I am sure that Dean Takahashi’s offshore outsourcing article in the June/July issue of Game Developer magazine is going to generate some interesting discussion. It already has in the IGDA’s own forums… The article is similar to the pre-GDC piece he did for the San Jose Mercury News.

A few posts back, I commented on Wired’s coverage on IT outsourcing, pointing to it as an opportunity to focus on innovation (rather than the boring parts). An even more important aspect of all this is the fact that games are cultural products/artefacts, and no amount of outsourcing will change that. An great editorial at MSNBC explores the cultural differences among games/gamers…

I must say it is a bit funny (in a sad kinda way), when I get asked of the IGDA is going to take a stance to protect American developers from outsourcing. While I realize the suffering many “victims” of outsourcing go through, I can’t help but point to the fact that the “I” in IGDA stands for “international”… The forum thread is an interesting read in this regard.

If we focus on the innovative and cultural bits, all should be fine. Yes?

UPDATE June 28th: Just read another article on outsourcing in Wired (their July issues). It tells of a funny story where an American programmer outsourced his own job to India, paying $12k and pocketing the remaining $55k of his salary… Seriously, the piece talks about some the economics behind outsourcing and how it allows positive flows back into the local economy, etc… Once again, showing that a panicked and emotional approach to such issues is usually unwarranted…