The Good and the Bad

Compared to other, more historical industries, the games industry is adifferent world with its own set of rules. What may be regarded as astandard procedure in other work could be, and often is, completelydifferent in the games industry – for example, wearing a suit during a jobinterview. Some game developer human resource people could ‘read’ anapplicant wearing a suit as too strict or serious for their company. Theoffice atmosphere, job application process, benefits, and other ‘standard’office accouterments can vary widely from developer to developer and aregenerally different compared to more traditional industries. This differencehas both advantages and disadvantages. Here are some reasons why youeither would or would not want to work in this industry.

Why

• #1 Love: It's your hobby and passion!

What’s better than being able to make a living from your hobby?Even though work is always work, and there will always be days thatare worse (and better) than others, being paid to do what you likeand want to do is a blessing. For far too many people work isregarded simply as work. It’s a necessary evil that they have to dragthemselves through each day. If you truly love the work, then youcan be different: you can go to the office every day with a smilebecause you enjoy what you’re doing. And that’s worth much morethan a paycheck. If you love the work you do in the games industry,your work will become your life, and your life will become your work.

• #2 A Sympathetic Culture: A relaxed atmosphere and likemindedpeople.

The atmosphere in the offices is usually fairly relaxed, sometimeseven very relaxed, depending on the studio. Some studios even havefree working hours, most have no dress code, and the atmosphere,generally, is open and friendly. Colleagues talk to each other whilemusic plays in the background, and it’s all quite casual. Artists andmore creative people usually appreciate this looser environment.

Another advantage is the fact that you’re able to socialize and workwith people who share your interests. Everyone in the gamesindustry is as passionate about what they do as you are. You’ll findpeople who understand what you’re talking about when you talkabout vertices and UV coordinates, unlike your family and friends

who, at best, usually feign interest. Also, a good portion of thepeople in the industry have introverted, quiet personalities which canhelp you feel more at ease – especially if you share those personalitytraits.

• #3 International: Get paid to see the world.

The games industry is a very internationally orientated industry.Moving to another region or country is sometimes simply part of thejob. If you’re the adventurous type who likes to travel and get paidto do so, but also likes to stay in different places for short to longperiods, then this is the job for you. Especially since relocationexpenses are often either wholly or partially taken care of. In justfive years time, it’s conceivable that one could have lived in three tofour different countries and cultures, thus widening one’s vision ofour planet and the people who live on it. If you’ve never been happyin your home region and always thought the grass was greener onthe other side, then the games industry can give you the opportunityto see exactly how green it is.

• #4 Creativity: It’s a creative job.

Few things are worse than a mindless job where you’re just a cogin the machine. Working in the games industry allows you to use yourbrain and be creative in what you do. It challenges you to think aboutwhat you create and search for the perfect solution yourself. Thegames industry encourages you to think for yourself. Especiallyfurther up in your career, in more senior positions, you can really useall your imagination and creativity to help shape the game into whatyou envision, and there's nothing better than that.

• #5 Blossoming: A young industry.

The industry is young and there are still many things that haven'tbeen done before or aren’t yet written in stone. Unlike traditionalforms of art, where, to a certain extent, pretty much everything hasalready been done, and where older and more established artists lookdown on anything new; game development, as a whole, is new. Eventhough plenty of things have already been done, there are also evergrowing possibilities to go further than anything ever done before.The rising hardware power and understanding of the media can openup new doors in the future, and you can be part of that ‘revolution’.There is no real group of established people with set rules that maynot be broken; everything is still possible and is open to exploration.

Because of the young age of this industry, there are also relativelyfew really experienced developers around. Most developers haveonly been active in the industry themselves for a few years.

Especially true in regions where the industry is brand new (mainlandEurope comes to mind), and where you can still become a veteranwith just a few years experience; unlike other industries where onemight require ten to twenty years of experience before gettingpromoted to a higher position. A quickly rising career is more thanpossible in the games industry; promotion can be right around thecorner at all times.

Another positive point of the young nature of this industry is theaverage age. Most developers are young; the average age is betweentwenty and thirty-five at most game development studios. Being ableto work with people of one’s own age is quite a big plus, andimproves the atmosphere on the office floor.

• #6 Satisfaction: Exactly how much?

Your work matters - kind of. Although it won't save any lives, it isquite a satisfying job. The work that you do actually gets noticed, itgets printed in magazines, uploaded on websites and perhaps evenshown on TV. You're not working on anonymous projects with littleprestige such as small internal applications that only a fewenthusiasts cares about. People actually care about what you make.They might even be excited about it. A whole fan base might evendevelop and try to support you and your fellow developers. They'llgive you the feeling that all the time you've put in might actually beworth it, and that's satisfaction.

