This presumes that the closing of studios / layoffs will result in the same sort of funds used to pay for those sorts of investments are going to be recycled and available to new startup studios…
Also assumes that it doesn’t result in people leaving the game industry as a consequence of career game devs deciding the video game industry is largely an untenable career path if any sort of job security and stability is a goal in your life…
…because that’s why I left…
Started working in more general software industry work around 2012. The last game studio I worked for generated something like $8 million / day at its peak revenue point, but they still closed us down and let us all go within 2 years of hitting that milestone in the middle of a new project we were working on.
Haven’t worked more than a handful of days crunch since, and doubled my pay as well.
Not saying I wouldn’t have rather stayed because I didn’t love the work, but I wanted to own a home someday and start a family, so I had to pivot in order to be a relatively more reliable bread-winner for my family.
Indie studio near me was hiring. But the wage is poor, if the game did become vastly successful there is no guarantee of anything in it for me and if it’s unsuccessful I lose my job.
I didn’t bother applying, they closed up a little while ago. Another I looked into on glassdoor and apparently they had been bought by private equity recently and it was turning to shit.
At this point I just can’t see any reason to care about my job. I need the money, but I don’t give a shit about the product of it. Just make sure my numbers look ok and don’t stand out for anything, don’t work too hard and go home.
I wanted to be a game developer for as long as I could remember. I remember passing out on the carpet floor because I needed a quick nap inbetween coding sessions when I was 15.
I went through uni for comp sci and graduated and got a few offers. All the gaming companies (some really big names) I got offers with paid half as much as the others. I decided my dream wasn’t worth it, it’s weird.
I see that you went the general software dev career path, but is that pretty common? We always hear about that disillusioned dev who starts their own game that makes it big (or are warned about those who end up destitute), but rarely about what the vast majority do. What is the “safe” way to change course in your former industry? Also, do you still make games for fun?
And sorry this completely unrelated to your comment, but your video was the very first one I saw on Loops yesterday and appreciated your take on their app.
This presumes that the closing of studios / layoffs will result in the same sort of funds used to pay for those sorts of investments are going to be recycled and available to new startup studios…
Also assumes that it doesn’t result in people leaving the game industry as a consequence of career game devs deciding the video game industry is largely an untenable career path if any sort of job security and stability is a goal in your life…
…because that’s why I left…
Started working in more general software industry work around 2012. The last game studio I worked for generated something like $8 million / day at its peak revenue point, but they still closed us down and let us all go within 2 years of hitting that milestone in the middle of a new project we were working on.
Haven’t worked more than a handful of days crunch since, and doubled my pay as well.
Not saying I wouldn’t have rather stayed because I didn’t love the work, but I wanted to own a home someday and start a family, so I had to pivot in order to be a relatively more reliable bread-winner for my family.
I know more than a few friends and family who did similar.
Got into the industry, got burned, left it for good.
I think its pretty understandable to want some more life stability after going through those motions.
deleted by creator
Indie studio near me was hiring. But the wage is poor, if the game did become vastly successful there is no guarantee of anything in it for me and if it’s unsuccessful I lose my job.
I didn’t bother applying, they closed up a little while ago. Another I looked into on glassdoor and apparently they had been bought by private equity recently and it was turning to shit.
At this point I just can’t see any reason to care about my job. I need the money, but I don’t give a shit about the product of it. Just make sure my numbers look ok and don’t stand out for anything, don’t work too hard and go home.
I wanted to be a game developer for as long as I could remember. I remember passing out on the carpet floor because I needed a quick nap inbetween coding sessions when I was 15.
I went through uni for comp sci and graduated and got a few offers. All the gaming companies (some really big names) I got offers with paid half as much as the others. I decided my dream wasn’t worth it, it’s weird.
I see that you went the general software dev career path, but is that pretty common? We always hear about that disillusioned dev who starts their own game that makes it big (or are warned about those who end up destitute), but rarely about what the vast majority do. What is the “safe” way to change course in your former industry? Also, do you still make games for fun?
And sorry this completely unrelated to your comment, but your video was the very first one I saw on Loops yesterday and appreciated your take on their app.
deleted by creator