Ever considered a career in the Gaming Industry?

[Dylan]

While it'd be fun, I don't think that it'd be a great career choice for me. Computer science on the other hand, sounds pretty interesting.

[Pullmyfinger]

Sorry to dissapoint you guys, but this isn't the 80s anymore, making your own game and selling it isn't as easy as you think and there's lots of crap you have to deal with involving the higherups when making a game for a company.

I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm just saying you really have to work your asses off for years before you get involved with a good project.

[Hatta]

Yeah, check this out to see what its' really like in the game industry.

Now I don't know about you guys, but whenever I'm forced to do something, it takes all the fun out of it. Turning a hobby into a job is just going to kill the love I have for the hobby. I see this in my GF. She hardly ever does her own art anymore because she's burnt the fuck out from doing art for other people all day.

[General Chaos]

I received a large scholarship to go to art school and study sequential design/illustration. My plan was to be a concept artist in the video gaming industry, and after meeting with some various industry members I honestly thought I had a decent shot at it. Some decade later and I'm a sociology professor. Oh how plans can change.

That said, even though I make it a philosophic point never to regret anything in the past, I do often wonder what my life would be like had I pursued that path. In fact, I have recently been considering going BACK to school--not for video game design, but toy design. I love illustration, conceptual design, and board game design. I've been looking at Otis in California, but it's damn expensive and I would have to relocate (not to mention scrap a tenure track position).

We'll see. My wife seems to wholeheartedly support this pre-mid life crisis/pursuit of unfulfilled opportunities of the past.

[MrPopo]

No thank you. If you make your hobby your job, what are you going to do for fun?

If you hobby is your job, you have an awesome job. Your hobby is fun, your job too. What more could you want!

Programming bigger budget games is very different from playing games. I originally got started in programming because I was a huge gamer, and for a long time my ideal job was to program games. In high school I even had a subscription to Game Developer magazine. And that's where I started to get an eye for how the industry works.

First, it can be very hard to break in. You have the old catch-22 of no one wanting you if you have no experience, but you can't get experience if no one hires you. A lot of people get their experience through modding. I've tried it a few times, but the first roadblock is my lack of creativity, and the second is my lack of drive to do work if I'm not getting paid (which really hurt me in college).

The second, and probably biggest (especially now that I've experienced the work environment at Amazon) is crunch time. And it's only gotten worse as technology has improved. The idea of a few months of 80+ hour weeks does not appeal to me. I don't mind the occational overtime but I don't think I could sprint for that long. It would suck the fun out of things for me.

And the last thing is that it seems the average salary for a game programmer is less than what I'm pulling down these days, which doesn't encourage me to seek out two year cycles with a sprint at the end.

[Gamerforlife]

I really don't see any way getting a job in the industry wouldn't ruin my favorite hobby. Journalism is out. Game reviewers have to deal with deadlines forcing them to rush through games. Not to mention being forced to play games they may not want to. Plus time spent writing articles all the time is less time for gaming.

Game testing is out. I often hear how boring that job actually is. Plus, people will spend so much time testing a game that they don't even want to play it when it finally comes out.

Game design is out. I mean those people spend hours and hours of their lives working on whatever game they are involved in. Guess what that means? Less time to actually PLAY games.

Plus, for whatever reason, it always seems like most people in the game industry are the most out of touch with what gamers want or what even makes a great game. I'm referring to both gaming journalists and game developers as well. You ever wonder why modern games still have crappy water levels(Ninja Gaiden 2)or stupid escort missions(Bioshock)when most gamers usually hate that shit? It's because people in the industry just don't get it. I want no part of that.

So for me personally, no. Work and play don't mix when it comes to gaming.

[foulweather]

As someone working in the game industry (I'm a programmer), I'd recommend you really think about first.

1. creative control is pretty much in the producers hands.
2. the work is complex and often time consuming.
3. budgets are often very tight.
4. pay is lower that in other industries. (If i took a job working on e-commerce i'd get a hefty pay raise)
5. work is harder than in other industries. (that higher paying e-commerce job also is easier)
6. jobs security issues since small studios fail frequently. (and that e-commerce job isn't going away while you got a mortgage to pay)

but damn when you launch a sweet product it's pretty cool. If you're going to do it, do it while you're young and dont need the money or family time.

[Jrecee]

Since I saw Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog(yes that crappy show) on tv in 2nd grade I wanted to make games. That interest held pretty strong until around 2000 when I started losing interest. I just have no interest in making games like the huge budget stuff that people expect today. I know there's sort of a craze with retro styled games right now but I don't think it's something that's big enough to make a career out of, at least not without some training - and good luck finding a school that teaches pixelart instead of 3D modelling.

I make small games as a hobby though;

[elvis]

As someone working in the game industry (I'm a programmer), I'd recommend you really think about first.

1. creative control is pretty much in the producers hands.
2. the work is complex and often time consuming.
3. budgets are often very tight.
4. pay is lower that in other industries. (If i took a job working on e-commerce i'd get a hefty pay raise)
5. work is harder than in other industries. (that higher paying e-commerce job also is easier)
6. jobs security issues since small studios fail frequently. (and that e-commerce job isn't going away while you got a mortgage to pay)

This pretty much mirrors the feedback I get from most folks in the games industry (whether they be programmers, artists, directors/producers, or any other support roles to these).

It's worth noting that it is an industry where burn-out is common (and worse, often very early in people's careers). I know ex film and games industry people who have switched jobs to everything from sysadmins to car salesmen simply as a way to reduce stress and ensure consistent incomes.

What's ironic is that most people enter the industry as a "career of love", but quickly find that they end up doing work they don't love on games they don't love. I've heard the phrases "soul crushing" and "corporate slave" thrown around once too often, particularly by folks working for small studios for peanuts that inevitably get borged into larger studios, where the wages are the same pittance, but the hours double.

Particularly if you're in a relationship, married and/or have kids (or are planning any of these at some point), Google the phrase "EA Spouse" and see where that lands you.

As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, the romantic idea of the "indie developer" is also one I urge people to be cautious about. Making and releasing a game solo (or even in a small team) is easy enough. Making a dollar out of it isn't. If you're interested in padding your resume and not using game development as your primary source of income (i.e.: either have some savings to fall back on, or get yourself a second job), then fair enough. But as above, it's not realistic as a way to pay the mortgage.

I'm a software developer by training (university degree in computer science), but there's a very good reason why I don't write code for a living now that I am responsible for feeding a family of 5.

I'm sure I'll be labelled a cynic and a pessimist for all of this. But it needs to be said that merely loving games isn't enough to become involved in making games.

[Jrecee]

Yeah you really have to think about how many good games there are compared to all the bad ones. For every one Super Mario Galaxy there 50 Bratz Superstar Excursions. Someone has to make all those bad games, the chances of being someone who is making good games, with a big budget, and is in a position of creative control is slim. . .

That said there seems to be a booming industry with the iphone, xbox live arcade, wiiware, etc. I'd be interested to hear what people on that side of the industry have to say in comparison to the big budget studios. I'd guess it's a lot more rewarding, but at the same time a lot bigger of a gamble, and therefore a much less stable career.