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Frustration and Unhappiness In the Games Industry
Gamasutra's Leigh Alexander recently wrote an editorial about the atmosphere of irritation and dissatisfaction that pervades all aspects of the video game industry. Developers are often overworked and unfulfilled, gamers have no qualms about voicing their disapproval (sometimes quite warranted, sometimes not), and the media, in trying to please both groups, often fails to satisfy either. Why is there so much strife in an industry ostensibly focused on having fun? From the article:
"More and more developer sources I talked to suggested that fatigue, hostility, being at odds with one's employer and questioning one's career course is frighteningly common in the game industry. That being the case, it seems natural that elements like emotional detachment, anxiety and a lack of fulfillment make their way, even subtly, into the products the industry creates and into the ecosystem around the industry and its audience. 'Because of the secrecy and competition, a lot of development teams end up having a siege mentality — batten down the hatches and refuse to come up for air until the game's done,' says [an] anonymous developer. 'Game development has a way of taking over your life, because there's always more that can be done to improve perceived quality. I've seen a lot of divorces in my time in the game industry. I feel like it's much greater than average, but I have no statistical evidence.'"
I've worked in microchip development, flight simulators, commercial display systems, and games.
Games sucks much more than any of the others. This is why I don't work in that industry any more.
Well to show people how green the pastures are on the other side. I spent some time with my brother in Sweden, he moved over there during a student exchange program. He liked it so much he stayed. Why does he like it so much? Well he works for Sony Ericsson as a programmer/engineer and to say they have a different work philosophy is an understatement. To list some of the perks: On day 1, out of university, he gets 6 weeks vacation, with the ability to bank another 2. He has 8+2 weeks now. Overtime, period....law...no such thing as "Salary employee". You are payed extra to carry a blackberry By law a person has to be no farther that 10 meters from a natural light source...even in a skyrise. They have a whole classes in architecture schools on this. Free medicare Free gym Free bereavement time no questions asked 6 months PATERNITY leave free daycare services Managers and executives that fail employee review are often pushed into no managerial roles. Sony-Ericsson is considered a slave driving company in Sweden. Google may have won "Best Employer" in the US, but they would be considered McDonald's level in Scandinavia and a lot of the western european countries.