In my brief stint thus far in the game industry, I’ve been to a few companies, and worked with a fairly large number of people. And at each company that I’ve been to, in each group of people I’ve worked or interacted with, one trend has remained the same.
There are always people who don’t want to be there.
Some of them are there because game development is just where they happened to fall in the multimedia spectrum. Some of them are there because they thought making games was going to be a cakewalk. Some of them are there because they enjoy making games, but they only enjoy making a specific type of game, a type which that company would never do. Or they used to enjoy making games, but have become jaded and cynical over the years and have all but lost interest in game development.
To those people I have a polite but firm request:
Leave.
If you don’t like making games any more, quit the pretensions and go find something that can get passionate about.
If you don’t like making that company’s style of game, find a company that does, or go make your own!
If you thought making games was easy, either face it and work your ass off, or go find a job that won’t challenge you every day.
And if you’re just there to make a wage, and would be as happy making ads or business software, then by all means go do those things.
In game development, we need people with passion. People who, after they discover the amount of money and effort that goes into their favourite games and that they’ll probably have to start out in the industry making a game that they wouldn’t naturally want to play, will still put their heads down and try to make the best damn game they can anyway, out of whatever resources have. People who can find the fun in any project. People who get excited by being challenged, and improve themselves whatever way they can. People who care.
There are plenty of people out there who want a shot at creating games, and some of them will be able to stick it out and make great and meaningful contributions to whatever game they work on.
But because of the glut of people who ultimately don’t care, the potentials have a far more difficult time getting their shot. I know plenty of these people, and there is a multitude of others out there, yearning for an opportunity.
I’ve dealt with a lot of negativity and blase attitudes in just one and a half years, but what drove this particular rant is what I heard a tester say today: “I’m looking forward to the weekend so much – cuz’ then we won’t be here.” This isn’t about this particular guy, but just against the general attitude that making games is worthless.
I don’t care how proficient you are, I don’t care how many years of experience you have, I don’t care how many degrees you have. If you don’t care about games, then please, leave.
zomg, Fase SMASH!
Honestly though, and a little more seriously, thanks for the post. It’s perfect, ’cause it’s kinda where I’m struggling at the moment, in picking which side of this particular fence I wanna jump to.
We’ve worked together enough for you to know how can be in the face of some challenges, so I’m going into training in maintaining the motivation and passion for my work
Oh, and next time I speak to you, remind me to tell you about a friend of mine, and his awesome use of game development
I was trying not to rant but it did turn out a bit angry
Anyway, I do think that you’re one of the people that would benefit most from a faster turnover and more opportunity in the games industry – you never really know how you’re going to handle it until you’re there, but it’s way harder to get that chance with all the dead weight that is currently taking up space in the game industry. I certainly didn’t expect that I’d be able to keep up the momentum on a project from start to finish before working, but now it comes fairly naturally.
Well, it does at work, at least. I think it’s because when you’re working in a group, and you’re there 40+ hours a week, there’s usually lot of mutual encouragement, and a general attitude of getting things done, which definitely helps.
That said, if you’re able to train up that momentum outside work, you’ll be great within a company – although if you’re able to make awesome stuff outside a company there’s probably not much of a point to try to get into a studio in the first place
So yeah, I guess what I’m trying to get at is that if you can learn maintenance of motivation outside of a work environment it’s awesome, but definitely don’t wait until you’re awesome before you try to get into a games company, because there might not be a point to then, and it’s a lot harder to get good at making games without some good mentors and an environment conducive to learning.
Oh, and try to make sure it’s a studio that works on stuff that you want to work on, and that has a good work environment that won’t suck out your soul
Came across this quote from a Blizzard employee, and though it was kinda pertinent:
‘It seems like a ton of work, not only creating each of the skills but determining how they function with runes attached, but Jay assured me it wasn’t a problem for Blizzard.
“We have a saying at Blizzard when something looks like too much work. How about we pay you? You can work on it, and every two weeks we’ll cut you a check.”‘
Hah! Yep, too right
It completely blows my mind when people complain about doing work that they’re paid quite a large sum of money to do – and in an industry where it’s possible to be excited about the work you’re doing, it can feel like you’re ripping the company off… Don’t tell my boss that though 
That’s pretty shallow. The choice of doing what you want will only be possible in future utopian societies where monetary gain will become irrelevant. That said, I do believe that lackluster motivation tends to ruin things that need creativity or enthusiasm to accomplish.
I’m one of those persons doing what i like. And it’s really tough. But my underlying motivation is my bastard kids (who I dont have yet) i can only predict that my example will motivate them to surpass me.. FOR GOOD OR WORSE