For people who have gotten far enough into it(and I would count myself among them) there is a "point of no return" where you're like any other devoted artist -

For people who have gotten far enough into it(and I would count myself among them) there is a "point of no return" where you're like any other devoted artist - you see designs that have not been made and that you have to make. No amount of money can buy them because they aren't realized in any form yet, and only you can do the work. This is at the core of the artistry emerging from the independent scene these days, although you have to go trawl sites like itch.io and Warp Door and play a sampling of free games to actually see what's out there - the commercial sector isn't going to reward all of that stuff, and this group is drifting inexorably towards Patreon as a funding source. But there is a dual vision here. The point of no return is not the thing attracting people to the AAA sector, and it isn't even held by the majority of independents, who feel a lot of pressure to think about the bottom line constantly, pander to a perceived audience, and just put out something, anything, that will keep their doors open. You only get past that thought pattern if you've hung on long enough and attained a certain mindset(which I attribute to chance factors, not all of which are necessarily good or healthy). As you outline, a cold industrial-capitalist labor valuation indicates that you get worse payment and conditions in games than equivalent work elsewhere. No, what gets everyone in there, including younger, more naive me, is some combination of exceptionalism, short-term thinking, or status seeking. Framing life in terms of "it'll be so cool to put these things on the screen" or "I'll be recognized for this work later!" People who feel this way have trouble keeping away from it - they are "working to live," even as the system makes them "live to work." Like any workaholic, they may be escaping from personal issues, and there is a combination of intrinsic empowerment in helping to create a tangible virtual world, and a social power in working on big, impressive geek shibboleths(amaze your friends who said you'd never amount to anything: "I worked on this popular successful game"). The people who break tend to reach a point where they need a more stable situation, they feel disillusioned about the type of works they're making, or they're just burned out from the repetitive aspects.