Eh, the game dev thing just gets into a whole capitalism politics topic that I just dont care to visit. But it basically revolves around either idiots, or desperate people being taken advantage of. The job you describe is pretty much just a company keeping you on retainer. Where a more hideous example, rather than a game dev, would be Subway paying an employee to run a store for minimum wage at 40 hours, stretched out over an 80-90 hour week. I feel like the end result is going to be some heavy handed approach from the government to fix it and its going to work well for those on the lowest rung, but utterly fuck those that are in the position you spoke of. You and I could sit here and hash out a fair system that puts no one at a disadvantage, but with all the lobbying and shit that happens in politics - you know they arent going to take the most straightforward route. Game Dev's unionizing is just them trying to take control of it before the government fucks it all up, imo.