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Why does this happen in the gaming industry but not other computing industries (or is it happening there also?)?

ben010783 10y ago
It is more extreme in the gaming industry because you need so much staff to make a game, and then the needs change drastically after the game is released. From the article: > Layoffs often hit after a game was released, which was hardest on workers who were let go and damaged morale for those who stayed. “It was like ‘Welcome to the family!’ ” he recalls. “Then we released the game, and it was ‘See you later!’ ” Outsourcing became a solution to the hire-and-fire cycle, says Mr. Hartsman.
pram 10y ago
Enterprise software, unlike most video games, has a very long life if it has enough support contracts. These are usually easy jobs that pay pretty well at companies like Oracle. Of course these jobs have their own unique existential dread... theres no paradise (but you can certainly relax more)
cookiecaper 10y ago
Games depend on sales and they're extremely complex, so they take a very long time to build. You don't know if the game is going to sell well before you make it. They're just like movies in this respect; it's a "hits business", and only a few companies last very long under such arrangements. Additionally, people are desperate to be employed by a game company, so the competition for stable/permanent employment is fierce. Most software developers are employed to write custom software for internal use by their employer, which is expected to last for years and will generally receive a lot of continuing investment. Almost every company of substantial size has such a project, so there are plenty of stable employment opportunities. If the company doesn't want to use its old software anymore, they keep their employees onboard because they have useful knowledge about the business and what does/does not work from the prior package. None of this is really relevant or true of game companies.

It is more extreme in the gaming industry because you need so much staff to make a game, and then the needs change drastically after the game is released. From the article: > Layoffs often hit after a game was released, which was hardest on workers who were let go and damaged morale for those who stayed. “It was like ‘Welcome to the family!’ ” he recalls. “Then we released the game, and it was ‘See you later!’ ” Outsourcing became a solution to the hire-and-fire cycle, says Mr. Hartsman.

pram 10y ago

Enterprise software, unlike most video games, has a very long life if it has enough support contracts. These are usually easy jobs that pay pretty well at companies like Oracle. Of course these jobs have their own unique existential dread... theres no paradise (but you can certainly relax more)

cookiecaper 10y ago

Games depend on sales and they're extremely complex, so they take a very long time to build. You don't know if the game is going to sell well before you make it. They're just like movies in this respect; it's a "hits business", and only a few companies last very long under such arrangements. Additionally, people are desperate to be employed by a game company, so the competition for stable/permanent employment is fierce. Most software developers are employed to write custom software for internal use by their employer, which is expected to last for years and will generally receive a lot of continuing investment. Almost every company of substantial size has such a project, so there are plenty of stable employment opportunities. If the company doesn't want to use its old software anymore, they keep their employees onboard because they have useful knowledge about the business and what does/does not work from the prior package. None of this is really relevant or true of game companies.