Why not

• #1 International: Seeing the world can come at a cost.

Moving all the time can certainly complicate one’s life. It doesn’tmake building a stable life easy, and it can be frustrating forsomeone who generally avoids change and doesn’t like beingindependent in strange places.

Moving may not be much of a problem when you’re young andadventurous (and single). But it becomes a much larger issue whenyou’re older and try to settle down. If you have a wife/husband orboy/girlfriend moving suddenly becomes much more difficult. Thisissue becomes even more pronounced when you have a child/childrenor if your partner is unable to get a visa or work permit for aninternational move. Likewise, it also makes buying a house or othertype of property more difficult. Even relatively simple moving tasks,

like dealing with furniture or vehicles, can become much morecomplicated the farther away the job – especially if there’s an oceanin the way.

Moving also usually takes you farther away from friends and family.If there’s a problem, you’re on your own to deal with it. And there’salso the potentially thousands of dollars/euros a year to spend ontrips back home for the holidays or significant family events. We’ll goover this more in depth near the end of the book in the section aboutmoving.

• #2 Insecurity: An unstable and volatile industry.

The industry is highly volatile. It is possible to lose your job at anygiven moment. Few companies are wealthy and stable enough towithstand serious problems. In most areas of the world, there areonly a few studios near each other. Losing a job usually also meansmoving away, thus adding to the stress.

The constant danger of losing a job is also disastrous when you’retrying to purchase a mortgage, a house, or are exposing yourself toother kinds of financial risk. This situation is usually impossible todeal with for most.

• #3 Exploitation: It’s everywhere.

Like other young industries work and office standards are still beingdeveloped. This leaves various portions of the industry open toexploit. Developers get exploited by the management andpublishers. Employees are often expected to work unpaid overtime –usually near milestones or the end of a project. Unrealistic and highlystressful deadlines are often imposed which sometimes turns adeveloper’s studio into something akin to fifty monkeys sitting incubicles working like machines. Developers are still often regardedas expendable and simply part of the machine that makes a game.Obviously, this is regrettable; developers are actually the mostimportant element of the process and the least expendable.Developers can’t simply be replaced. Their skills are unique andthere’s a shortage of skilled developers – few of the managers whowork with the developers realize this.

The developers earn relatively little compared to what less essentialpeople, such as marketing, earn, and they see little or no financialreturn on their own game, unless it’s a blockbuster hit, and even thenthe return can be paltry. The pieces of the game-making machinethat had very little to do with the actual development get rich fromthe developers’ hard work but when something goes wrong, thedevelopers are the first to get the blame, and are the first to be fired.

If the industry ever wants to mature, it needs to become, and

encourage, stability. Recent graduates may be willing to workovertime every day, but older developers will not accept that aseasily. People will grow older, they will want to settle, have kids, anddemand more predictable hours and conditions.

• #4 Blossoming: When the petals wither.

Because the industry is still relatively young, mistakes andmismanagement are rife due to the inexperience of the entireindustry. People with too little experience are often in charge.Sometimes managers who have never worked on a game before leada team of developers. Completely unrealistic projects and deadlinesare set by people who have no inkling of what to expect. There arefar too few experienced people around and because of it, people getpromoted much too quickly in a bid to close the gap of experienceddevelopers and leaders. Those new people mismanage a dozen thingsand sometimes micromanage the staff to a state of creative paralysis,and the errors pile up until the game crashes down or get butcheredin reviews.

Often, entire development teams are new and have never workedtogether yet on a project. They don't know each other and they haveinsufficient knowledge of each other's priorities and workflows. Theresult is often a complete chaotic mess where every departmentworks individually with insufficient communication about what eachdepartment needs from the other. In fact, the organization altogetherin some studios is a disaster; simply nonexistent or just plain wrong.People in charge design workflows and organizational rules that eitherdo not work for the company as a whole or a specific department, orcompletely miss the point and are irrelevant.

• #5 A heavy, closed door: Hard to get a foot in.

It's hard to get into this industry, especially if you're not livingclose to a number of game development studios. The often lackingsupport of relatives, and sometimes even governments, only makesthings worse. Game development is a new and relatively unknownindustry and those who are not familiar with it usually don't regard itas a valid career path for you. The government often has no clue thatit even exists, let alone that they would support you or the industryin the quest to success. Although this certainly also depends onwhere you're living.

• #6 Frustration: Across all aspects.

As you may have figured out already by reading all the othernegative points, the industry can be incredibly frustrating at times.There is a high turn over rate among developers. People quit becausethey are fed up with a company’s or game’s progress. Because of thesignificant passion involved in this industry, the slightest problem cancause a huge amount of frustration. The frequent mismanagement,insecurity, exploitation, games getting canned, or released too soon,and so on only make the matter worse.

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