Steam's most-wishlisted game admits to using some 'volunteer' workers
Propnight developer Fntastic recently came under fire after putting out a call for «volunteers» to help it finish work on its next game, an open-world survival MMO called The Day Before(opens in new tab). The criticism was simple: Fntastic is an established developer and The Day Before has the potential to be a major hit: It holds the top position on Steam's list of most-wishlisted games(opens in new tab). So why is the studio trying to avoid paying people for their work?
«There are two types of volunteers at Fntastic: full-time and part-time. Full-time volunteers work for salaries, and their number is limited,» the Fntastic website states in its Volunteer(opens in new tab) section.
«Anyone can be a part-time volunteer to contribute to the Fntastic community and get cool rewards, participation certificates, and free codes. Part-time volunteering at Fntastic includes various activities ranging from translating to community moderating. Part-time volunteers also can offer their unique skills to improve our projects or create new special features.»
Rewards might be «cool» but they are not a substitute for pay, and asking for unpaid help to create a game that Fntastic expects to make money on—potentially a lot of money—did not sit well with many of its followers. The title of this Steam discussion thread cuts right to the point: "Don't work for free(opens in new tab)."
In a statement shared with PC Gamer, Fntastic suggested that its intent was essentially lost in translation: The studio is a commercial operation but also embraces the spirit of volunteerism, and is basically opening that door for its fans, too.
«Today we have over 100 full-time internal volunteers (employees) from Singapore, Russia, the Netherlands, Thailand,
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