Do Any of You Want to Work in the Games Industry?

[Kieli]

Absolutely not. I know what I'm getting myself into, and I genuinely think I would derive great enjoyment from making games. But not at the expense of my health and missed financial opportunities.

The game industry needs to get its act together before I even consider it.

 

[Sai]

I used to, and I sure as fuck don't anymore!

 

[jdstorm]

I've already learned the hard way that its best not to make your hobby/escapism your full time job. It can lead to problems.

There are a few jobs/companies i would consider making an exception for, (Monolith Soft and Tabata's new company seem like they would be good places to work) but given that i lile my current job and my lack of any formal training or experience in anything remotely related to the industry i'm not planning on looking into it

 

[DanteMenethil]

God no, there's few work environnement that sounds as toxic as the game industry. Why would I want to work myself to the bone when I can make more money with a cozy 35h programmer analyst job at the gov

 

[Deleted member 4212]

I don't think so. It seems like one of the most difficult sectors for a software developer. Constant crunch, no job security, bad culture. If I wanted to make a game I would do it on my own or with a few friends.

 

[matimeo]

I have for over 10 years. Have an exit strategy for when you want to make a decent wage ... oh wait I did !

No regrets , some of the best people I've ever met. It does feel like the mafia at times, I've left the industry to do other things twice but so far I've always returned for one more dream project or as a favor to someone I respect in the industry.

 

[DeliciousSunnyD!]

I went to college to pursue this idea.

5.5 years later, one major dropped (Engineering) and just scraping through by the skin of my teeth on my actual degree (BFA in Game & Simulation Art/Design), and living with other """like-minded individuals""", hell fucking no.

Couldn't stand my peers (the networking) and the work necessary to even get a foot in the door (the commitment) was a nightmare slog. There is always someone out there working much harder for less, and the fact that I found my contemporary students absolutely obnoxious and horrible to spend actual time around hurt things for me extremely bad.

For example, in my animation class I procrastinated just a bit too hard (my achilles heel). In order to pass the class, I had to stay awake working on the final project for literally 3 days straight at the end of the semester. I thought I was going to die I was running on fumes so hard. Yes it was my fault for not working every day, day-after-day, hour-after-hour, but I never found the work fun and never found my peers engaging from a 'strive to be better' perspective so I had so little motivation.

Plus I saw the writing on the wall in my school years that the major money-making direction of the industry-at-large was moving unstoppably in a direction I objected to, both from a taste/opinion perspective as well as a moral/philosophical perspective. (The focus on systems driven, psychological + sociological predatory game designs that are majorly predicated on having wide-net design to ensnare many "users" and in turn keep those "users" "perpetually engaged" and turned into paying "whales" as much as possible. See: Activision-Blizzard)

So trying to get into 'where the money was' seemed like a bad idea for me personally, and then working as an 'Indie' seemed like an unsustainable lifestyle (because it really is, to be honest).

I still love a variety of aspects about the medium, and I think it is by far the most compelling, most interesting artistic medium out there and is representative of the peak of human artistic design in many ways, but trying to make it into a career just thoroughly whipped the idea of actually pursuing a career in the field out of me.

If you don't like the work, don't like the people, and don't like what makes the money, then well, you probably shouldn't do it hahaha.

 

[Fou-Lu]

I have a lot of passion for this hobby, not just as a player of games, but as a designer, a programmer, a writer, and a thinker. I honestly cannot imagine being passionate about any other career than working with games in some form. I am not sure if it would be smart to get into the industry considering the horror stories I've heard but... I wouldn't mind trying a job at a big studio for at least one development cycle. I am very strongly contemplating putting a portfolio together and applying for dev jobs for that reason.

The dream would be to be an indie developer and create my own ideas or to be in a position like the Easy Allies, hanging out with friends, playing and talking about games/creating content and getting money for it.

In the end I will probably just end up as a web developer or something and use some spare time to make indie games by myself and wish I could do more.

