The talent pool for game designers and developers is very broad and, sorry to say, very shallow in places. It's like the talent pool for screen actors. There a

The talent pool for game designers and developers is very broad and, sorry to say, very shallow in places. It's like the talent pool for screen actors. There are ten thousand hopefuls for one hundred decent jobs. Many of them are motivated by good things: respect for the games they've played, a hope for success, and the motive of the Blues Brothers ("We're on a mission from God!") This means the executives in the game business can get away with exploiting people, in the ways this article describes. I know a young female aspiring game designer who's been laid off a few times, dissed,, blamed for silly stuff, and generally mistreated. One exec even tried (without success) the casting-couch schtick on her. Her diligent work to learn her craft (rigorous BFA, internships, lots of practice) hasn't helped as much as it would have were she an aspiring software engineer, accountant, plumber, or truck driver. It's a problem with the blockbuster approach to game sales. Many people are trying to solve this problem. Unity and Unreal lower the barrier for indie game developers. Humble Bundle did a good job getting exposure for indies, and still do even after the Steam buyout. The free-to-play model (with small ongoing transactions) has potential to stabilize game-publisher finances. But the big win will come when games of various sizes can all succeed. Standing in the way of that is the superstar / blockbuster business model. In the meantime, I hope my young friend gets an executive position.