I spent about 3 years working in PC game development. In fact, I was part of the Sierra/Cendant/Havas/Vivendi mess that Blizzard was also part of. I loved my job and the work I was doing but I eventually had to leave that industry.

It's an industry that by it's nature burns people up and throws them away. If you're not careful, you'll end up happily working 16 hour days until you burn out. There's ALWAYS more work that can be done and ALWAYS ways to make a game better so you have to try to limit yourself to 8 or 10 hours a day or it will quickly take over your life. One time just for the hell of it, I kept track of the actual hours I worked one week and then divided it by my weekly salary and found out that I was making less than minimum wage.

This article I saved from Shift magazine summarizes exactly what I'm talking about...

http://www.3feetunder.com/krick/jobsucks.htm

I'm not trying to dissuade you from working in the game industry, but all I can say is "be careful" or you'll end up hating it when it takes over your life.

...
Krick
http://www.tankadin.com

Reply