Is Working in The Gaming Industry still your Dream job?

6 years ago I took a huge risk. I moved and left a decent career in healthcare to work in the industry at my favorite studio(Netherrealm). I've never regretted it. It's still a wonderful job, I love the work and the environment. The best decision I've made in my life.

Yes, at least from a communications, PR, or even the opposite with games journalism stand point. I run a gaming website in my part time, but I really just use it as a portfolio for my writing pieces. I work in college athletics currently, so I'm used to long hours and lower pay than what is deserved (sad, I know).

QA tester or marketing or a personality for their social media accounts sure.

Game development? Nope never i heard to many horror stories and i am a guy big on my free time. So that would clash heavily.

It is still somewhat, if I could find a job where I work 4 days a week, have 30 vacation days and walk out the door whenever there's some issue with the kids without getting glared at.

So I'm happy where I'm at, somewhere on the edge of the game industry, as a professor of game design.

Maybe some day as a designer in serious games. So I still get to be part of the creative process while also having close to zero crunch.

Hell no.

10 years in january and it's still a blast. I don't see myself doing something else.

Hey said:

Just cerious is it okay to say which game?

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Sure, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Tomb Raider 2013.

I don't hate myself enough to work in game development.

Editor is still dream work for e (i've made it some time as a freelancer).
The problem is that the pay is very bad.

Community Manager could be great though.

From the dev part of the industry,, maybe as a writer or game designer, but i'm bad with moddeling or level design, and my programming skills are not enough.

It was when I was growing up until I started looking into the working conditions.

When I finished grad school, my plan at the time was trying to get into a game studio. But I had the following happen:

1. I got into an web engineer role instead
2. My brother became a professional indie game developer

So now I work at a game company doing web engineering stuff and it balances out nicely! I get to participate in product launches and big gaming events like E3 while having the stability of a regular ol' IT job.

Squiddo ᔦꙬᔨ said:

QA tester or marketing or a personality for their social media accounts sure.

Game development? Nope never i heard to many horror stories and i am a guy big on my free time. So that would clash heavily.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

QA people are an integral part of any dev team (internal or external).

I'd still say yes, I think. I've managed to end up as a programmer at a small studio that makes games and game-like things, with some pretty cool coworkers. We don't really crunch here, and the times they've asked if people would mind working overtime it's been actually-voluntary, with overtime pay, and not more than like an extra 8 hours/week.

I'd like to move to a job at a studio that makes games I'd actually ever want to play, in a better state, but the crunch horror stories from "real" studios, the likelihood that my salary/cost-of-living ratio would change unfavorably, and the prospect of re-entering job interview hell have me scared to try to make the jump.

Maybe briefly at one time when I was a teenager. But no I would rather play games than create them.

Games Industry is not my dream job because I already spoiled TV for myself that way.

6 years in Functional QA and I can't imagine wanting to work anywhere else!

Nah. I'm not going to tame any strange if I break out the "I work on Sonic games" at a bar.

Absolutely not. Though I wouldn't say it was my dream job I did take courses that would lead me into that industry. Seems exciting until your hear about the overworked, underpaid and living contract to contract with no job security and stability.

Hard pass.

I would love to be the head marketing person at a major company. I want to talk about game for them. I want to be the speaker at the press conferences and the major face behind the brand like Reggie is for Nintendo. However, I have no marketing experience and I'm not an executive so my dreams are pretty much non-existent.

I always wanted, and still do, to make games. Working in the industry, not so much.

I wouldn't call it a dream, but I'm still curious about the industry from a sales / PR angle. I'd love to connect with those sorts of people to learn more about those types of roles, since I don't have the technical skills to be in design.

Games media largely seems like monkey business to me. Most folks aren't Jason Schreier.

Nope. Plus having friends who work in the legal department at various gaming companies, confirms that the experience is not any different than working in-house for any large corporation.

I'd like to try my hand in a marketing/PR department one day (currently a graphic artist who does some editing and writing) but I wouldn't call it a dream.

Almost 18 years and I couldn't imagine working in any other industry, let alone having to retire in 30 years time. They're going to have to pry my keyboard from my cold, dead hands!

However, my dream has narrowed to include the chance to direct games in specific genres. I'm going to have to win a lottery if I'm ever going to have the chance to make a big budget Survival Horror with fixed camera angles!

Aw hell no. I still wanna love games.

SlightlyLive said:

Almost 6 years in QA and I still love the industry, warts and all.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

You're tough, after 3 years I was freaking done.

Not really, in fact, it was never my dream to begin with. Ever since I was a kid I always felt like I shouldn't work in the game industry because I love the hobby too much. I always felt like turning my hobby into a job would make me enjoy it less. Now, with all the stuff going on post-gamergate and the mostly terrible gaming community I'm even more convinced that working in the gaming industry would be a bad call for me.

Unfortunately, yes.

I migrated from digital marketing (close to 10 years as an account director on a digital agency) to product management to a quasi-game kind of project. I want to use my experience as a freelance game journalist for close to 15 years and do the next step, but it's hard. Started Game Maker too, but no free time :/

My dream job is to become a Liberal smiting Progressive Conservative policy wonk.

