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Comment by paxys | Hacker News Reader

While things can be bad in software in general, game developers need a union more than anyone. Conditions in that industry are horrendous. The entire period of a game's development is "crunch time". Everyone is exempt, so no overtime of course. And it is standard practice to downsize studios and have mass layoffs right after big launches. It's a shame that so many are drawn to this just because of a passion for gaming.

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> Everyone is exempt,

This comes with a catch in California. In order to make software developers exempt there is a minimum salary you must pay otherwise you are required to keep them hourly and pay overtime where appropriate.

https://www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/ComputerSoftware.htm

When people complain about game devs being exempt, I think they're usually not complaining that salaries are too low - they're generally fine these days - but the expectation of 80+ hour weeks during 'crunch' when crunch often lasts 6+ months. Doing hours like that for a long period of time is destructive to health and to family ties.

> This comes with a catch in California. In order to make software developers exempt there is a minimum salary you must pay otherwise you are required to keep them hourly and pay overtime where appropriate.

That's true federally, too, but the CA salary threshold is much higher.

> It's a shame that so many are drawn to this just because of a passion for gaming.

"Just"?? It sounds like you've greatly underrated the value of indulging a passion.

If you enjoy your job your employer is able to exploit you more?

If you are enjoying your job, you are happier to accept lower other benefits.

i have a passion for eating, i dont have a passion for dentistry

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