The Tabletop Game Designers Association shared a statement on July 23 calling for proper credit of board game designers. “Several recent announcements in the tabletop games industry have failed to identify creators of the games being discussed or described those games as being ‘by’ their publishers without naming the individual designers”, a press release says. “The TTGDA finds this practice unacceptable.”
A call to action follows this, asking “awards organizations, content creators, publishers, and sales platforms to accurately identify designers when discussing games”. The statement lists a variety of ways designers aren’t properly credited, including not naming them in marketing copy, sales listings, or the products themselves.
TTGDA also condemns awards that promote publishers more prominently than creators, though work has already been done to address the issue. “TTGDA has been actively working with both GAMA on the Origins Awards and Mensa on their Select winners to correct problems with their promotions, which have failed to include designers across multiple years”, the statement adds. It also highlights the support of designer-led awards seen at Spiel des Jahres.
“Putting aside that giving proper to credit to creators is the right thing to do, it does have tangible benefits for the industry”, TTGDA president Geoff Engelstein tells Wargamer, “If people enjoy a book, song, or movie, they will seek out more works by that author, musician, director, or actor.”
“Companies in those industries celebrate those creators and put them front and center in their marketing, leading to increased sales”, he adds. “The tabletop games industry is leaving money on the table by making it harder for people to find other works by designers they enjoy, particularly for casual players.”
To facilitate further change, TTGDA has issued a list of best practices for talking about tabletop games and their creators. Firstly, “if you mention the publisher, also mention the designers” – even if it’s just the lead designers.
It also suggests specifying that a game is “by” its designers and “published by” the publisher. Plus, TTGDA says a text overlay in videos showing credits can highlight creators without the need to read a list.
Additionally, “Publishers, awards, and events should coordinate with designers on the use and presentation of their names”. “If a designer doesn’t wish to be connected to something, they should be able to remove their name.” The final directive is to “integrate clear, creator-friendly terms for designer credits and consent for name use into all game publishing and industry-related contracts.”
Engelstein tells Wargamer that other board game fans can support the cause too. “If you watch content that includes games, like a review, preview, top 10 list, or playthrough, and designers are not mentioned, leave a comment about it”, he says. “Similarly, if an ecommerce site does not include designer names with the games, send a note asking them to do so.”
The Tabletop Game Designers Association’s goals are to creative a thriving, supportive community of designers and a games industry that respects their labor and intellectual property. Its founders are all game designers: Engelstein (The Expanse), Elizabeth Hargrave (Wingspan), and Sen-Foong Lim (MIND MGMT).
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Source: Wargamer