Hell no

Always thought I wanted to make games for a living.... then I saw what it takes

I mean at this point i would settle for being a reviewer, podcaster

But my Dream Job now is running my own Arcade Bar/VR Arcade and hosting events

No. I needed a better work-life balance.

So, I'm a software developer for a fairly boring, but very stable company that pays well and never asks me to work more than 40 hours a week. And I'm very happy where I'm at.

Every aspect of the industry seems overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated. Will never happen, and I don't mind not crossing the streams between hobbies and career anyway.

Tigel said:

Sure, Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Tomb Raider 2013.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

Nice thanks!

I mean I was but my previous company basically exited console game development outside of licensed games and just recently got rid of all of the cool mobile and online gaming stuff I was working on in marketing operations and none of the other shops in town were hiring so I'm still in marketing just not for games at the moment, increased my salary by about 40k a year but once I've got 1.5 years on my resume at this place I'll happily jump back in.

Yes. I hope my next game will succeed so it can be a full time job. Otherwise I guess it will just stay a hobby that I do in my basement..

I still want to (and am actively trying) be in the games industry, but as a journalist/content creator over actual game design. I aspire to be Greg Miller/Andrea Rene/Austin Walker/etc. I don't think I want to be an investigative games journalist like Jason Schreier or anything, but I would like to write reviews and articles and do podcasts, things like that.

Well, I do those things already, but I'd like to get paid for doing them, heh.

No my dream job has always been Lottery Winner Hermit Layabout.

Never was.

I'm a game tester for WMC; it's been like 2-3 years, i played a lot of unreleased titles, both AAA and mobile games; it's entertaining and it's not time consuming.

Still is, looking into some internships. My other alternative is entering the academic space. One of my advisors does a lot of game design research, and her work has been downright inspiring.

I still love everything about the Industry 10 Years in. I moved from my home town to pursue my dream and I managed to achieve it, which seems to be rare, so I'm forever grateful for it.
I work next to some of the worlds best minds and talents and that alone inspires me everyday to keep pushing and creating which I find super humbling. It's a great place if you love creating and being with like minded people who are just as passionate.

There are hard times and long hours sometimes but in the grand scheme of things it has balanced out for me in terms of what we've produced so I don't feel as bad for it. I do agree that there could be improvements all around though and not have certain expectations of people and the time they spend and the work / life balance.

I'm still a crazy hardcore gamer as much as I was before I started in the Industry, probably even more so when I see other AAA games doing stuff and wanting to match them or try and figure out how they did it. I don't believe working on them has dampened any of my passion for them. The only exception to this is the levels I have worked on... I HATE seeing them and it fills me with dread when I see them played, but that's only because I know things I could have done to improve them and never being satisfied.

I don't know where I'll be in 10/15 years but I'm glad to have had the opportunity to work with the people I have and experience AAA game making first hand and been a part of it.

Used to be dream job for me, used to be....

now i have no dreams left.

I've been writing about games for close to 10 years. Still haven't gotten to where I want to be, but that's all the more reason I can't stop.

I'd love to as a hobbyist but I had a miserable time working for a large gaming company after graduating from college and lasted only a year before I needed to leave out of stress and the impact it was having on my personal life and health. The people there were very nice but the company encouraged an almost obsessive level of commitment, belief in the company brand and the importance of our work to a point of worship and with a lot of psychological tricks to encourage us into overtime, working weekends, allowing our manager to select convenient times to use our days off etc.
Since then I've worked a similar position in a non-gaming company and I'm paid better, have job stability and don't have to suffer the same sort of stress and pressure.

Alwayscrazybacon said:

Game industry is interesting to work i as long as you're not on the development side. But it's sure not stable and you'll lose your job at any time.

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

I mean I wouldn't say that, development side is pretty fun to be a part of it is just the environment you're in that's all that matters.

Yes.... but not in the AAA market.

I have worked for banks for the past 4 years, manage to save a bit to sustain my life for 2 years. In January I'll be leaving my current job and start learning and developing video games. (For those who are wondering I live in Brazil, there's little to none game studios that I can share my own progress or difficulties, so I'll be spending a lot of time here).

I already have a full game design project in my desk for a racing game that I created and I still dream with a little studio, with around 15-20 people and with lots of freedom in terms of creative content and cultural diversity.

Here in Brazil there are a lot of cultures and diversity that could bring a whole new perspective in the game market.

I want to go into games media. Basically your IGN, Kinda Funny, Easy Allies, etc.

It was when I was a kid, and after being in it since the late 16-bit generation, I can't see myself doing anything else. Do what you love, I say.

As a kid I always wanted to work on games but after college I pursued traditional software development out of a sense of practicality, I guess.

Fast forward a bit and I've been making a mostly-solo game over the past few years in my free time and have found it incredibly satisfying. I could see myself working in a larger team some day in the distant future _maybe_, but I'm exactly where I want to be right now. I don't know if the game could possibly do well enough to convince me to attempt it as a full-time career, but that's okay.

I'm a software engineer and this industry has never been my dream job