The salaries are poor. The work hours are poor. The work environments are poor. The benefits are poor.
Just by those metrics they should only be able to hire bottom of the barrel Wordpress engineers. But they can get people who are far better than that.
Games, Music, Movies, TV.
Its hard not to exploit people when you have constant stream of candidates begging you to work for exposure.
Here is an example casting for Netflix "TV" show, Hyperdrive, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHR66Isz3Ug where whole driver compensation amounted to 2 weeks hotel stay and plane ticket. No damage coverage (cars in $0.1-1mil range), no car prep allowance, no per diem, no insurance, no contest prizes. Produced by a woman too, Charlize Theron.
There are many ways you could build a good resume. Gaming companies don't have a monopoly on that.
I worked on games nearly 30 years ago and it was awesome. Did the usual corporate stuff after that, but last few years have been working at a food delivery company you know that is huge.
There is something awesome about working somewhere where your fuckups and successes are visible. I see people sat outside pubs using my app and have to have a nosey to see their reaction, bad or good. It's pretty addictive.