Would you work in the game industry? What do you do now?

I used to think about how cool it would be to work in the game industry, but I think I'm better off just playing games, not working on them lol. I may end up hating games after going through grueling hours. Although I wouldn't be a developer.. I'd probably would want to work on the business side. You never know, I guess. What about you, SW? Would you work in the game industry? I currently don't, but I do work in business as an analyst.

no, all the jobs around the game industry seem rather unstable

Nooooope. I'm in the midst of a career change... I worked in finance for 10 years, but the last company I worked for literally broke employment laws. I'm working toward realty as a career atm, and should be done by mid-to-end of year.

I probably could if I wanted to, and have had recruiters from the games industry contact me on Linkedin ( I already work in the software industry in city with plenty of game development studios and a talent shortage).

However, I'd rather stick to playing games as a means of unwinding after a day of work, rather than seeing how the sausage gets made - plus it seems like a less stable industry than the one i'm in now, and would likely have to work longer hours than I do now for comparable pay.

I have friend who *almost* make a job in the film industry but have it taken away. Game industry also involve potential but he was 2 day away until some things happen to him. 2 day. Could not believe it. That the closest I could say. Personally I just do not desire to work in games field. Not up to sleepless night for games work.

I would never work in the game industry for fear it would ruin the magic I feel from games...people use to tell me ‘hey, you like playing games, so why not be a beta tester” Well that was the worst advice I ever got after all the horror stories I read about people never wanting to play games again after being a beta tester! That was a long time ago tho...

Yes and no.

I'd love to set up a small 5-10 person dev studio.

I live about 20 minutes away from Rockstar New England and Harmonix. I'm always tempted to see if there is a good fit... even if those arent my favorite companies in the business.

Currently in the automotive industry and I am tempted to change careers but game industry would be my last pick. The freedom, creativity seems really cool but I am more interested in a more stable career.

Coding/Game Testing/Grunt Work/Math: Hell NO! I could never do that.

Investor/Manager who walks around the building demanding others to make my game: YES.

I have a fantasy where I win the lottery and pay people to make my dream game(s).

I Could probably handle the business side.

It sounds cool until you hear about some of the nightmare stuff. The hours and burnout are awful. I have a friend who works for Sony and some of the stories I hear are boggling. I'll stick to chilling in my used bookstore and enjoying games in my downtime.

I used to work in the industry. Minor asset creation and some environmental detail polisher, but I was technically a freelancer. But hearing about the testimonies from some of employees we've communicated with made me leave. The freaking crunch hours and unpaid overtimes deterred me from moving on from the path of game dev. Now I work on a SVOD company as an editor. Not as big of a pay, but, hey, I can eat and buy the gaming things I need.

I'm a Lead Software Developer in a bank. I would never work for a game company because it is a very unstable and unfriendly environment

Im a musician and I'd love to make a score for a game. Would be awesome... I'd prefer making a track for a 2d style retro game that repeats every 30 seconds so it'll be stuck in your heads for the next bazillion years....

I wouldn't work in the gaming industry as you hear of the horrible hours and conditions. When I was younger in high school I thought about really getting into it and wanted to be a coder. But, in college I started working in retail in the loss prevention department and really liked the chase to get by while I was pursuing a degree. However, I stuck it out in the LP world and worked by butt off to now be a VP of an LP and Safety department for a major retailer and for someone who is still in their 20s.

Indulge in art part time learning what I can like a little monkey trying to climb a cliff. Concept art would be nice, but from what I understand the gaming industry treats people like shit.

It was always my dream, but when i went to the university in 2000 there was still no game design in my country (now there is). That said, thanks to Flash i always managed to create my little games, and now i'm addicted to Dreams beta. Homefully this software is here to stay.

I don't know it sounds like you are treated as disposable in this industry. I have had a job like that before. I just don't think I can live in that kind of environment. For me it's of vital importance that I feel somewhat appreciated for a job well done. If I ever actually design and create a game it will probably be on my own or with a small group of likeminded people.

@uninspiredcup: I just started learning to draw using a drawing tablet. What are all the different colored lines for? Are they kinda lines to help the placement of the windows and stuff?

Yes I would. It would be a good alternate history for me - I love programming and game design. But I know people in the industry, and it's a tough gig.

I'm a neuroscientist and happy as such. Much of my research involves elements of game design

Yes and I am learning how to make games on my free time.

Currently I am working as a software engineer focused on developing mobile applications.

Use layers to build up an image hiding and delete when when appropriate. Colour lines differentiate between construction lines. It makes it less confusing.

@uninspiredcup: Haha, I do use layers sometimes (just for sketch, lineart, colors, shadows, highlights) in a simple art program called SAI. That looks real complex having all the lines turned on like that XD I've never really drawn anything using perspective. I have seen someone paint in perspective using lines like that. They used actual ropes that I believe they pinned to the canvas and then tied the ropes to two points in the room.

Wanted to at one point but not anymore. I couldn't get into it because there were no game design courses offered in my university at the time so I just become a software engineer. Now I don't want to, the industry is unstable and I would probably be paid less than I do currently as a lead engineer/software architect.

Honestly it's not hard. Just time consuming. All you're doing really is drawing a 2D Image front/side and shooting lines off to a base, with the base line at the far end corner reaching same height as the 2D image. and from that getting the height from the two vanishing points as they trail down the sides. All the measurements and stuff basically does itself. Take you about 20-30 minutes to get the jist of it I imagine.

