THE HOWS AND WHYS OF THE GAMES INDUSTRY - EXAMPLE - PRO/CON

This text is part of my book "The Hows and Whys of the Games Industry". This extract does not represent an entire chapter - large parts were cut.


The Good and the Bad

Compared to other, more historical industries, the games industry is a different world with its own set of rules. What may be regarded as a standard procedure in other work could be, and often is, completely different in the games industry – for example, wearing a suit during a job interview. Some game developer human resource people could ‘read’ an applicant wearing a suit as too strict or serious for their company. The office atmosphere, job application process, benefits, and other ‘standard’ office accouterments can vary widely from developer to developer and are generally different compared to more traditional industries. This difference has both advantages and disadvantages. Here are some reasons why you either 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 that are worse (and better) than others, being paid to do what you like and want to do is a blessing. For far too many people work is regarded simply as work. It’s a necessary evil that they have to drag themselves through each day. If you truly love the work, then you can be different: you can go to the office every day with a smile because you enjoy what you’re doing. And that’s worth much more than 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 likeminded people.
The atmosphere in the offices is usually fairly relaxed, sometimes even very relaxed, depending on the studio. Some studios even have free working hours, most have no dress code, and the atmosphere, generally, is open and friendly. Colleagues talk to each other while music plays in the background, and it’s all quite casual. Artists and more creative people usually appreciate this looser environment.
Another advantage is the fact that you’re able to socialize and work with people who share your interests. Everyone in the games industry is as passionate about what they do as you are. You’ll find people who understand what you’re talking about when you talk about vertices and UV coordinates, unlike your family and friends who, at best, usually feign interest. Also, a good portion of the people in the industry have introverted, quiet personalities which can help you feel more at ease – especially if you share those personality traits.


#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 the job. If you’re the adventurous type who likes to travel and get paid to do so, but also likes to stay in different places for short to long periods, then this is the job for you. Especially since relocation expenses are often either wholly or partially taken care of. In just five years time, it’s conceivable that one could have lived in three to four different countries and cultures, thus widening one’s vision of our planet and the people who live on it. If you’ve never been happy in your home region and always thought the grass was greener on the other side, then the games industry can give you the opportunity to 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 cog in the machine. Working in the games industry allows you to use your brain and be creative in what you do. It challenges you to think about what you create and search for the perfect solution yourself. The games industry encourages you to think for yourself. Especially further up in your career, in more senior positions, you can really use all your imagination and creativity to help shape the game into what you 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't been done before or aren’t yet written in stone. Unlike traditional forms of art, where, to a certain extent, pretty much everything has already been done, and where older and more established artists look down on anything new; game development, as a whole, is new. Even though plenty of things have already been done, there are also ever growing possibilities to go further than anything ever done before. The rising hardware power and understanding of the media can open up 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 may not be broken; everything is still possible and is open to exploration. Because of the young age of this industry, there are also relatively few really experienced developers around. Most developers have only been active in the industry themselves for a few years. Especially true in regions where the industry is brand new (mainland Europe comes to mind), and where you can still become a veteran with just a few years experience; unlike other industries where one might require ten to twenty years of experience before getting promoted to a higher position. A quickly rising career is more than possible in the games industry; promotion can be right around the corner at all times.
Another positive point of the young nature of this industry is the average age. Most developers are young; the average age is between twenty and thirty-five at most game development studios. Being able to work with people of one’s own age is quite a big plus, and improves the atmosphere on the office floor.


