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Making Video Games Is Not a Dream Job (nytimes.com)
The video game industry is richer than it has ever been. Its revenue in 2018 was $43.8 billion, a recent report estimated, thanks in large part to hugely popular games like Fortnite and Call of Duty. These record-breaking profits could have led one to think that the people who develop video games had it made. But then the blood bath began. From a story, shared by an anonymous reader: In February, Call of Duty's publisher, Activision Blizzard, laid off 8 percent of its staff, or nearly 800 workers, in a cost-cutting massacre. A few weeks later, the game studio ArenaNet cut dozens of positions, while smaller layoffs hit companies like Valve and the digital store operator GOG. And just last week, the video game giant Electronic Arts announced that it was laying off 350 people across the globe.
This brutal start to 2019 followed the closures of major game companies like Telltale, the makers of games based on The Walking Dead, and Capcom Vancouver, the large studio behind the popular action series Dead Rising in 2018. All in all, thousands of video game workers have lost their jobs in the past 12 months. In many of these cases, laid-off employees had no idea what was coming. One developer at a major studio told me in February that he and his colleagues had been crunching -- putting in long hours, including nights and weekends -- for a video game release, only to be suddenly told that security was waiting to escort them off the premises.
Worker exploitation has always been part of the video game industry's DNA. Executives with multimillion-dollar stock packages often treat their employees like Tetris pieces, to be put into place as efficiently as possible, then promptly disposed of. For many kids who grew up with controllers in their hands, being a game developer is a dream job, so when it comes to talent, supply is higher than demand. Some people who make video games receive decent salaries and benefits (experienced programmers at the richest studios can make six figures), but many do not.
This brutal start to 2019 followed the closures of major game companies like Telltale, the makers of games based on The Walking Dead, and Capcom Vancouver, the large studio behind the popular action series Dead Rising in 2018. All in all, thousands of video game workers have lost their jobs in the past 12 months. In many of these cases, laid-off employees had no idea what was coming. One developer at a major studio told me in February that he and his colleagues had been crunching -- putting in long hours, including nights and weekends -- for a video game release, only to be suddenly told that security was waiting to escort them off the premises.
Worker exploitation has always been part of the video game industry's DNA. Executives with multimillion-dollar stock packages often treat their employees like Tetris pieces, to be put into place as efficiently as possible, then promptly disposed of. For many kids who grew up with controllers in their hands, being a game developer is a dream job, so when it comes to talent, supply is higher than demand. Some people who make video games receive decent salaries and benefits (experienced programmers at the richest studios can make six figures), but many do not.
Why do you think it's now impossible to make games with a small group or solo dev? In fact, I'm a solo dev doing that right now, and there are plenty of other examples. Obviously, you can't expect to create a game that competes with AAA stuff, but there are plenty of game types that are well within reach of a single developer. Modern tools and language improvements allow you to be vastly more productive and do much, much more than you ever could back in the Apple II days (my first computer too).
Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
No, that's simply not true. It _can_ be part of massive companies, but there's plenty of companies people actually like working for.
The game industry, however, has been that way for a long, long time. The spouses of Electronic Arts actually sued EA 15 years ago!
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-settles-ot-dispute-disgruntled-spouse-outed/1100-6148369/
I used know someone that worked in games. Her bosses told her "this is what our industry is like". This is what people mean when they say it's in the DNA.
After many years of game industry experience as a cog in the machine, I am now also a solo developer. I went to an indie meetup not that long ago and came across a guy even older than me. He was talking about how "easy it is" to make games nowadays. It is certainly true that there are more opportunities than ever; that free engines, resources, tutorials, and publishing platforms are plentiful. Back in "our day," those things hardly existed or not at all. Of course, he's mostly right.
However, it is also true that there is more competition than ever because of how much easier it is, at least to get started. Expectations have also gone up drastically. Still, I'd like to think that there is still room for innovation and a small, dedicated studio can enjoy success, even in this overcrowded market. Cheers, and good luck to you!
Traffic - Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys if anyone wonders where the quote is from.