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Does peoples who work with games earn alot?
sacreddaykil
Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 396
hi, i was just wondering if peoples who work with games earns alot(like the title says). i know there is many companies, and many jobs inside of the gaming market, so i would actually like to hear some examples of jobs inside the gaming industry, and about how much they earn.
thanks.
Sacred.
Comments
They can earn anywhere from 20K to 100K+ provided their experience, visibility and where they work.
But it's something I would never do.
The average lifepsan of a developer is four years before they get fired or become a victim of a hostile takeover by EA games.
If you work for SOE, then you are really screwed. You'll be lucky to stay there long enough to draw a 401K
Being a dev and having a family and kids is like joining the Navy with family and kids. Sure, it'll be an adventure but you'll be placing your family on the backburner.
Also, there is no job security whatsoever. Be prepared for constant lay offs and packing your bags and moving every 6 months to every 2 years.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
Like any job it's going to depend on who you're working for, how successful they are, what your job is, how much sucking up you had to do to get where you are, who's using your work and claiming credit for it, how desperate they are to get the damn thing finished and out there before the company collapses, how much can we make from this before the accounting department goes nuclear, who's nephew are you anyway, what did you say you do around here and why aren't you doing it now, omg we haven't even opened prebeta and some kid says we suck should I care, advertising costs us WHAT, who's damn idea was this game anyway, oh hell lets just finish it and try not to look like idiots, I had to second mortgage my house and your crying to me about not getting a paycheck this week, look just stick it out a while and we'll see if it floats if so I promise we'll cover your losses, that idiot left us and put bombs in the code now who's going to finish, why do all the servers keep crashing, how can we open beta today if you keep tripping over the wires, BANDWIDTH I NEED BANDWIDTH, why does everyone keep posting that they found the same bug over and over, are beta testers always this insane, now he tells me he wants a secondary ALPHA server for just a couple of the testers who actually have a clue, BANDWIDTH I NEED BANDWIDTH, open beta starts tomorrow, BANDWIDTH HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF THE FREAKIN WORD GET ME SOME NOW, you want the boss he's the guy in the office down to the left hitting his head against the wall over and over, A year and a half of beta and we're still not finished let's just get this boxed and on the shelves before my ex has me living in a cardboard box, Paycheck you don't need a paycheck son you have EXPERIENCE.
Good luck
µV
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As for the money bit, it isn't bad, once you build up some experience. But on the same hand, simply because it IS the video game industry, professions that have job oppurtunities outside of the games field will make less IN the games field. If that made any sense... Basically a programmer for example will make less working for a game company than any other form of software company, simply because so many people want to get into the game industry. Game companies can therefore be a little more stingy with the money cause so many people are sending in resumes trying to break into the industry.
Richard J. Cox
"There were much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust."
The average IT guy I know has always gone through hard times. I know TONS of people currently in another profession because every Tom, Dick, and Harry got a computer Science degree in the 90s. Hiring an IT guy for your job is now as easy as going to put gas in your car. Too many people decided that's what they wanna be when they grow up and now its pretty damn competitive.
But I was talking about game developers. A lot more companies need a IT professional versus a Game Developer. Game Developers are like artists. Everyone wants to be one or everyone thinks they are one but only a selected few will actually get paid enough money to live off of for their talents (sorta like Starving Artists or those cute fat girls who get those Vocal Perfomance degrees). And even then, they're lifespan isnt that great.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
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Game dev's are two a penny round here.
One of my friends is a lead artist for a SONY studio. He gets paid £24,000 a year. He has been with the company for 5-6 years and joined as a university graduate. His job involves some management duties.
Rates of pay in North America are substanially higher. You could expect this as an entry level artist.
You can earn more seriously money with independant studios, perhaps 50% but the work load is higher and the job security much less certain. You will make a lot of vaporware before you get a game signed.
If you are one of the real smart ones like an AI coder or a netcoder, you can pretty much write your own cheque.
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This is a pretty good forum for games dev's.
If there are any jobs going anywhere in the industry, the chances are they'll get discussed here.
http://www.gamasutra.com/
Been the IT way, done all there was to do and saw all there was to see. Got really sick of it and the way IT people (in general) are treated and paid. It's waaaaay over rated.
I would get into something where you feel you are making some kind of substantial contribution to the world other than just being a monkey on a leash. Unless you're really good and can get a job at Google. Or unless you enjoy being led around on someone else's whim without anything to show for it at the end of the day.