 

[The_Land]

Absolutely not. I do not envy the dev life one bit. Working on cool shit gets old when that occupies 99% of your life

 

[Pancracio17]

As a 17y/o, im really interested in how games are made, and I think it would probably be really damn fun to design one. But god do I not look foward to those gaming industry horror stories.

 

[Tagyhag]

Nah, I love this hobby, but from everything that I've heard dev-wise, I would absolutely hate it.

Now as a personality? Yeah I'd love it.

In a world where my boring ass is paid well to play games? Sign me up.

 

[Deleted member 13015]

Hell no.

Development of a game sounds like years of pure shit and grind. Pure stress, constant changes, a community that is toxic, creativity constantly shifted left and right. dissecting something that is suppose to be fun, but in your eyes its not, Time restrictions "It has to be done by THIS time or else". "We just got a call... throw the project to the trash" type of discharge.

 

[Chakoo]

~12/13 years and counting.

I'm at the, "well back in MY day working in the industry we didn't have your fancy DATA and online multiplayer and yadda yadda yadda..." stage of my career. Ha.

So I guess it's rather, would I do anything else? Probably not.

Click to shrink...

It gets worse in 5ish years. Soon you'll switch to questioning which is older the co-op or your first game release. -.- (mine was at the start of 2002).


Also to add to your point, back in my day we would scold the jr dev who tried to use stl. =P

 

[Silky]

Fuck no lmfao

If I had the talent for game dev I'd be doing a better, meaningful job in tech than that slave house bullshit

 

[Dremorak]

Working in the game industry is pretty much terrible for the majority of people unless you're in management or in marketing.

Click to shrink...

I've worked as an animator in the games industry for 7 years now and I have only had to work overtime less than 10 times, and after the first few years get paid pretty okay I think.
I really enjoy what I do, and couldn't imagine doing anything else.

 

[HeartofWinds]

I'd be interested in developing consoles/chips that go into them and maybe dabble in game design.

 

[Kindekuma]

I just want to be a 3D lighting/environment artist but none of these studios give me a call back ;__;

 

[Lat]

No. I love job security

 

[Wedginald]

When I was younger in my early to late teens, I really wanted to work in the games industry. I figured programming most likely, as I never had any artistic talent of any kind. As I got older, in my early 20's that wish died down and I sort of romanticized the idea of working in the gaming press, as a journalist writing reviews and covering gaming stuff. Seemed like a lot of fun, and you share alot of camaraderie and interact with other like minded people, though that was sort of short lived, as I always had a fear that linking my love of gaming and actual work would eventually blur the lines and gaming would no longer be a fun hobby, but a chore and something I was forced to do.

 

[Valkerion]

Dev side no way. Too many horror stories, inconsistencies, and questionable security. I've been looking into some community manager or marketing things for potentially my next job but yeah, even then seeing friends take on these roles to only be let go two or three years later has me debating that as well.

Also thought about some kind of "press" coverage job but honestly it just seems like a space filled with people who hate games at this point after doing it so long.

 

[effingvic]

I'd love to make my own game one day but I never want to work as a game dev for a traditional company.

 

[Deleted member 4034]

It came across that the question wasn't "do you want to be a game dev?", right?

 

[Mortemis]

Not in the least, no. I just don't really have any interest in gaming outside of playing and talking about it, and realistically the only position I'd do would be game dev since I'm a software dev and fuck that.

I guess I'd be cool being in a gaming podcast, but I don't want to be a gaming personality or journalist.

 

[Dremorak]

I just want to be a 3D lighting/environment artist but none of these studios give me a call back ;__;

Click to shrink...

Apply for smaller studios, maybe lean more into the environment artist side of things, as only AAA studios really have dedicated lighting people.
Or also learn a related skill, like character modelling. Or if you are really interested more in lighting, then maybe learn more about being a technical artist? Theres a bit that work going around.

 

[T'Challa Shakur]

I would love to work on Product Marketing for a Game Publisher.

 

[Regiruler]

Very much.

...My current job, just out of college, probably pays better than any possible game industry job I would ever get.

