GAME_JAM, a reality show focussed on the creation of video games and starring some well known names from the indie development scene, was cancelled after just one day of filming following a series of incidents involving a consultant that led to developers taking part in the show to walk away and refuse to return.
Full-bodied accounts of what went on can be found on IndieStatik and Gamasutra, which explains exactly how the show imploded, but a succinct retelling of events reveals a producer/consultant working on the show who tried to create tension on set by carelessly and callously seeking to create drama out of controversial subjects, in particular at one point asking developers if they felt that their team was at an advantage simply because one of them happened to be an attractive woman.
"Do you think you're at an advantage because you have a pretty girl on your team?" he's alleged to have said (we say ‘alleged', but we've heard from a trusted source that everything in these reports are accurate).
The consultant, named as Matti Leshem, also went to ask other participants if they thought they were at a disadvantage because there were women in their ranks. When he received a straight and diplomatic response, he stopped filming, apparently dismissing it as he wasn't "getting a story".
These were the moments that sparked the walkout by developers (that included, among others, Davey Wreden, creator of The Stanley Parable, and Zoe Quinn, developer behind Depression Quest), but other moments such as over-zealous product placement (such as asking participants to smile while drinking Mountain Dew, and not being allowed to drink coffee on camera) and individuals being told to remove nail polish and cover their tattoos, which as you can imagine, only irritated the contestants further.
All of these on-set antics followed draconian contracts that were originally presented to the developers before the show even started - some of whom considered the clauses contained within to be so outrageous that they didn't even sign them. Points included developers having to pay for their own travel if they were less than two hundred miles away from the shoot, and allowing edits that could cause misrepresentation in order to create dramatic effect in the show.
There was also the non-compete clause, that basically limited any and all ability for contestants to promote their games/companies during and for a short period after the show, although this clause was amended and made more lenient.
But the revised contracts didn't make any difference in the end, and that's predominantly down to the actions of just one man. In an act of collective defiance the developers walked away - from a show that cost a rumoured $400k - and in doing so clearly displayed the unique togetherness that underpins the indie development scene.