So You Want To Be a Game Developer?

[Shamus Young]

So You Want To Be a Game Developer?

Game development is hard, and if you want to make it your profession, you have a lot to consider. Shamus lays out the nitty gritty details.

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[viggih7]

(Gossip says working for Value is pretty nice.)

Don't you mean Valve?

 

[Shamus Young]

(Gossip says working for Value is pretty nice.)

Don't you mean Valve?

Pfft. Yup. Thanks for pointing it out. I re-read this multiple times and never caught that.

 

[Rhykker]

(Gossip says working for Value is pretty nice.)

Don't you mean Valve?

Pfft. Yup. Thanks for pointing it out. I re-read this multiple times and never caught that.

Well, Valve is synonymous with Value, so...

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I read that Valve employee handbook. It seems like they only hire "jack of all trades" types. So you'll need to know some coding, modeling, texturing, animation, art design etc. They don't hire people to to do just one specific thing unless they're working on hardware. It's not how their company is structured.

 

[Darth_Payn]

Would this article have something to do with it being GDC week again?

 

[Alek The Great]

Yes, Valve has a very different hiring policy because of its unique corporate structure (or lack thereof). They do not have any specific positions and anyone can work on whichever product they wish to. If someone wants to make Half Life 3 they can start the project and people interested in working on it will join in. They only hire senior talent with lots of experience and have no starter positions. I got this from the handbook and from the tour I had at their office (plus chatting with some of the staff on the tour).

 

[Alek The Great]

What I meant to say is if you're a new grad you're not getting a job at Valve because they don't hire new grads.

 

[F-I-D-O]

What I meant to say is if you're a new grad you're not getting a job at Valve because they don't hire new grads.

That's not true. Portal 1 and 2 teams were predominately hired straight from college. The difference is that they had been working at something that got Valve's attention, not that they sent in a resume with their graduation cap. I think the original CS modding team had a similar hiring story, but I'm less sure on that.

As someone currently enrolled in a Game Design program in college, there wasn't a whole lot new for me in this article. There also wasn't a lot of difference from stories of other creative industries, like film or television. That sucks. There's a reason I picked a school with a co-op focus, as it helps students realize what the job will be like, as well as building a resume. Because hiring new grads is nice, but hiring someone who can do the work is better. I've seen devs quit on Twitter, claiming they're done with the industry. This isn't something limited to AAA development (Phil Fish and Angry Bird Guy). I've also met with general developers and graduates from my college's program who thoroughly enjoy their work, and haven't been bounced between jobs. I've seen the trend of industry veterans starting game studios with a claim to remove crunch, and care for the talent. It'll be interesting to see if they maintain that vision, or revert back to the film industry strategy of only caring about the top folks, and the rest get one shot if that.
I agree that people shouldn't go to a purely game design school. It only limits experiences, learning opportunities, and the people you'll meet. College is a chance to try tons of new things, and learn about tons of topics - having the entire university limit that seems ridiculous to me, especially considering those schools don't have cheap tuition, or great financial aid plans (I applied to them, and balked at the final bill). But the statement that the industry has a high turnover and little talent appreciation applies to journalists (especially with game journalism, look at JoyStiq closing for no good reason, or the recent Escapist changes), filmmakers, comic book writers, musicians, writers, and even lawyers. There's a reason I don't want to send a resume to Ubisoft, but the idea that I should give up because it's going to be really hard to do what I love doesn't sit well with me.

 

[CaitSeith]

Spoiler: It sounded terribly familiar...

 

[MoltenSilver]

You forgot to mention that not only will you be tossed out the door when a project is winding down, but it is also entirely likely be tossed out the door and told to re-apply in 3 months because they don't want to pay you benefits. Because, like the article says, they know you probably will to keep paying the bills, and if you don't there's a clone army lining up to replace you.

 

[Signa]

I can't speak for the rest of it, but holy shit did the years between 20 and 30 fly. I was about 28 before I realized I was no longer fresh out of high school.

 

[BrotherRool]

Yes, Valve has a very different hiring policy because of its unique corporate structure (or lack thereof). They do not have any specific positions and anyone can work on whichever product they wish to. If someone wants to make Half Life 3 they can start the project and people interested in working on it will join in. They only hire senior talent with lots of experience and have no starter positions. I got this from the handbook and from the tour I had at their office (plus chatting with some of the staff on the tour).

The weird thing about the "anyone can start a project and get other people interested" is that no-one ever has. Or at least there has never been a case where an employer at Valve had an exciting idea for a new IP (since Half-Life 1) and got everyone else excited and made that game.

