Tomb Raider Dev Hit With Layoffs

[geizr]

I have to wonder how many developers and artists in the game industry are independent contractors. If the game industry has a high prevalence of a hire-then-fire cycle, then, it seems to me that it would be better for a creative professional in the game industry to be independent rather than a permanent employee of a specific game company. Of course, the drawback of that one has to really hustle to maintain contracts for gainful income; however, I would think, at least with being independent, there may be a bit more job security since you are not dependent on the continuation of a single project or set of projects, nor are you dependent on the continued success of one company. The entire game industry itself sort of becomes your employer, and there's always a job to be done, somewhere, that uses creative, programming, and design skills. Or maybe it's just too much a hassle to get and maintain the contracts. I don't know; I'm just guessing here.

A large number of people employed in the industry ARE on contract. That people get fired and hired all the time is nothing unusual in the industry. This is virtually a non-story. I would be worried about complete studio closures such as the massive shutdown of studios by EA or Zynga, but a layoff of 12 people is hardly worth blinking at. As projects speed along, those 12 people might even get rehired. Game/TV/movie development is really cyclical and you're always looking for where to work next once your contract ends.

That was the impression I was getting, but I thought I would ask anyway to get some confirmation.

(Interestingly serendipitous capcha: bouncy ball)