, was costing around $2-$5, now it's everywhere, even in $70 AAA games and cost more than a game, up to $100.
On top of that, you'll have to waste resources adding this system, integrate with payment providers and fix the bugs, who will do that? What, another company should make it and take a fee from every transaction? No, thanks, there're already enough parasites around.

Even if we ignore that this is dumb idea and should never be a thing ever:
Who can guarantee that the money will go to developers ONLY? That's right, no one.
How many developers are working on a AAA game? 100+? Who would you tip, some particular developer? How would you know who? All 100? The wouldn't even notice a few cents bonus.

Hey, as long as we're throwing (dumb) ideas around - how about the other way around, CEOs and top management will tip the players who play their game? I read everywhere about the record profits and firing development staff, yet CEOs and top management are keeping theirs, so how about sharing some of your wealth? Oh, what, you don't want that? Oh, i guess it should only work in your favor, huh?

[VENOM OF SINS]

It’s called Kickstarter, since 99% of games are broken upon release and are essentially still in development.

Tipping culture is getting out of hand. I just see this as moving in a direction where employers no longer want to be held accountable for their employee’s salaries or investments.

Why aren’t you showing your appreciation and providing me with a tip for purchasing your game? Did I do something wrong by only dropping $130+ on your Ultimate Edition that is plagued with matchmaking issues for the next 2-3 months and only includes a bonus game soundtrack that is totally forgettable?

[Hofstaderman]

Just the tip?

[Barlos]

Give me the option by all means. I can then choose to refuse.

[drizzom]

Next thing you know, articles appear on the usual gaming news sites stating "Gamers are ungrateful to the developers!"

[DrDoomer]

We will then immediately see games designed from the ground up around tipping.

[SimpleDad]

Yeah tipping the developer only to find later that he was laid off.

[Skuletor]

I'd like to tip a few off a cliff

[Profchaos]

How about they get paid a proper wage.
American tipping culture is just madness I've seen it's starting to expand beyond just waiters and Batista's into things like real estate agents and self service kiosks like at Macdonalds along with other place's it should never even be considering I don't tip anyone in Australia ever and no one is mad about it.

[CrimsonWing69]

I think the developers should tip us for essentially buying dome $70 games to basically play test. Doesn’t really sound so good does it? Y’all make more than most people and still want more.

[Btf_1991]

Fuck off

[Kaozz1979]

Whats next, I dont tip and then they remove my access to the game?

[Chocoburger]

This wouldn't work for games published by a big company, of course. But it could work for smaller indie game projects that have a very low cost, such as a $5 game made by 3 people, and you can choose to tip them an extra $3 - $5 as a sign of appreciation.

However, this would be a disgusting practice if it was allowed for games published by Ubisoft, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Namco, Capcom, S-E, Sega, etc.

[MetroidFREAK21]

On top of $70 games? No

[anast]

This is how food delivery apps put more of the responsibility and cost on the customer. Blizzard finds the sleaziest managers.

[ClosetRebel]

Give me a f@cking break!

[MrBaskerville]

First thet introduce tips, then they cut pay as much as possible, so they can profit more.

[Vits]

I could see this being a cool thing for Indies. But often you can do just that already if they have a patreon or something similar. For major developer companies that would be super silly, to start there is a huge chance that the devs that worked on that particular game has already been fired as the project is over. And obviously the money would not reach the developers that are still there, the suits would gobble it all up.

Also we all know that if this get implemented by a American. It would stop being a small bonus for good work and become a integral part of the salary of the devs in no time.

[ocelot07]

I'll be honest I don't think I'm 100% against this. Like it would be a very rare thing for me. It would only donate/tip Devs that have not only made a incredible game. But also don't make me feel like I'm getting nicked and dimed.

[purple101]

You should be able to tip an individual team, such as if you really liked the audio, the graphics, or the animations teams,

Perhaps the art team or special effects teams too, how about that idea?

[ocelot07]

Yer it could work.

[Toecutter00]

I love it when these CEOs and the ilk speak about the video game industry. They say the wildest, headscratching rubbish that only seems reasonable to a soulless husk whose myopic pursuit of profit make it seem reasonable to him and him alone.

[PiNkFaIrYbOi]

Tipping culture is out of hand and it needs to stop.

[gold_drake]

excuse me? lol

[nmbr1esq]

To Mike Ybarra, In the words of Elon Musk, "go fk yourself!" Is that clear enough.