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</OBAMA>
thanks for alot of helpfull info.
as i preceive it, the gaming industry is really undependable (not sure if that word really fits in) and little paid, unless you are in a big company?
take for example cryptic (since im kinda into CoX), is it normale to only stay there for about 2 years? then youl be fired?
and payment, do you make more money if your helping making a game that sells really good? or is the payment the same all the time?
an example of this is WoW, did the workers at Blizzard start to earn more when they realeased the game and millions started paying each month?
Sacred.
That would depend entirely on the deal you struck with the company when you took the job.
A lot of companies offer stock options. (The chance to buy shares at a favourable price).
If you were the uber genius of gaming you could even ask for a percentage.
No idea about the staff turn over at Cryptic. In a small studio, your job is less certain. In a games factory, like at Sony, EA or UBi, you will just be assigned project after project after project. They have the funding.
The gaming industry is very dependable. It has steadily grown every year for about 25 now. Small companies are not very dependable compared to big companies. This is the same in all industries.
At £20,000 a person in his first year in the British gaming industry starts his professional life already on the national average wage. I don't call that poorly paid for a University leaver at all.
Games dev's have loads of money. They don't go short.
These may be true if you look at the overall industry but I've seen a few companies go under and others come very close to losing it all when they tried their hand in gaming, especially those trying to diversify into gaming.
While my first post was meant as a bit of a laugh (ok ok and a bit of senility) on a serious note you're best off having something else to fall back on just in case it takes you a while to find a good place to settle into, trust me when I say doing grunt work when you're capable of a lot more sucks big time.
µV
it depends on what they do as in there field of exp. Some of them make a lot of money and some don't, what company you work for also makes a difference. If you start at a small company that is not known or is a tiny kinda know you will make little, but a big well know company may pay more. If you can afford to live off of 8 dollars an hour in some of the biggest most expensive C.O.L cities then you could be a tester
- If you are an artist, acceptable pay, but not great pay, enough to live, but not progress your life goal too much, if at all.
- Job security is a thing of the past anyway, but there is even less than less here. Your project could be over tomorrow with no advanced warning.
- Moving within every 2-3 years is also totally normal. There is very rarely a chance to get your next job in the same city. You are then presented with two choices, leave family behind if you have one, or taking them with you. If you have a GF/Wife their acceptance with regular moving might stop once kids appear. Might as in surely.
- Unrealistic time expectations: all the time. It is quite often exactly like being in the Military time-wise. And if you aren't one of the people who are putting in the extra time, you will lose out on pay, opportinuties, and even possibly your job.
- Burn out will happen if you attempt to put the time they want in. Then you will be useless. If you don't put the time in, same as above will happen.
For the most part, Game developers, and Game artists are, as we say, "PAID HANDS". The most valuable thing you can offer is usually not your skill but, as we say, "ASS TIME". How much time are you sitting in your seat working? There are exceptions to all of this, but far and few between.It's safe to say, you won't get rich off this industry (working for it), but you will have enough to live. If you want to get rich from this industry, you need to be the boss, the idea guy, way up the food chain; a Pioneer.
Now, I'm not saying don't be a Game Dev, or Artist or anything. Quite the contrairy, go right a head. BUT, be forwarded that it's not all Foozeball tables and LAN FPS killing at lunch. Go, do it, have fun while it lasts, make the most of it. If you are successful at it, thank your lucky stars and make your own game that doesn't suck and most normal people who think gameplay is the most important factor would love to play.
BUT.... have a backup plan. Don't bank your life on this. Decide what else you are good at, and could you get a job with it if this game thing goes sour.
Depending on the skills you learn there are increasingly more and more opportunities open to you.
Two of my friends who previously worked in video games for example have gone on to make gambling machines instead. One is netcoder, the other an artist.
Another of my friends who wrote AI for PC games, now writes AI for cruise missiles.
The few that have stuck in the gaming industry are dead enders. Their pay scale isn't going anywhere.
There are other area's of the industry which are equally easy to move between, on the publishing side, you can move between music film and video games industries without issue. Selling discs to shops is selling discs to shops. Marketing games is the ame as marketing movies and albums.
This is probably the highest paid sector of the industry. I see the odd studio boss with a Ferrari, but I see almost all the sales teams with BMW's.
Tech support is tech support whatever product you happen to be supporting.
Beta testing is a summer job during school holidays.
There is always going to be work in the video games industry. If you company fails there will always be another starting up at the same time.
Essential it's an office job. On teh internet you will be a "games dev" and the kudos will be yours.
9-5 you will work in an office.