When Project Conditions Clash: How 3D Development Packs & Team Size Shape the Relationship Between Video Game Programmers’ Experience & Performance

Abstract

As workers’ learning on the job is essential to organizations’ performance, identifying factors that shape it is a key managerial concern. We consider that workers’ task scope – known to influence these outcomes – is shaped by more structural factors than their job assignment. Building on the learning curve framework and U.S. data from the video game industry covering 61,989 observations over 13 years, we analyze the role that project conditions – specifically, 3D development packs and team size – play in shaping the relationship between programmers’ experience and their performance. Our results support our expectation that development packs support, while larger team size deters their learning progress on the job. They highlight the importance for managers to not only think about support technologies and their benefits in isolation, but in combination with other project conditions.