#6 Satisfaction: Exactly how much?
Your work matters - kind of. Although it won't save any lives, it is quite a satisfying job. The work that you do actually gets noticed, it gets printed in magazines, uploaded on websites and perhaps even shown on TV. You're not working on anonymous projects with little prestige such as small internal applications that only a few enthusiasts cares about. People actually care about what you make. They might even be excited about it. A whole fan base might even develop and try to support you and your fellow developers. They'll give you the feeling that all the time you've put in might actually be worth 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’t make building a stable life easy, and it can be frustrating for someone who generally avoids change and doesn’t like being independent in strange places.
Moving may not be much of a problem when you’re young and adventurous (and single). But it becomes a much larger issue when you’re older and try to settle down. If you have a wife/husband or boy/girlfriend moving suddenly becomes much more difficult. This issue becomes even more pronounced when you have a child/children or if your partner is unable to get a visa or work permit for an international move. Likewise, it also makes buying a house or other type of property more difficult. Even relatively simple moving tasks, like dealing with furniture or vehicles, can become much more complicated the farther away the job – especially if there’s an ocean in 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’s also the potentially thousands of dollars/euros a year to spend on trips back home for the holidays or significant family events. We’ll go over this more in depth near the end of the book in the section about moving.


#2 Insecurity: An unstable and volatile industry.
The industry is highly volatile. It is possible to lose your job at any given moment. Few companies are wealthy and stable enough to withstand serious problems. In most areas of the world, there are only a few studios near each other. Losing a job usually also means moving away, thus adding to the stress.
The constant danger of losing a job is also disastrous when you’re trying to purchase a mortgage, a house, or are exposing yourself to other kinds of financial risk. This situation is usually impossible to deal with for most.


#3 Exploitation: It’s everywhere.
Like other young industries work and office standards are still being developed. This leaves various portions of the industry open to exploit. Developers get exploited by the management and publishers. Employees are often expected to work unpaid overtime – usually near milestones or the end of a project. Unrealistic and highly stressful deadlines are often imposed which sometimes turns a developer’s studio into something akin to fifty monkeys sitting in cubicles working like machines. Developers are still often regarded as expendable and simply part of the machine that makes a game. Obviously, this is regrettable; developers are actually the most important element of the process and the least expendable. Developers can’t simply be replaced. Their skills are unique and there’s a shortage of skilled developers – few of the managers who work with the developers realize this.
The developers earn relatively little compared to what less essential people, such as marketing, earn, and they see little or no financial return on their own game, unless it’s a blockbuster hit, and even then the return can be paltry. The pieces of the game-making machine that had very little to do with the actual development get rich from the developers’ hard work but when something goes wrong, the developers 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 work overtime every day, but older developers will not accept that as easily. People will grow older, they will want to settle, have kids, and demand more predictable hours and conditions.


#4 Blossoming: When the petals wither.
Because the industry is still relatively young, mistakes and mismanagement are rife due to the inexperience of the entire industry. People with too little experience are often in charge. Sometimes managers who have never worked on a game before lead a team of developers. Completely unrealistic projects and deadlines are set by people who have no inkling of what to expect. There are far too few experienced people around and because of it, people get promoted much too quickly in a bid to close the gap of experienced developers and leaders. Those new people mismanage a dozen things and sometimes micromanage the staff to a state of creative paralysis, and the errors pile up until the game crashes down or get butchered in reviews.
Often, entire development teams are new and have never worked together yet on a project. They don't know each other and they have insufficient knowledge of each other's priorities and workflows. The result is often a complete chaotic mess where every department works individually with insufficient communication about what each department needs from the other. In fact, the organization altogether in some studios is a disaster; simply nonexistent or just plain wrong. People in charge design workflows and organizational rules that either do not work for the company as a whole or a specific department, or completely 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 living close to a number of game development studios. The often lacking support of relatives, and sometimes even governments, only makes things worse. Game development is a new and relatively unknown industry and those who are not familiar with it usually don't regard it as a valid career path for you. The government often has no clue that it even exists, let alone that they would support you or the industry in the quest to success. Although this certainly also depends on where you're living.


#6 Frustration: Across all aspects.
As you may have figured out already by reading all the other negative points, the industry can be incredibly frustrating at times. There is a high turn over rate among developers. People quit because they are fed up with a company’s or game’s progress. Because of the significant passion involved in this industry, the slightest problem can cause 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.