I spoke to over 40 game developers whose companies had been impacted by layoffs in the last year. They shared with me the explanations companies gave them for what was causing the sudden loss of their livelihood, but they also told me why those explanations didn’t always seem to match reality.
It’s a MASSIVE oversaturation of everything in the gaming industry. Plenty of people play games, but there are far too much product for the consumer to buy. Or, there’s far too little of good products that generate any sort of money to the development teams. 99% of all game projects either die on the vine or don’t make any money at launch.
The same logic goes for music, art, Hollywood, writing, books, pretty much any sort of creative role.
If you’re still getting an education, don’t go into the gaming industry. Don’t be a musician. Don’t be an artist. Don’t be a writer. Don’t be a Twitch streamer or YouTuber.
If you do it as a hobby, and it happens to work out, so be it. Or, if you’re just doing it because you enjoy it in your spare time, that’s fine, too. But, if it’s your goal as the primary means to make money, don’t be disappointed when it doesn’t work out. You can’t reliably work in oversaturated industries.
If you’re trying to be a programmer and don’t find a job in the gaming industry, go find some other development job that is in a more mundane industry. There’s plenty of companies that better respect their employees than the fucking gaming industry.
It’s a MASSIVE oversaturation of everything in the gaming industry. Plenty of people play games, but there are far too much product for the consumer to buy. Or, there’s far too little of good products that generate any sort of money to the development teams. 99% of all game projects either die on the vine or don’t make any money at launch.
The same logic goes for music, art, Hollywood, writing, books, pretty much any sort of creative role.
If you’re still getting an education, don’t go into the gaming industry. Don’t be a musician. Don’t be an artist. Don’t be a writer. Don’t be a Twitch streamer or YouTuber.
If you do it as a hobby, and it happens to work out, so be it. Or, if you’re just doing it because you enjoy it in your spare time, that’s fine, too. But, if it’s your goal as the primary means to make money, don’t be disappointed when it doesn’t work out. You can’t reliably work in oversaturated industries.
If you’re trying to be a programmer and don’t find a job in the gaming industry, go find some other development job that is in a more mundane industry. There’s plenty of companies that better respect their employees than the fucking gaming industry.
I’ve talked nine people out of the games industry.
When I have friends telling me they’re glad they went to the movie VFX industry from games that says something.