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I agree with (1), but it's much beyond just low-level staff; even senior people have considerable turnover. Since I'm an academic AI researcher, I've tried to c

by mjn 12y ago

I agree with (1), but it's much beyond just low-level staff; even senior people have considerable turnover. Since I'm an academic AI researcher, I've tried to cultivate contacts with AI leads at AAA companies, because they often have interesting problems and perspectives, especially on how AI and design interact. A problem with this is that they keep leaving! For various reasons, of the senior AI people I know pretty well (AI leads on games like Sims 3, Black & White, Halo, F.E.A.R., etc.), all but one no longer work at "AAA" game companies. Some stayed in the industry but moved into a consulting role where they could control their own hours and assignments better; some branched off and started small indie-game studios; some moved to a non-game tech job; and some went to grad school. People have different motivations, but there seems to be a feeling that the job of AAA AI lead is getting more and more boring and management-constrained, while the working conditions are getting worse. And on the other hand, that the alternatives are better than they used to be (much bigger indie-game scene, more relevant academic programs, etc.), so maybe it's time to get out and do something else.

jarcane 12y ago
I have suspected for some time that, at the present rate of churn, game dev is increasingly moving to a movie-like model, where a given crew assembles for one product, then scatters when it's over. It's certainly the way I'd expect things to go if I were applying at most studios these days.
- pandaman 12y ago
  It makes sense in the movies to hire a crew of contractors just for the shooting because shooting takes few weeks, months tops. A game production can take anywhere from a year to several years, contractors usually don't want to commit for such long terms so it will take a while just to staff your project. Then, as you have shipped, you let go all your contractors and immediately start hiring new ones for the next slated project? Makes very little sense. The churn you are seeing now is the effect of the poor financial state of the industry. A lot of studios are spending more money to make the games than the games bring back. Such studios eventually have to get out of business either through bankruptcy or through being shuttered by its holding company. As a studio is nearing the inevitable end people employed there are leaving and the studio starts hiring, sometimes this is amplified by the management trying to "fix" the expensive production problem by expanding. Since the stable and profitable studios do not hire much, especially among people without industry experience, most of the new hires go into the studios that are already circling the drain and will be laid off in a year if not a month. This is what's creating the impression of the high churn IMO.

by mjn 12y ago

jarcane 12y ago

I have suspected for some time that, at the present rate of churn, game dev is increasingly moving to a movie-like model, where a given crew assembles for one product, then scatters when it's over. It's certainly the way I'd expect things to go if I were applying at most studios these days.

pandaman 12y ago
It makes sense in the movies to hire a crew of contractors just for the shooting because shooting takes few weeks, months tops. A game production can take anywhere from a year to several years, contractors usually don't want to commit for such long terms so it will take a while just to staff your project. Then, as you have shipped, you let go all your contractors and immediately start hiring new ones for the next slated project? Makes very little sense. The churn you are seeing now is the effect of the poor financial state of the industry. A lot of studios are spending more money to make the games than the games bring back. Such studios eventually have to get out of business either through bankruptcy or through being shuttered by its holding company. As a studio is nearing the inevitable end people employed there are leaving and the studio starts hiring, sometimes this is amplified by the management trying to "fix" the expensive production problem by expanding. Since the stable and profitable studios do not hire much, especially among people without industry experience, most of the new hires go into the studios that are already circling the drain and will be laid off in a year if not a month. This is what's creating the impression of the high churn IMO.