Check this list of their published games:
Half-Life (1998) - Valve's only original inside IP. Presumably Gabe Newell's idea
Team Fortress (1999) - Fan created mod. Valve hired the guys who developed it and then published it and made improvements
Counter-Strike (2000) - Fan created mod. Valve hired the guys who developed it and then published it and made improvements
Day of Defeat (2003) - Fan created mod. Valve bought the rights, published it and made improvements
Half-Life 2 (2004) -Sequel
Counter-Strike: Source (2004) - Remake
Day of Defeat: Source (2005) - Remake
Half-Life 2: Episode 1 (2006) -Sequel
Half-Life 2: Episode 2 (2007) - Sequel
Team Fortress 2 (2007) - Sequel
Portal (2007) - Game concept developed by a group at Digipen. Valve hired the guys who developed it, made improvements and published.
Left 4 Dead (2008) - Developed by Turtle Rock Studios. Valve hired the guys who developed it, made improvements and published.
Left 4 Dead 2 (2009) - Sequel
Alien Swarm (2010) - Fan made mod. Valve bought the rights and remade it.
Portal 2 (2011) - Sequel
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012) - Sequel
Dota 2 (2013) - Fan made mod. Valve hired the guy who developed it, made improvements and published it (with a 2 in the name)

I don't understand why, when anyone at Valve can start any project they want, no Valve employee (except Gabe Newell) has ever wanted to make their own game and then gone and done so.

In fact the only time that has happened was with Turtle Rock Studios, who quit Valve and then made their own IP.

 

[freaper]

I can't speak for the rest of it, but holy shit did the years between 20 and 30 fly. I was about 28 before I realized I was no longer fresh out of high school.

I'm not even halfway, but the past six years have been a blur and I still consider myself nothing more than a teenager.

 

[cynicalsaint1]

Its funny.
I'm a software developer, and I love videogames.
People *ALWAYS* ask me why I don't try to get a job making games.

Ridiculous hours, terrible pay, absolutely no job security.

And before you argue, "That's just what life is like in corporate America!" No, no it isn't. Sure, some companies overwork and under-pay their employees. But in other industries that's the exception. In video games, it's the norm. I ran into a lot of computer science types in my days as a professional, and I never met (or even heard of!) anybody who worked the kind of hours they work you at a AAA studio. And never for so little pay.

I can definitely attest to this. My job is about as cushy as it can get. I rarely work late unless something serious is going down. I make more money than most people that I know, get great benefits, know my job is solid for the foreseeable future, plenty of opportunity to move elsewhere if I feel like I need a pay bump.

The AAA game industry is a meat grinder for talent.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

As somebody who graduated from a design college, took one look at the game industry, went "nope" and decided to get a job in graphic design instead... I have my reservations about my job (it's boring!), but damn I'm glad it's not that bad.

Thank you Shamus for making me feel better about my life choices.

 

[Bad Jim]

I read that Valve employee handbook. It seems like they only hire "jack of all trades" types. So you'll need to know some coding, modeling, texturing, animation, art design etc. They don't hire people to to do just one specific thing unless they're working on hardware. It's not how their company is structured.

Not quite right. They hire people with lots of general skills but also with an area of expertise. The logic being that people who only do one thing well don't collaborate well, while people without a specialist skill don't do anything useful.

The main issue is that they don't seem to make a lot of games.

 

[Vivi22]

The main issue is that they don't seem to make a lot of games.

Yeah, 13 games in the last 11 years isn't that much really when you think about it. -_-

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

I thought about making games back in high school 9 years ago, but something, a gut feeling, told me it will be a shitstorm by the time I get through college. Since then I've seen tons of those game college adds all over the place, and I cringe at how many people are probably signing up. No offense to those that did, but it seemed to me like the job market was going to saturated even back in '07. Now, for the past couple years, I've seen studio closures left and right, along with the horror stories of devs being laid off, usually just to cut costs until the next thing. It's a mess I'm glad to not be a part of, but my heart goes out to the people who are.

Really, something should be done about all of the shenanigans corporations pull to save money by firing nearly everyone on a project that just went gold, only to refill most, if not all, of those positions went the next project gets its ball rolling. The only problem with changing that is it has become the norm for so long that it will be hard to shake.

 

[Darkness665]

As a software engineer (retired) who was also a software engineering manager I have long viewed the AAA video game industry as a disaster. It is incompetent to its core, one small proof of this is one of the most important aspect of a software development environment is growing/building a core team. Yet, the industry consistently disassemble teams, cutting their departments to the bone. Indeed, even the bones from time to time. Many studies have shown that there are many different ways to run a project. Yet, regardless of the methodology a solid team will deliver the goods. Fancy MBA ideas or not.

Now, the software business itself isn't picture perfect. Many of the faults in the video game industry can be identified there as well. But, the video game industry is based on harsh conditions, multi-year crunch cycles and minimal pay. Even when the pay is good, it is common for publishers to kill projects, refuse to disburse rewards and to steal IP from anywhere it isn't tied down.

As to the software of the industry itself, I find many of the articles in the trades are cringe-inducing. Announcing discoveries of ideas that were well known in the 80's. Wow, what will they think of next. I know, let's check out the 90's. The video game industry might get there in twenty years.

I will be interested to read your next piece.