No way. I worked 60 hour work weeks when I worked in the healthcare industry and you don't have a life at all. I can't see myself dealing with that plus having a money hungry publisher throwing deadlines and profit citations your way and that's not even including the fact that no matter what you make, you will still have some pretentious kids slinging mud at it because of they don't like that it's popular, third person, first person ect.

I used to be in a phlebotomist in healthcare but it's long hours and the pay is terrible. Now I work in the Cannabis Industry. They pay and hours are better but since it's not federally recognised yet, companies don't have to provide healthcare coverage so We rely on my wife's (abet terrible) insurance for a family plan.

Nope. Video games are my passion but making them isn't. The gaming Industry is so damn shady, I never want to be part of a secret dark cult in the gaming industry and not only that, it's unstable and it's the second to a Government Shutdown waiting to happen.

But however, I am getting myself into becoming a Youtuber (not fully ready but close) myself just for gaming vids only is as close as I'll ever come related to working on a game for editing now that I have a good CPU Ryzen 2700X is a big help.

Yes, I work food and retail

Somebody once explained US healthcare to me. I don't know for sure if you live there. But it was like a horror story to me XD I could not believe it at first. The potential costs involved... even the 'own risk' being in the thousands? Just the notion that not everybody has health insurance... That's insane to me.

@davillain-: ooo nice! Let us know when the channel is ready :)

@KungfuKitten: Its a giant corporate shill. Doctors get kickbacks for pushing big Pharma drugs and profits are the most important in the buisness.

Example: you go to the ER for a cut on your hand. Since you went to the ER you where automatically signed up for a cardiac profile evaluation. That's one blood draw and testing every 4 hours for 24 hours. That's over a hundred dollars per stick AND the cost of testing (always at least a hundred per test)

So the hospital just made a few grand off you for a test you never needed - because you needed immediate care.

**** no.

It's something I like to try out and I'm not going to make it my career or anything like that, it's just for creativity cause gaming is my passion after all. Being a Youtuber is hard business, I can see why most of them work hard only because they gotta edit the videos. I hope I never have to go through this heavy editing stuff.

no. i thought about it but i just wouldnt have the energy to survive in it.

it seems to be a bit of a horror show where crunch time in other industries is just considered a standard week and crunch time in the games industry is relentless and unending. it's also really really unstable and the pay is poor relative to other sectors in the tech industry. if you really really love making games then maybe that is worth it but not for me.

the other thing is that playing games and making games are two very very different things. thats not to say that the latter can't be fun but it's a different kind of fun and challenge to playing a game.

i may do it as a hobby at some stage...though i have been saying that for years so probably not. i have ideas but then who doesn't? the nice thing though is that the cost of entry to learn games development and make a game is very low. you dont need very expensive software or a top of the line PC or anything.

Yes like this sort of stuff... This sounds like a Stephen King story to me.

Haha god no. I'm in the aerospace industry and it is booming here.

Poor pay, mostly poor working conditions, terrible hours and unstable area? No thanks

Nope but I did try to at one point, I have a software engineering degree. However when I came out of Uni I was struggling to get a start and ended up in Fire and Flood restoration, with a focus on electro-mechanical restoration, 21 years later I'm still doing it. It's a job that's taken me around the world and continues to do so.

The pay would have been better in Software development but I doubt the stability and opportunities to see the world, while getting paid, would have been as good.

Well I teach and develop games so....

I have thought about it many times considering I don't make much money working at a high school caring for special Ed but I'm content where I'm at. I live within my means in where I've grown up in San Diego. I have a car and live on my own stress free at work and at home. I can't justify giving all this up for more money.

I would never want to work in the game industry. Unfair wages, insane crunch times and you’re always tied to long projects. I know some people who work or have worked at Crytek and Guerilla Games personally, and their stories never really made me yearn for a similar job.

I currently work as a 2D and 3D animator in a global digital production company, so I sometimes get to work on small scale game projects, which is more than enough for me.

I'd like to be a VP or Marketing guy. The guy who talks about and hypes the games up. Alot of guys who do that don't really seem to give a shit about video games.

Maybe for a smaller studio like Supergiant Games (they're the ones that created Transistor, Bastion and Pyre), where you can express your creativity without feeling like just another disposable pawn that is forced to work unpaid overtime. Currently I work as a programmer at a research center, mostly developing android applications.

Yes, I would like to be a creative director in the video game industry. I have pretty cool ideas for video games. I know that I would need a lot of money to start a studio. Its more than a dream as this point. The only way I could see myself building my own studio is by becoming rich.

I teach High School. I love what I do, and have zero interest in working in video games. I do advise my school's video game club, so I guess that is kind of working in video games :)

I'am a Front End developer and yes ... i want to work on a video game before i die ... still need to learn a lot, but someday.

If I had any artistic talent, I would love to do concept art. Freelance, of course, so I could dabble in other areas; but video games I think would be fun.

There's something truly amazing about the concept art for video games. Especially if you're tasked with creating art for the main character/s, or you're responsible for drawing out a memorable environment or something. Working hand in hand with other "creatives" to portray something they describe to you.

@uninspiredcup said:

Indulge in art part time learning what I can like a little monkey trying to climb a cliff. Concept art would be nice, but from what I understand the gaming industry treats people like shit.

The guys in the grey suits don't care about anything, to be honest. They just look at your the art you've done and just ask the question, "Can it make me money?" Been there, and I don't know why they don't ask the game director that question instead to concept artists.

@davillain-: In these YouTube videos will there be a closet in the background?

As for working in the game industry, **** that as it would kill the enjoyment of playing video games.

Wat?