A future in the game industry - Needing your advice

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Brian Wilson   (Apr 04, 2008 at 06:47 GMT)

It depends on the route you want to take to success, but for the most part, your time belongs to the industry, especially for the first several years of your career. For some companies, indie or otherwise, the long-houred culture percists all the way to the top.

In the indie scene, where you are in primary control of your success, your product practically has to become your life. I personally don't know of any indie success stories that were achieved with a 40-hour work week (certainly there are those who can do it with just 40 hours of work, but that's only because they had a "day job" to fund their indie projects).

If you take the route of working for an established development firm, the culture is to work extremely long hours for modest pay (which calculates down to low income/hour invested). I know there are constant forces at work to change this culture, but usually to the financial disdane of the workers (i.e. EA is moving away from long hours and giving more benefits, but the 5-figure bonus checks at the end of a project are going away as well). The game dev masses are getting older and some aren't burning out from the hours, so they are now influencing change to the norm, but who knows if it will take.

The above is assuming you work from the bottom up. Certainly true success comes from those who mold the industry around themselves.

Since you are multifaceted, you may very well find a spot both for yourself in the indie scene (we are all multi-talented) or more in the management/producer ranks in the established professional firms. Although, generally speaking, you won't step into a directive role in a professional firm, as they tend to value experience equally or moreso than education. The first question most professinal firms ask is "how many products have you shipped".

That all being said, your strongest asset will be a solid understanding of the industry. Do your research. Read the books. Read the articles. Participate in the forums. Just know that generally speaking, the game dev industry is not and will likely never be a 9-to-5 for the masses, but stranger things have happened.

Now as far as what classes to take? I have no idea what to recommend. Management classes come in handy if you are looking to step into a directive role one day. But if you plan to work up from the bottom, I'd suggest backing up your atistic/creative/problem solving skillsets with classes that focus on those areas you wish to explore.

Phil Carlisle   (Apr 04, 2008 at 13:18 GMT)

I come from the perspective as an educator that teaches games for a living, so take what I say with a pinch of salt if you like.

I love the games industry. For all its failings (and there are many), the people in it are amazingly creative, amazingly intelligent and often amazingly funny. If you find the right place to work and the right people to work with, it can be a joy. Of course the converse is true and it CAN be a nightmare.

The thing to learn, is to be able to discern between the two extremes and not let youself be funnelled into one view. There are probably more people who love thier games jobs than there are anywhere else.

So the answer is, you have as much chance at a games company having success if you work smart and hard as much as you do at any other company. Game companies often are a bit less mature, but then they are often a lot more fun.

It depends on what motivates you and wether you can find a match between that and the company you work for. There is nothing wrong with changing jobs to achieve you're own goals.

As far as going into education to learn about games dev. I recommend doing lots of research about potential courses and really picking the one thats best for you and that has students who are happy to recommend the course.

Deborah Marshall   (Apr 04, 2008 at 17:19 GMT)

The comments made on this blog are already really good. I'll add my own two cents for what it's worth.

Concerning education, I echo what Phil mentioned about doing lots of research and finding the right courses. That means trying a variety of classes and getting out of your comfort zone. I'd also encourage taking the next logical step, which is do a lot of "extracurricular" stuff and educate yourself. That may mean an on-campus activity like joining a student group or organizing something by yourself (like forming a team of students to make games on the weekends ^_^). Education isn't about the degree; it's what you make of your time to explore and learn. That means in order to get the most out of your education, you've got to push yourself to learn, in and out of the classroom.

As to work life balance, I know people in the games industry who balance work and family, but they are able to do that because they are really good and efficient at what they do. If they were only mediocre at their jobs (programming, art, marketing), it wouldn't work. They had the dedication it takes to become masters at their profession. Again, they put a lot of time and effort to become good at what they do.

Anything worth doing in life takes a lot of work, and that includes career, family/friends, hobbies, volunteer work, whatever. So whatever you decide to devote yourself to, do it like you mean it. Because ultimately, you'll get out of life what you put in. Some people choose to focus solely on one thing, like career or family, others take a hybrid approach (I'm in the latter group). No one will be able to tell you what the right balance is for you. So you'll need to experiment and find out what that balance is. And you'll probably make mistakes and try things out that don't work for you, but that's normal.

Good luck!

Matthew Shapiro   (Apr 04, 2008 at 17:56 GMT)

To add to what Phil said, do your research about the companies you want to work for, and try and do research before taking up an offer.

I was a junior game designer at Auran Games working on the failure that was, and still is, Fury. It was like a dream at the time because I got the job right out of college with no industry experience, and nothing tangible from the indie front. If you are wondering how I got the job right out of college the answer is to get noticed any way you can. I submitted well organized feedback that showed my analytical thinking and that I could break problems (and solutions) down into defined systems.

So college ended, I happily jumped on a plane from the US to Australia and didn't mind my first few months there. After a few months I realized how bad of an environment it was. The people in charge were egotistical and even though they had no experience with the type of audience that they were targetting they thought they knew it all. The testers would provide feedback, the non-leads on the design team would give feedback, community management would give feedback, and all of it was flat out ignored (not even considered).

Now don't think by that statement that I know it all, I don't and will admit it. However, collaboration is a key ingredient for a successful project as everyone sees things from a different angle. Collaboration also is a key ingredient for keeping your workforce motivated, and when you are on the team (design none-the-less) yet no one listens to your feedback (all we were trying to do was make the game more fun) the idea of working in the games industry takes a back seat to a more "I don't want this job anymore" attitude.

There are a lot more details I could give but I won't. The main thing to get out of this was 2 months till release literally 95% of the team stopped caring about the project and flat out hated the environment they were working in, the remaining 5% were the cause. The thing is, after talking with coworkers who had worked at quite a few other game companies, the situation I encountered wasn't unique to the industry by any means.

Due to that experience I came back to the states and didn't feel like putting any effort into getting another industry job. Now I am working at a non-game related job but still making games in my free time.

The big thing about my experience is I solidified my values for what I wanted out of a career and came to the realization that what industry you work in has 0 influence in how much you will or will not like your job. What matters more is the exact specifics of what you are doing and the environment that you are working in. Right now I am designing and setting up HR systems for clients and I love it because it is a job which requires a lot of thinking, a very collaborative atmosphere and some really cool people I work with. I'm enjoying this job more than my game job, and I have a higher pay, more benefits, job security, and working for a company that values promotions rather than external hiring.

So back to my first sentence. I'd suggest if you want to get into the non-indie part of the industry that you take your time and don't rush into it just because it is the games industry. Make sure you have at least some idea of what you are looking for in your career and what type of environment you would be the happiest in.
Edited on Apr 04, 2008 17:58 GMT

Sam Bacsa   (Apr 06, 2008 at 18:25 GMT)

Hey guys,

Thank you all for your comments. I very much appreciate you taking the time.

I've passed your advice onto my friend; I hope that it will help him make the right decision.


Take care,
Sam

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