The life of a lapsed game developer
by Jennie Lees 
{ Apr 16th 2006 at 6:00AM }
Lost Garden has an interesting
post up which is useful reading for anyone thinking about a career in game development. As an ex-game developer, driven
out by a cancelled project, bad project management and pay cuts, Danc has a list of reasons why lapsed game developers
won't be going back to their jobs once they taste the forbidden fruit of a mainstream development job.With an estimated 50,000 lapsed game developers out there -- people who've seen what real working conditions are like and prefer to stay away from the games industry -- it's an almost frightening outpouring of talent. On the other hand, many gamers and programmers are climbing over one another to get that vital entry-level job in the industry, to break in with fancy demos and showy code. Whether some developers care that they're losing people, when there are so many ready to replace them, is debatable -- but a high turnover and an unstable team can have their effects on products, which affects us as consumers too
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dusda @ Apr 16th 2006 2:25PM
This kind of thing has been a concern of mine for years. I've always loved the idea of going into game development, but after hearing horror stories of development gone wrong, I keep second guessing myself. At the moment, I develop business software, which is much more defined and stable. More profitable, too.
I guess what it comes down to is how much you can enjoy making games. I'm still not sure if it's worth it.
The Loner @ Apr 16th 2006 4:11PM
I'm a little skeptical of this article, for a few reasons.
I'm fine with most of his numbers when he adds it all up to 50k lapsed developers, but the 5-year career number seems like it came out of nowhere.
It sounds like he worked with some really crappy developers and now he scorns the whole industry for it. Although I can't say I've worked with more than 1 development team, I can say the one I work with now sounds more like his description of middleware development.
It also sounds like he worked with a completely unknown development teams. At least, I've never heard of them. Is he including the developers he says he worked with in his bio? Or is he just getting a bunch of stories from his "lapsed game dev friends"? I know it's just a blog post... but where's the research, the proof, and the multitude of developers saying the same exact thing elsewhere in their internet blogs? Why did this only come up now from a guy who is recognized for... making a good blog post about Nintendo innovation? I'd do more research on the guy to see why I should believe him but he only gives his first name so I can't Wikipedia him.
I just don't understand why what he says has to apply to the whole industry. It sounds more like it applies to tiny crap-developers who don't innovate or market well and are simply destined for doom from the start.
In my ultimate opinion, if your working conditions are as crappy as this guy says, you should have already expected your game to fail in the marketplace.
jennie @ Apr 16th 2006 4:28PM
An interesting point The Loner, but consider the blog posts (e.g. EA Spouse) that point to EA's awful working conditions -- yet they aren't a tiny crap developer with games that fail.
The Loner @ Apr 16th 2006 4:44PM
Yes jennie, except that was over a year ago. Since then, EA has shaped up and is now trying harder than ever to create better working conditions for their employees, family or no family. I will agree that what Danc says was true for larger developers, but I disagree that it is still true. At least, I haven't seen it myself. I should admit now that I only entered the industry about 1 year ago.
I believe the way the industry works is rapidly changing as it becomes a more legitimized practice. With these changes come better working conditions. This article would have made sense before college universities were considering game development a true field of work, but we're in a new day and age. Sure, 1 year may not seem like a long enough time for an industry practice to change, but I think that it's totally possible. Only now are developers truly understanding how to be more professional.
Keep in mind... the industry was started by guys who sat around naked in a hot tub with hookers, smoking pot and getting drunk on the job. Not exactly best start an industry could have.
jennie @ Apr 16th 2006 5:11PM
Well, I haven't worked in development yet, but I've heard some awful stories from people who do -- can't really cite word of mouth though. I don't recall the early developers being famous for sitting around naked in hot tubs though...!
I don't think a year really is long enough for practices to spread from company to company and for turnover to encourage people to rethink their working practices. How is gaming development so much more legitimate this year than last year? It doesn't seem to be progressing exponentially; I'm sure that it is maturing, but from what I've seen and heard, not as quickly as to make tales from a year ago entirely redundant.
randomdev @ Apr 16th 2006 9:03PM
Are we having trouble hiring experienced people for senior positions? Yes, most people leave the industry within 10 years.
Do we want more rookie coders? No, we're full up.
"Whether some developers care that they're losing people, when there are so many ready to replace them, is debatable"
No, it's really not debatable. Ask some-- we do care. Many of the shitty conditions are because everyone's inexperienced, and that's the reason for a lot of slipped schedules and shitty games as well, as much as we like to blame the pubs.
Wes @ Apr 17th 2006 11:32AM
I've been in game development for 6 years now and at some places I feel like a veteran. (no I don't consider myself a veteran) It's just becoming increasingly difficult to find people that have been in the biz longer then say....8 years.
I was just saying last week that this is a "young man's game" I started at 19 and pulled 80-90 hours weeks (and more at times)Now I'm 25. A couple of console projects under my belt and I find myself thinking about this book I really want to write...
"How To Break Out Of The Video Game Industry"
Great article
chris @ Apr 18th 2006 1:20PM
I too worship the man and myth, Chris Crawford. He is exactly right.
Understanding these development issues and after many conversations with game devs through the years, Im going into the indie game dev industry from the opposite direction.
I feel for you burned out guys. I have a tremendous amount of respect for those who have passion for what they do. There are many people who never get to experience this.
But the reality is our reptilian male brain is programmed to romanticize the gaming industry. If one does a little research before entering the industry and scratches the surface, its really not a place of balance. Also, developers are artists and you know what happens to artists? They get burned by the realities of the business world. Its been like this for thousands of years. I dont think its going to change. Id rather learn the business world first, and then see what gaming has in store for me.
After 2 degrees from a 4 year university, Ive been working for fortune 500 companies for 9 years now. I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge on how to plan, create, and implement software successfully across many different systems and customers. Also, how to balance life, meet other people with balanced lives, make money, get married, buy a house, have a life etc etc.
By NOT working 80 hours a week and still making a realistic wage in super expensive city, I was able to start a business on the side (not creating games but associated with the industry). Now, with the business self-sufficient and not having to baby sit it, its time to merge this knowledge and jump into creating games, but with a twist and some thinking outside of the box
I might crash and burn too. You never know : ) I try not to sugar coat the realities of the world. Just learn from my mistakes, do the research, try to make money and have fun.