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Stress Is Driving Developers From the Video Game Industry
Nerval's Lobster writes: For video game developers, life can be tough. The working hours are long, with vicious bursts of so-called "crunch time," in which developers may pull consecutive all-nighters in order to finish a project—all without overtime pay. According to the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Developer Satisfaction Survey (PDF), many developers aren't enduring those work conditions for the money: Nearly 50 percent of respondents earned less than $50,000 annually. Faced with what many perceive as draconian working conditions, many developers are taking their skills and leaving video games for another technology sector. The hard and soft skills that go into producing video games—from knowledge of programming languages to aptitude for handling irate managers—will work just as well in many aspects of conventional software-building. Fortunately, leaving the video-game industry doesn't have to be a permanent exile; many developers find themselves pulled back in at some point, out of simple passion for the craft.
There's no STEM shortage, just a shortage of people willing to work 80 hours per week for under $50k per year.
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
Isn't that how game companies work? They hire fresh faced grads, work them like dogs for a few years and then let them go once they get the skills to demand good pay and reasonable working conditions. Or they just burn out entirely and change professions. That's one reason why there is so little institutional knowledge in game companies and they end up making the same mistakes over and over again.
I read the internet for the articles.
Women and minority developers are also being driven out of this industry because it is an inherently racist, sexist, misogynist boy's club.
Baloney. Women are repelled by the long hours and low pay. The game industry has plenty of minorities, unless you are using "minority" as a code word for "black". I have friends in the video game industry, and it has always amazed me how they can get so many talented people for such low pay and horrible conditions. But many guys (and very few gals) dream of being a game programmer, so they have them lining up at the door. My 12 year old son spent the entire weekend writing Mindcraft mods in Python, and wants to be a professional game programmer when he grows up.
Just don't expect to be respected for pointing that out. I worked for Ubisoft a few years back on an utterly pathetic salary. When the crunch came along, I worked out the extra hours I was "requested" to work (unpaid, of course) would've effectively pushed my hourly salary below the national minimum wage (i.e. it was illegal) so I refused.
Of course, my appraisal rolls round and I get an abysmal score - despite the fact that my output exceeded that of my colleagues slaving away into the late evening. One of the idiots who did my appraisal said that the studio producer had basically asked why they didn't just fire me for having such a low score, and that he'd "rescued" me by saying the work I was doing was invaluable... despite being responsible for the low score in the first place.
Resigned shortly after and switched to web dev. Never looked back.
Men - especially young men - lack scope. They're thrilled by the thought of doing their "dream job", playing with cool toys and whatever, and forgetting a job is just a means to an end. By the time they find out it's too late, they're burned out, about to be replaced and with no safety net whatsoever. Computers are for chumps. There may be some smart and lucky ones but the rest is in for a miserable ride.
Men aren't supposed to be repelled.
It's the workaholic ethic many men grow up with.
You might think sexism is only discrimination against women. Men are the victims of sexism just as much, on the basis that they're supposed to be strong, macho, invincible in the face of adversity.
"Long hours? You don't like long hours? What kind of a pussy are you? You're not a team player. Your last paycheck will be Friday."
or...
(I heard this from one of my supervisors. It's something straight out of Dilbert:) "Taking unpaid personal time is stealing from the company."
These attitudes are rampant not only in game publishers but in manufacturing and everything else.
And we're supposed to just put up with it. Because we're not pussies.
--
BMO
And I'll call bullshit on the sexist (and heteronormative) notion that women can't handle the idea of porn. That we're all so scared of guys liking porn and sharing porn that it's scaring us out of male-dominated fields.
Aside from that, if porn is the thing that alters your life plan, then your life plan wasn't that good to begin with.
You may need to find a new job, but there is a substantial difference between saying the industry is sexist versus a single studio being sexist.
Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
This attitude also comes into play when you start a family. It is thought of as natural for women to want to take some time off after the baby is born. (Though, maternity leave isn't guaranteed in the US. Some companies still expect you to push out the baby and get back to work.) However, if a man wants to take some time off to help out his wife (exhausted from the birth) and new baby, many people will think of him as neglecting his "duties" to waste time with his family.
Example: The case of ballplayer Daniel Murphy who missed opening day when his son was born. Some radio hosts said that he should have been at opening day and not with his family. The hosts even went to far as to claim that his wife should have scheduled a C-Section before the season began so that he wouldn't miss any games. Yup, let's put his wife through an invasive, likely-unnecessary surgical procedure just so he doesn't stop hitting a ball with a stick. Where are some people's priorities?
I was lucky that my company let me take time off, though it was pulling time from my vacation/sick days. My company could just as easily have said "No time off for you. Get back to work now!"
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
1. Promise AAA game in 10 months.
2. Scope out 16 months worth of work with the resources available.
3. Work a bunch of young, eager (i.e. cheap) developers to the bone.
4. Profit.
You say bad project management, but it sounds pretty lucrative for the folks who are actually in management.
A job is NOT "just a means to an end."
It's something you're going to be doing for the majority of your waking life. It really pays to find something that you like doing.
Going for your dream job is a fantastic move. Passion for your job is a positive. However, you can't let passion blind you either -- when considering that your 'dream job' pays little for terrible working conditions, it might pay to be pragmatic and avoid the industry. They can only get away with such conditions because so many are willing to put up with it.
Women and minority developers are also being driven out of this industry because it is an inherently racist, sexist, misogynist boy's club.
Professional videogame programmer here, closing in on two decades in the industry. My thoughts, if anyone cares...
Don't confuse a few unpleasant but vocal gamers with videogame industry professionals. I've never seen any such behavior among my professional peers. Female programmers (and audio specialists, oddly) are somewhat rare, but there are lots of very talented female artists, writers, and designers that I've worked with over the years. I'm closing in on two decades in the industry, and there are more females developers than ever. Some minorities are still underrepresented, but that's slowly changing as well. The industry wants talented and creative individuals. It has absolutely nothing to do with institutionalized racism or sexism, as far as I can tell. I'm sure it probably exists out there, but I've never seen it personally.
The story of people getting exploited, stressed out, and quitting the industry is nothing new. Lots of people quit the videogame industry, because yes, it is stressful. It's got highly complex, multimillion dollar projects with a fixed deadline, and that means things are going to get stressful before the ship date. Of course, when a company forces people to crunch for months at a time (or even years in some horrible death marches), that's crappy management. Nine months of 80 hour weeks? That's abuse, pure and simple. For the love of God, find a new job NOW. I'd quit the industry as well if that was my only alternative. But it's not. Not every company abuses their workers like that, believe it or not. But if you don't think you're going to be putting in some long hours at the end of a three to five year project, that seems a little optimistic.
Also, to clarify, very few developers earn under $50K. A better indication is the annual Game Developer Salary Survey, which states the average salary is a bit over $83K. Keep in mind when you break this down by job, the differences are made clear. Programmers average $93K, for instance. If you've been in the industry for a decade or two, you can earn quite a bit more than that. QA *average* about $53K, so I'm guessing the Dice writers were talking mostly to QA, who unfortunately tend to get the raw end of the industry stick in just about every way, being the least skilled of the labor pool and often hired as short-term temps (but again, this isn't universal either).
Frankly, I absolutely love my job, and can't imagine doing anything else. I'm aware that I could probably earn more money in a different industry, but I still earn a good living and absolutely love what I do. I'd rather not get painted as a victim, because I feel pretty fortunate. There are a lot of guys that work far harder than me digging ditches in the hot sun or freezing rain and earning a hell of a lot less for it.
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.