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Comment by djsumdog | Hacker News Reader

It's sad, but it shouldn't be surprising. Game companies are constantly trying to hit deadlines and push out new products; often stressing out developers, artists and the rest of their production staff. From what I hear, it seems as bad as the movie industry. Some companies get one windfall, think they have room to relax and then run out of money (often spending too much on fancy offices or stupid crap in the process).

Games got me into computer science, but after reading articles and talking to people I know who went down that route, I'm glad I never got into it. Don't get me wrong, the engines and games people design are amazing and I still enjoy playing them, but it takes a toll on the designers for sure.

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I also got into programming because of games and after doing some freelance work for a game studio (as a summer job two summers in a row during my university studies) and seeing all the bad stuff people talk about first hand I was hesitant to go into that industry after graduating.

Three and a half years later, however, I was tired of the job I had and wanted to try something new. I'd heard some great things about a local game studio and decided to check it out. I've now been working at Ghost Games for nearly two years and it feels like one of the best decision I've ever made.

A key point here is that EA has undergone a lot of changes these last few years and are really pushing to get away from the old ways of burning through talent like it's firewood to fuel the game making machinery. I don't know how far other EA studios have come, but DICE and Ghost (which is sort of a DICE subsidiary) have become great places to work.

When I was in high school I wanted to be a game developer. I loved playing video games at the time ( late 90's), why not get paid to make them as well! Then I read an article in Next Generation that discussed the games industry and then that dream vanished. After reading about crazy deadlines where husbands didn't come home for weeks and couples having conjugal visits in the office I decided that wasn't for me. Sounds like a lot hasn't changed in the past 20 years.

Hey I'm a freelancer with a home office. Conjugal visits in the office are one of the perks!

https://www.amazon.com/Webcam-Cover-Laptops-Pad-Devices/dp/B... || https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Tape/b?ie=UTF8&node=256161... || Work Ethic ;) (That was mean, but still worth saying tough love and all that)

You may consider the indie game scene if you love games enough. I too love games, but I don't see myself doing game dev outside of indie developments.

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