Topic: For those of you dreaming of making games

[KDR_11k]

This story is currently circulating the internet. Since you might prefer a shorter version I'll sum it up:
Game companies demand all development staff to take unpaid overtime as the deadline approaches. This is known as "crunchtime" and usually happens about three months before the game is supposed to ship but that can vary from company to company. Crunchtime means working 80-100 hours a week, often sleeping only two hours a day and not going home at all. The severity also varies, Sierra/Vivendi has been accused of forcing employees to falsify timesheets. Legislation forbids making employees working at less than ~27$/hour (game devs don't earn this unless they are highly experienced and in leading positions) work unpaid overtime but this is generally ignored. Crunch time can have a severe impact on your health, up to and including death. Don't expect to have a life during crunch time, pets will starve and women leave you.

Some may take this as a reason to boycott EA but that's fooling yourself. Crunchtime is a permanent issue with almost all game development studios. There ARE a few studios that don't do it (though those are high profile dev studios, I think Blizzard is one of them) but those are few and far in between. If you wish to work in the industry, be prepared to face this abuse. Well, actually, the reason why I post this is to make sure you are NOT prepared to crunch. The more people learn the truth about game development the more we can reduce the number of "starry eyed high school kids" that would give anything to make their dream of developing games come true. The less of them exist the less unburned potential is available to the game companies and the fewer people are willing to replace someone who left because of abusive work conditions. Once we drain this pool devs no longer have to fear for their job for demanding their rights granted by law. Currently employees are considered expendable because you could always hire a newbie who will kiss your ass just to keep his position. This MUST end.

[Bill Aurion]

When I saw this the other day my evening was pretty much ruined...Anger get!  (The big suits must pay!)

[Hostile Creation]

I don't plan on it, though if the opportunity arose I would certainly give it a shot.  I'll keep this in mind, of course, but I'm not one to let someone do that to me anyway.  Thanks for the info.

[Ian Sane]

This isn't news to me.  As a programmer I've met guys who have worked at EA or have friends who work at EA and every time they say that EA pushes their workers really hard, makes them work long hours, and under-pays them.  I assumed everyone knew this.

Now if EA got in legal trouble over this I would just have grin on my face for a whole week.  A toast to the eventual downfall of Electronic Arts.

[KDR_11k]

A class action lawsuit has been spawned.

However, I also wanted to make sure you all know that it isn't just EA, the entire games industry, give or take a few minor companies, is like this.

[mantidor]

That reminds me that such thing isnt unusual in Japan, most people do overtime completly unpaid, in fact I think everyone does it, for example its a social custom that you never leave the job before your boss, Be prepared if you want to live and work in Japan.

[Shift Key]

Ah, the bitter employee rant.
I don't know what kind of union structure there is in the industry (probably none by the sound of it) but it just sounds like the actions of a multinational corporation.
I'm heading into this field (or something to that effect) when I'm done with tertiary study in a few years time, so I will be watching these developments with interest.

[Kirby_PopStar]

I guess I'm just one of those "starry eyed high school kids that would give anything to make their dream of developing games come true".

Since I was 3 years old, my dream has been to make games. It's what I want to dedicate my life to, creating something captivating and entertaining. I wouldn't care about the countless hours of "crunch time" I'd have to endure. It's worth it to live out my dream. Every year I go to the Electronic Entertainment Exposition, and look around at the wonderful gaming industry. Someday, I will be a part of it. That's my life goal. I know I should never let myself get stepped on, or go with completely abusive working conditions, but sometimes you have to take the hard road.

[Aussie Ben PGC]

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Ah, the bitter employee rant.

No, actually, more like the "Person concerned for their spouse's dangerously poor health due to overstress and poor working conditions" rant.

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It's what I want to dedicate my life to, creating something captivating and entertaining. I wouldn't care about the countless hours of "crunch time" I'd have to endure. It's worth it to live out my dream.

While that's quite noble of you, the reality is that it's very likely that when making games you won't be making something incredibly captivating and entertaining, unless you start you either work for a small niche developer, or create your own niche developer (and let's face it, neither of these are financially safe prospects).  Most employees have to work on stuff that brings in money, and what brings in money quicker than anything else is...the license title.  Or, if you're working for someone like EA, the rehash of their sports titles.

The employees that ea_spouse describes are sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, husbands and wives that are all working incredibly hard, having the candle burnt at both ends, and as a result, creating a product with additional problems due to sheer exhaustion.  I'm talking Enter the Matrix scenario.  I've heard tales of the absolute PANIC there was to get that game out the door before/in time for the movie.  I know that they were at least hiring new programmers to get that done.  From the sound of it, EA doesn't even seem to be doing that -- instead choosing to run their talent into the ground until they're broken shells of their former selves who want to leave.  And EA doesn't care, because that there are plenty of eager young programmers, artists and animators, people just like you Kirby_PopStar, willing to take their place.

[Deguello]

I wish there was a surefire way to break into the industry.  You could attend DigiPen, which is great if you somehow manage to live in that corner of the country.  Another option includes taking one of the many games courses in university that pop up now and then.  But I fear those just teach the basics necessary to be one of EA's disposable grunts, and not anything creative, because that would just be unheard of.

The problem I see with these unheard of working conditions, is that the work is disposable.  Now, regardless of your opinion of EA sports games, a lot fo work goes into them.  That said, have you ever watched the credits for Madden?  Probably not...  and even so, can you name the Director of Madden NFL 2003?  How about the Producer or the Lead Composer?  See what I mean?   Now I bet you can name the Creator of Zelda.  I bet you can even name the director of the latest game in that series.  I bet you can name the director of Sonic games, right?  The Director of Eternal Darkness?  Lead Designer on Doom 3?  You can name these people, and some of their teams.  They have built a history, a reputation, a legacy.

Being the lead designer or a high level programmer for an EA sports title probably is not going to help your career much.  And since it seems your pay does not increase at all, and they grind you to pieces on these games, it seems like a wasted effort, and no wonder the guy seems less enthusiastic about their jobs.

[Draygaia]

Yeah I had some dude from EA talk to us at my college about a job in making video games.  I know its rough but I still have the passion to do it.

[KDR_11k]

There is a surefire way to get into the industry. It's called skill. Hone it for a few years while you still have the time (school and university) and you should reach pro level by the end if you're serious enough. If you frequent circles where professionals hang out you might get some connections, that and skill will land you a job in no time. Of course it's not a lead role, you'll be another grunt but hey, you're making games, right?

If you want to actually design a game your only chance is independant work. Mods, basement-made games or the one-man-dev-team. It's all possible, you just won't ever get famous with that. Okay, you might get lucky like a few mods that were piced up by companies but that's very unlikely and to many mod teams try to make a mod that gets them hired instead of being creative.
If you want to compete, never play on a level playing field, the big boys will crush you. Do things they will not or cannot. You won't be able to have Doom 3 or Half-Life 2 level graphics but you can be more creative than them. Make games that break new ground or appeal to a niche. A few hundred people will remember you at max but not trying is failing, right?

Oh, and try asking DazP or Soul (sorry, don't have their real names at hand, look at the 007:EON credits, "character artists") what it's like to have all of your work attributed to some kind of "proprietary face scan technology" that did jack for the game.