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My first job was bagging groceries in Safeway, and I remember vividly watching the minute hand on a big clock slowly tick around to the end of my shift. I was t

My first job was bagging groceries in Safeway, and I remember vividly watching the minute hand on a big clock slowly tick around to the end of my shift. I was thinking, when I graduate university I don't want a job where I am always so bored I'm just wishing my life away so I can go home. I can honestly say after 25 years working on video games I have never once been bored. There is a vibrant industry out there which has never had so many different platforms and delivery mechanisms. In the next 10 years we will only see more. My advice for those that want to make games is try it out; don't be shy to move around different companies and work on different types of technology until you find something you enjoy and team you like to work with. Do the same every few years and you'll have a long career ahead of you. And most importantly, do not crunch. A few extra hours of work here and there is fine, but any extended death march is bad for your health, bad for the product and ultimately bad for the company.

vvanders 8y ago
Easy to say, hard/impossible to do. When you're paycheck to paycheck(which I was in gamedev, yay high col) "not crunching" isn't really a choice when you risk getting labeled "not a team player" and slow-rolled towards the door.
- shawn 8y ago
  This is partly because most gamedevs lack confidence. There's nothing stopping you from walking out from abuse -- the door is right there. It's harder to admit to yourself when your job is abusive. Harder still: admitting you don't really like your job, and you're ok with finding a new one. Finding a new job can be difficult for gamedevs, but transitioning out of gamedev is surprisingly easy. At the end of the day, it's our collective willingness to put up with abuse that allows crunch to happen.
  - mrguyorama 8y ago
    >There's nothing stopping you from walking out from abuse What magic world do you live in that doesn't have rent and grocery expenses?
  - krageon 8y ago
    Of course, if the alternative to that abuse is literally living on the streets it's not really a choice anymore (except in the most inane sense). It then becomes "if you want to live, you will let daddy corporate tell you whatever he wants" - coincidentally, this is precisely what we're seeing.
oppositelock 8y ago
A long career is certainly possible, however, you will earn far less over that career, and see more stress than doing something less exciting. I still miss working on games, playing my own creation with music, graphics, game logic all coming together is the most rewarding thing I've done. Meanwhile, writing code which is judged by output in a console is much more boring, but much more rewarding in other ways. It certainly doesn't make you look at the clock, though, as there are interesting problems to solve everywhere.
- justinhj 8y ago
  Oh, I certainly agree that if ones goal is to avoid boredom and maximize money then games may not be the way to go. However, there is certainly a decent living to be made. My main point however is that if you want to make games, it certainly is possible to do so if you are patient and focused and avoid those who would have you crunch incessantly.

vvanders 8y ago

Easy to say, hard/impossible to do. When you're paycheck to paycheck(which I was in gamedev, yay high col) "not crunching" isn't really a choice when you risk getting labeled "not a team player" and slow-rolled towards the door.

shawn 8y ago
This is partly because most gamedevs lack confidence. There's nothing stopping you from walking out from abuse -- the door is right there. It's harder to admit to yourself when your job is abusive. Harder still: admitting you don't really like your job, and you're ok with finding a new one. Finding a new job can be difficult for gamedevs, but transitioning out of gamedev is surprisingly easy. At the end of the day, it's our collective willingness to put up with abuse that allows crunch to happen.
- mrguyorama 8y ago
  >There's nothing stopping you from walking out from abuse What magic world do you live in that doesn't have rent and grocery expenses?
- krageon 8y ago
  Of course, if the alternative to that abuse is literally living on the streets it's not really a choice anymore (except in the most inane sense). It then becomes "if you want to live, you will let daddy corporate tell you whatever he wants" - coincidentally, this is precisely what we're seeing.

oppositelock 8y ago

A long career is certainly possible, however, you will earn far less over that career, and see more stress than doing something less exciting. I still miss working on games, playing my own creation with music, graphics, game logic all coming together is the most rewarding thing I've done. Meanwhile, writing code which is judged by output in a console is much more boring, but much more rewarding in other ways. It certainly doesn't make you look at the clock, though, as there are interesting problems to solve everywhere.

justinhj 8y ago
Oh, I certainly agree that if ones goal is to avoid boredom and maximize money then games may not be the way to go. However, there is certainly a decent living to be made. My main point however is that if you want to make games, it certainly is possible to do so if you are patient and focused and avoid those who would have you crunch incessantly.