[cell989]

They're trying to be restaurant owners 😂😂 have the consumer pay for their wages smh

[Walalon]

In a couple of years:

Horse DLC $80 dollars.. oh you buy it! Wanna tip another $20 for the demon son of Bobby Kottick?!

[Abear21]

Go work in a restaurant if you want to work for tips. You get no insurance and paid $5/hr.

How about you make something worth buying? He can blame constant video game sales if anything. Most Games are half price in just months.

Everyone knows games go on sale constantly, devs need to make and market properly and maybe we get excited enough to drop $70. I remember seeing WAY more game commercials back in the day. They don’t spend money marketing anymore and just expect us to build hype on our own when day one gaming is risky. These devs have F’d up so many times and just fix via patches…this is bullshit and why we all just wait for your buggy rushed game to go on sale.

[jambola]

Wow that sounds like a wonderful idea
Then the multi billion dollar company wouldn't have to pay them as much
And if there's one company I trust with this stuff, it's blizzard
Always thinking about the little guy

[LeShin]

My 'tip' is buying good games.

[Dandizzle]

Oh yeah so then blizzard can justify paying employees less. What a scummy dude

[Miacosa]

These games are produced for the most part at multiple million to trillion dollar companies. How about they be fiscally responsible with scope and budget so they can pay the developers better. It is not the consumers responsibility to bail out failing business plans.

[Crows90]

The USA doesn't understand tippIng....knowing them they'd reduce wages across the board for all devs in order to guilt trip customers to tip.

[Lionsguard]

No no no no no no no way in hell would I ever support ANOTHER tipping avenue. "Oh it's optional" you say? Say that to the "forced 20% gratuity on some checks". What next? Unskippable 1 minute donation begging before we can play so they can write it off in their taxes?

[Tzuno]

Look at that stupid smile...

[Michiel1989]

I'm not gonna tip you when I have to pay 30 dollars extra for 2 days of early access. You should have probably also tipped your coworker when she got paid less for the exact same role you were given and didn't say a word about it.

[PRIMORDUS]

Oh what was that? I should torrent more games on PC? Don't mind if I do. LOL I have the Starcraft collection already what else shall I take hmmmm...

[Kyizen]

I thought micro transactions was tips...

[DivineHand125]

The moment they implement that option, they will reduce the developers' pay and expect tips to makeup the difference.

[enkiduxiv]

Tipping is a wonderful thing to do, but an executive is the last person who should suggest it for an industry. This is just shady.

[RhinoGamer88]

Actually, if I buy a game on sale, I would be open if the funds went to the developer NOT the publisher. For example, buy a $70 game at $39.99. If the game is great and updated properly, I would tip $10.

[Jobu]

Okay but if your game is trash, then it's only fair you pay me for having to go through that hardship of spending my money on a terrible game.

[kaos89]

If games did not have microtransactions and released complete and games weren't broken on release and patched later then this might have a little bit of merit. Non multiplayer games connected to the internet have lead to intolerable experiences.

[jznrpg]

If you want the ability to give tips then totally stop selling MT’s and battle passes and I will consider it.

[rlow1]

What a pure idiot. Stupid is what stupid does……so don’t be on the “does” category.

[PassNextquestion]

Don't these guys earn enough?

[jwillj2k4]

Here’s to incoming “your tips make up for it” salary cuts

[zero_jp]

Mike Ybarra is a joke. This man goes from company to company like the town wh*re.

I didn’t like him at Microsoft, didn’t like him at Blizzard. And while I would tip developers who deserve it.

I’ll never tip developers who are more than happy to force diversity and inclusion just because.

If it makes sense for the story and game okay. But often times it’s just there to check DEI boxes.

[DaniMacYo]

Or perhaps the big greedy companies that hired said developers and what not pay out of their billion dollar pockets. Instead of pocketing it all or most of it and then complaining how expensive it is to make AAA video games nowadays. You greedy perverted F’s. Stop job cuts too so you maintain a disgusting life style while the real hardworking people struggle to get by while working tirelessly to make your F’ing games. There should be more capital from these companies that have a reserve for the devs and give them a fair bonus when the games launched.

The amount of money these CEO’s rank in compared to the peanuts the devs and various studio employees make could go towards a better funded gaming experience. The big dogs don’t work anywhere near as much or as hard as the poor devs who often end up on the short end of the stick. Get used and abused then let go while they have a house to pay off.

[badz149]

such scummy idea from a scummy company!