 

[Chixdiggit]

 

[TheFireman]

I mean, I'm a semester and a half away from a CS degree for this very reason, so I guess I would.

 

[Derkon]

Not a chance in hell. Had a buddy in the gaming industry and he was miserable.

 

[ElephantShell]

Used to, right after high school.

Didn't have the mind for the programming stuff and decided it's just not for me.

 

[MoonFrog]

It came across that the question wasn't "do you want to be a game dev?", right?

Click to shrink...

I mean, I have zero interest in a career just associated with gaming. If I were involved in it, I would want to be making games. This is the case despite me saying "no, ultimately, I would not like to make games." I'm not interested in business, marketing, PR, journalism, being a "personality," etc. I am interested in game design but, ultimately, as a consumer who just likes to think about games from a front-end perspective.

I imagine other people here who ignore other possible careers in gaming (despite your question being open to them) might have similar bents.

 

[EctoPrime]

I have always wanted to since I made my first doom map. But I found a girl and she wanted to move in so I skipped college and went to work asap and here I am. I like what I do now enough but I will have always wanted to make a game. I even have a decent idea to me at least that at some point I would like to flesh out into an indie game to be lost on steam or something.

 

[JarlRaven]

My heart goes out to the people who work in game development they go through so much to deliver experiences that give so much people joy and satisfaction. For me personally, I would one day want to make a small indie game of my own limited capacity. Fulfilling someone else's creative vision doesn't really appeal to me.

 

[BasilZero]

I originally wanted to but decided to keep gaming as a hobby.


I prefer computers for work and a hobby at the same time more than video games :p.

 

[ascii42]

I used to. But I like my stable DoD job where I don't work overtime unless I want to and if I do I get paid for it.

 

[Shokunin]

Fuck no. Better money (and hours per) outside that trash.

 

[inner-G]

I would like to work on something like conceptual art or scenery, not modeling though. Like travel and get inspiration for fantastic locales to set memorable experiences in. I also have some ideas for VR content that I don't think anyone is doing.

I do graphic design for my day job, so I could like make menus and edit trailers and stuff, but you asked ideally :lol

 

[Fawz]

I've worked in the Video Game industry for the past 8 years and most people I started with have moved on for the Software industry or other fields where there's better pay, less stress, more recognition and most importantly more stability.

I personally love it and it hasn't done anything to hamper my love for games. If anything it's made me love a wider variety of games and made me engage with more people when it comes to sharing about my gaming experiences and being involved in other's. To each his own.

 

[Berserking-Guts]

And have to deal with video game enthusiasts? Good god no.

 

[radiotoxic]

I worked in QA for 3 months, many years ago. Enough for me, thanks.

 

[Seldon]

I'd do hardware design like valve positional tracking tech or chip design since that is similar to what I do now, only a cooler application. However I wouldn't move to CA to do so lol.

 

[Razor Mom]

Coming up to my 5th year, I really think this is only for... Very obsessive people. True of anything I guess, but damn you've got to want it, and want it so much.

 

[KaiPow]

I am in games journalism/reviewing and still have an interest in getting into QA. Seeing the design process for known shippables and WNF's in a game would be fascinating from a personal perspective.

 

[NexasX]

To be really honest, I wouldn't mind going into the corporate side of things to get my foot into my favorite gaming brands given my background. While people have (rightfully) given them flak for meddling with the creative input of big titles, there's a necessity for some sort of management when you get to a large enough size.

 

[Septimus Prime]

Yeah, probably.

 

[Kinopio]

I tried it. I hated it. I'll never do it again.

 

[Timeaisis]

It's not that bad, I promise.

 

[Cheezeman3000]

You have to absolutely LOVE what you do, to enjoy working in the industry.

I do. :)

 

[Toucan]

Hell no. Everyone I know who did was miserable, and almost all of them ended up quitting the industry.

 

[MisterBear]

Great seein' people say, hell no, it's much easier to critique games savagely if you have as little knowledge of the reality of things as possible. The smartest person in the thread always knows the least.

And the industry is not as bad as it was, depending on where you work.