Having worked at both a small-time and significant studio, I too can confirm the whole industry is nuts, as the sibling comment says. vvanders' comment is such

Having worked at both a small-time and significant studio, I too can confirm the whole industry is nuts, as the sibling comment says. vvanders' comment is such a perfect illustration of the situation that you should read and re-read it and then force yourself to believe it. I didn't. None of this will really change the minds of a determined 19 year old to become a gamedev, though. That's why gamedev is able to treat employees as if they worked at a startup while giving none of the benefits. If one leaves, there are ten young people who want to take their place, and are massively excited to do so. For a few years.