4 ms·

The games industry is on a whole different level. My friends who've gone into 'normal' software development will work on things out-of-hours from time to time,

The games industry is on a whole different level. My friends who've gone into 'normal' software development will work on things out-of-hours from time to time, especially if they're doing something interesting, and they're sometimes on call - but they're also making enough money that if they'd rather work a 4 day week, they can afford to. My friends who've gone into game development report frequently working 10 hours a day Monday-Friday, and then going into work on both Saturday and Sunday. Or at least, they reported that the last time we saw them - you can imagine how hard it is to maintain friendships after a few years of such a work pattern.

vvanders 4y ago
I'm a bit over a decade removed from that industry but that largely lined up with my experiences(and from the tabs I've kept on things it doesn't seem like much has changed). There's a constant stream of developers who have a high degree of interest in games so not only is crunch incredibly common but also compensation is significantly less(was about 1/2-1/3 standard SWE rates when I was in the industry). Combine that with publishers who pull recording industry contract style shenanigans and it's just a brutal industry. Tons of really interesting technical problems but even as someone who knew what they we going into at the time I advise people to think very carefully if it's a career option they want to pursue.
- beej71 4y ago
  100% this. I'm about 15 years out. But I did the math on my hourly rate in the industry and it was about $25/hr. Some of the smartest, most fun people I've ever had the pleasure of working with, for sure. But while I was working the rest of my life was thrown by the wayside. I quit after we shipped and rode my mountain bike for a year. It sucked because I didn't want to write code, a thing I'd previously loved. But it came back after a year of not working and a year of contracting part time. There were opportunities to get back into games, but I turned them all down. I just don't want to get back into that environment.
mal-2 4y ago
I'm assuming stock grants or residual payments are never part of the deal either, right? That's just completely exploitative of their dev talent.
- vvanders 4y ago
  I got a $20 starbucks giftcard, once. I've aware of royalties in some really, really rare cases(think north of 10M sales, in the < 1% of game sales category), but even in that case from what I heard the publisher had a cap on the upper limit per year in the contract.
- NeverFade 4y ago
  > Employees said they were offered more stock to stay on based on their position and seniority, from around $5,000 in value for entry-level workers to upward of $50,000 for more senior employees. Even $50k for a senior employee for years of working hard overtime is a joke compared to any other industry.
- 1ark 4y ago
  It's part of the deal where I worked. I think the whole bad framing of game development is a bit one dimensional. It is a dream job in a very tough saturated market, often with perks inside the office, awesome release parties, passionate coworkers etc. You are missing out on the huge paycheck and work-life balance, but you got many other things. Already it is a privilege to have a job working on games. Not forced to work there, not forced to have a fun job for average pay.

vvanders 4y ago

I'm a bit over a decade removed from that industry but that largely lined up with my experiences(and from the tabs I've kept on things it doesn't seem like much has changed). There's a constant stream of developers who have a high degree of interest in games so not only is crunch incredibly common but also compensation is significantly less(was about 1/2-1/3 standard SWE rates when I was in the industry). Combine that with publishers who pull recording industry contract style shenanigans and it's just a brutal industry. Tons of really interesting technical problems but even as someone who knew what they we going into at the time I advise people to think very carefully if it's a career option they want to pursue.

beej71 4y ago
100% this. I'm about 15 years out. But I did the math on my hourly rate in the industry and it was about $25/hr. Some of the smartest, most fun people I've ever had the pleasure of working with, for sure. But while I was working the rest of my life was thrown by the wayside. I quit after we shipped and rode my mountain bike for a year. It sucked because I didn't want to write code, a thing I'd previously loved. But it came back after a year of not working and a year of contracting part time. There were opportunities to get back into games, but I turned them all down. I just don't want to get back into that environment.

mal-2 4y ago

I'm assuming stock grants or residual payments are never part of the deal either, right? That's just completely exploitative of their dev talent.

vvanders 4y ago
I got a $20 starbucks giftcard, once. I've aware of royalties in some really, really rare cases(think north of 10M sales, in the < 1% of game sales category), but even in that case from what I heard the publisher had a cap on the upper limit per year in the contract.
NeverFade 4y ago
> Employees said they were offered more stock to stay on based on their position and seniority, from around $5,000 in value for entry-level workers to upward of $50,000 for more senior employees. Even $50k for a senior employee for years of working hard overtime is a joke compared to any other industry.
1ark 4y ago
It's part of the deal where I worked. I think the whole bad framing of game development is a bit one dimensional. It is a dream job in a very tough saturated market, often with perks inside the office, awesome release parties, passionate coworkers etc. You are missing out on the huge paycheck and work-life balance, but you got many other things. Already it is a privilege to have a job working on games. Not forced to work there, not forced to have a fun job for average pay.