3 yrs since EA spouse

The article seems to gloss over the fact that while EA spouse shook things up a little, the initiatives within igda created to deal with it have come to nothing, there is still no meaningful unionisation of game developers, and still no widespread insistence on or expectation of reasonable working hours.

I propose that the most important legacy of EA Spouse (not mentioned in the article) is the damage it did to the reputation of the industry in the eyes of potential industry members.
There is now common knowledge of the poor working conditions among those outside the industry, which I imagine has caused not a few potential game developers to look elsewhere for their career, or consider other approaches to working in games.

there is still no meaningful unionisation of game developers, and still no widespread insistence on or expectation of reasonable working hours. [/quote:9a53dda308]

This is a major mis-conception that people have. In the UK game developers can join BECTU (Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematography and Theatre Union). So while there is no union solely for game developers, there is a union they can join if they so wish.
As for the hours…if a company forces you to do them with no pay, you leave…they’ll soon get the point. Lots of companies are paying overtime now, one way or another…