Would you want to work in the video game industry?

[aj3292]

If you had the job skills, would you want to work in the video game industry? I love video games, but I don’t think I would. Crunch time is just too big a problem.

[ElNono]

From experience, crunch time is like any other job where you oversee projects and have fires come up, tbh. It happens on almost every industry one way or another, under different labels.

On software development specifically, it's far from being just on the gaming industry. It's just more visible there because we corner ourselves a bit with release dates and all that jazz, but there's really always deadlines.

The internet has helped a lot in this regard too, the fact that you can have day 1 patches have also helped to relieve some of the pressure.

As far as working on the industry, the big factor is where, IMO. It's extremely competitive, and every game is a huge gamble in a lot of ways. The barrier to entry is pretty high, and in this day and age, marketing is probably as big a factor as the product itself if you want the numbers to work.

[baseline bum]

I worked in it for a while. Ramping up from 60 to 85 to 105 hour weeks in crunch fucking sucks. 105 hour weeks were especially bad

Wake up, take shower, eat: 1 hour
commute to work: 1 hour
work: 15 hour
commute home: 1 hour
pick up dinner and eat: 1 hour
Collapse on couch and stare at TV like zombie: 1.5 hour
Try to fall asleep: 1 hour
Actually sleep: 2.5 hour

At least you'd get a day off in 90 hour or less weeks though.

[ElNono]

I worked in it for a while. Ramping up from 60 to 85 to 105 hour weeks in crunch fucking sucks. 105 hour weeks were especially bad

Wake up, take shower, eat: 1 hour
commute to work: 1 hour
work: 15 hour
commute home: 1 hour
pick up dinner and eat: 1 hour
Collapse on couch and stare at TV like zombie: 1.5 hour
Try to fall asleep: 1 hour
Actually sleep: 2.5 hour

At least you'd get a day off in 90 hour or less weeks though.

If I were your manager, I would rent you a room near the studio, shave off those 2 commuting hours, and you could work 17 hours instead, tbh, that's bad management right there...

[baseline bum]

If I were your manager, I would rent you a room near the studio, shave off those 2 commuting hours, and you could work 17 hours instead, tbh, that's bad management right there...

Bad management in the video game industry? :lol

I would have killed for some of those Japanese capsule hotels overworked businessmen in Tokyo stay in once we got over 80 hours a week.

[ElNono]

Bad management in the video game industry? :lol

I would have killed for some of those Japanese capsule hotels overworked businessmen in Tokyo stay in once we got over 80 hours a week.

:lol

[apalisoc_9]

If I were your manager, I would rent you a room near the studio, shave off those 2 commuting hours, and you could work 17 hours instead, tbh, that's bad management right there...

:wow

This is ridiculous. I thought about gstting into the gaming industry a few years ago but I dodged a bullet. Seems mental suicide.

I barely for 2 hrs in the 8hrs or so Im in the office. Spending half the day browsing spurstalk :lol

[Reck]

:wow

This is ridiculous. I thought about gstting into the gaming industry a few years ago but I dodged a bullet. Seems mental suicide.

I barely for 2 hrs in the 8hrs or so Im in the office. Spending half the day browsing spurstalk :lol

What are your skills that you think you could just get in?

If I had the proper skills for any entry level job in the industry, I would most definitely take a stab at trying to get in. Preferly with Sony.

But I would also settle for EvilA. :lol

[apalisoc_9]

What are your skills that you think you could just get in?

If I had the proper skills for any entry level job in the industry, I would most definitely take a stab at trying to get in. Preferly with Sony.

But I would also settle for EvilA. :lol

I was in college a few years ago. I meant i was thinking of aquiring the skills :lol

[aj3292]

I worked in it for a while. Ramping up from 60 to 85 to 105 hour weeks in crunch fucking sucks. 105 hour weeks were especially bad

Wake up, take shower, eat: 1 hour
commute to work: 1 hour
work: 15 hour
commute home: 1 hour
pick up dinner and eat: 1 hour
Collapse on couch and stare at TV like zombie: 1.5 hour
Try to fall asleep: 1 hour
Actually sleep: 2.5 hour

At least you'd get a day off in 90 hour or less weeks though.

Crazy. I've seen lots of people talk about this from the outside, but this is the first time I've ever had a chance to hear about what it's actually like from someone who has done it. How many weeks did you have to do this for, and how much of a hit did your physical and mental health take? I remember sleeping like 4 hours a night when I was in school, and that was already bad enough for me to fall asleep at random moments during the day (even while walking or talking to someone).

[baseline bum]

Crazy. I've seen lots of people talk about this from the outside, but this is the first time I've ever had a chance to hear about what it's actually like from someone who has done it. How many weeks did you have to do this for, and how much of a hit did your physical and mental health take? I remember sleeping like 4 hours a night when I was in school, and that was already bad enough for me to fall asleep at random moments during the day (even while walking or talking to someone).

For the worst game I worked on it was 60 hour weeks for months, 85 hour weeks for another couple of months, and then I did 100+ hour weeks for like 3 weeks straight when it was starting to creep up to the deadline. Then back to 40 hours once it passed first party certification. Working 105 hour weeks makes days meaningless; those three weeks just felt like one long never ending day. I wouldn't do it now if I got offered Patty Mills' contract.

[ElNono]

I want to emphasize that where you work matters. Also, what kind of work you do. QA, for example, has been a typical case of the entry level job that can be abused into long hours, has high turnover, and could be understaffed. Again, not everywhere.

A well funded major studio won't blink an eye to delay or cancel a project that's not up to standard, tbh, but smaller studios just can't afford to do that, and so the pressure and hours are much higher.

[TDMVPDPOY]

graphic or background crop scene designer... would be nice...

[aj3292]

For the worst game I worked on it was 60 hour weeks for months, 85 hour weeks for another couple of months, and then I did 100+ hour weeks for like 3 weeks straight when it was starting to creep up to the deadline. Then back to 40 hours once it passed first party certification. Working 105 hour weeks makes days meaningless; those three weeks just felt like one long never ending day. I wouldn't do it now if I got offered Patty Mills' contract.

How long did it take you to recover? I bet working 40 hours after that felt like nothing.