4 ms·

Game development shops are well known for this because of the cyclical nature of the sales cycle. So he's right, sort of, in that if you can't handle the Chris

by tsotha 15y ago

Game development shops are well known for this because of the cyclical nature of the sales cycle. So he's right, sort of, in that if you can't handle the Christmas season crunch you need to get into another industry. But there's no reason to find another profession - there are plenty of corporate development jobs with 9-5 work schedules.

spitfire 15y ago
It isn't the cyclical nature of the games business. It's that the people "managing" are absolute rank amateurs, shamelessly greedy businessmen, or both. Couple this with the fact that there's an endless amount of fresh meat (I want to make games when I grow up!) and except for an enlightened few there's no real reason to change.
- tsotha 15y ago
  >It isn't the cyclical nature of the games business. It's that the people "managing" are absolute rank amateurs, shamelessly greedy businessmen, or both. Every industry is loaded with managers who are rank amateurs, shamelessly greedy, or both. The difference is game companies tend to go out of business if the product isn't shipped in time for the Christmas season. >Couple this with the fact that there's an endless amount of fresh meat (I want to make games when I grow up!) and except for an enlightened few there's no real reason to change. There's a lot of truth to this. I wouldn't work in a game industry for the same reason I wouldn't open a surfboard shop or a used book store: I don't want to be competing with people who are willing to devote all their time to the job and don't care how much money they make. Eventually game developers burn out and move on, but like you say, there is an endless amount of recent grads to take their place.
jarin 15y ago
I think it's also because people really want to be in the game business. It's not quite the same, but when I worked at a porn company most of the non-programmers and non-essential production people got paid really low wages because a) there are a lot of parties and other perks you wouldn't get at most "normal" jobs (such as being able to say you work at a porn studio), and b) most of the non-programmers and non-essential production people see no way that they'd be able to get a job elsewhere after working at a porn company. The senior programmers and top production people got paid very nicely, though.

by tsotha 15y ago

spitfire 15y ago

It isn't the cyclical nature of the games business. It's that the people "managing" are absolute rank amateurs, shamelessly greedy businessmen, or both. Couple this with the fact that there's an endless amount of fresh meat (I want to make games when I grow up!) and except for an enlightened few there's no real reason to change.

tsotha 15y ago
>It isn't the cyclical nature of the games business. It's that the people "managing" are absolute rank amateurs, shamelessly greedy businessmen, or both. Every industry is loaded with managers who are rank amateurs, shamelessly greedy, or both. The difference is game companies tend to go out of business if the product isn't shipped in time for the Christmas season. >Couple this with the fact that there's an endless amount of fresh meat (I want to make games when I grow up!) and except for an enlightened few there's no real reason to change. There's a lot of truth to this. I wouldn't work in a game industry for the same reason I wouldn't open a surfboard shop or a used book store: I don't want to be competing with people who are willing to devote all their time to the job and don't care how much money they make. Eventually game developers burn out and move on, but like you say, there is an endless amount of recent grads to take their place.

jarin 15y ago

I think it's also because people really want to be in the game business. It's not quite the same, but when I worked at a porn company most of the non-programmers and non-essential production people got paid really low wages because a) there are a lot of parties and other perks you wouldn't get at most "normal" jobs (such as being able to say you work at a porn studio), and b) most of the non-programmers and non-essential production people see no way that they'd be able to get a job elsewhere after working at a porn company. The senior programmers and top production people got paid very nicely, though.