Toys R Us’s story is so sad because their demise wasn’t even their fault. They’re only collapsing because so much of their profit margin has been gobbled up by debt payments caused by the debt that they were saddled with when Bain Capital bought them back out in ‘05. They were never able to update themselves because… Read more
I figured “Man Plays Diablo For 17 Hours On Camera” wasn’t as interesting a headline. Read more
Did you know that Captain America #1 was produced months before the US entered WW2? Did you also know that this issue was considered controversial at the time because it was anti-Nazi and displayed Cap righteously punching Hitler in the face on the cover? Did you also know that co-creators Jack Kirby and Joe Simon…
A reason to avoid the traditional job would be, if there is a nest egg, trust fund, or you just don’t have a good employment agreement allowing for “owning your shit,” while employed. If you make things at many offices they will take ownership of your shit unless agreed otherwise.
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Just as my wife had our first child, I quit my fulltime job to go full-indie. Timing!?
I was torn between two thought patterns - *It’s now or never!* and *WTF ARE YOU THINKING?!?* but my wife said if I didn’t try, I would regret never trying end up a bitter old man...
Risky, but I didn’t do this on a whim - I’ve… Read more
One thing that can be a bit limiting for would-be indies trying to set themselves up for a smooth exit into their own projects and being a full-time indie is employer contracts. Not all companies are like this, but I guess you can look me up on twitter and figure out which company I’ve had experience with. While I was… Read more
OK, I work in a factory... making toilet paper... Im a machine operator, and the turnover at my company is around 12-15% a year, and we have around 300 - 350 employees. Ive been there 7 years, and in those 7 years, I know of 3 kids who went to college for video game design, and they can’t find a job. So they end up… Read more
Oh man, I already have a career in the games industry....should I quit still?
all joking aside, I have quite a few friends who quit/get fired from one studio and then head to another across town. I’ve been lucky to be a part of an online game that has regular updates to keep me employed. I have friends who are looking… Read more
Yes and no. $93k is OK for a programmer, but there’s a couple confounding factors:
1. Many studios are located in high cost of living areas.
2. Your average game dev works far more than the usual 2080 hours a year in the US. Crunch times sometimes go for months. This is why burn out is so damn high in the industry.
Where… Read more
I feel like with all the gamergate and other nonsense over the years (not even counting the horrid stories of crunch and layoffs), I think im good doing software development for boring shit the internet nerds don’t care about. Read more
I wouldn’t mind someday being in house counsel at a creative corporation. Read more
I’m a 3D artist working in the game industry and I think my story might be interesting to some. It’s a bit long so you can either read the whole thing or, if you’re lazy like me, just read the tl;dr at the bottom. Read more
There is healthy demand for people with project management experience to head up the non development side you mention. Read more
I don’t know if anyone is going to make it to this reply, but there are a few things I would also mention in addition to this article. I have been in the games industry for 11 years now after making the transition from film and TV. In that time I have spent 100 hour work weeks to get projects out the door and I have… Read more
As someone who worked in games in various roles, this is a very well thought out article. And the people responding with “no” or “lolno”, have either not worked in games, or weren’t passionate about the projects they were on. Read more
As a game developer... What should I do?! Read more
