What is it like to work as a video game programmer? Many kids who play games consider it their dream job. Is it really as good as it seems? It certainly is an interesting life. However, as with anything else on this planet, working as a video game programmer has both positive and negative aspects.
For the last 7 years I have worked as a video game programmer in three development studios: Activision/Treyarch, Visual Concepts and DiscoPixel. I have published titles for Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo consoles. This article is a summary of some of the advantages and difficulties that I have experienced through my work in these companies.
Advantage #1 – Make games!
This one is pretty obvious, but the biggest advantage of working in a game studio is that you’ll be CREATING games. You will help build the next great game that will potentially be played and enjoyed by millions of people. There is an incredible satisfaction that comes from knowing that you helped make something great.
Advantage #2 – Play!
In addition to testing and improving your current game every day, you’ll also be playing games made by other companies. There are few jobs where sitting down and playing a newly released console title is considered research. Companies definitely want you to stay on top of new game technology and features, and the only way to do that is by playing a lot of games. In the companies I’ve worked for, I’ve never seen anyone get reprimanded for playing video games during the day.
Advantage #3 – Independence
A great aspect of working as a video game programmer is the independence it gives you. It’s rare that he has a manager giving him breath or double-checking everything he does. To get hired in a development studio, you need to have excellent programming skills, so you have a lot of freedom to make a lot of decisions yourself. You may be given a general task to complete, but how it should actually be done, as well as how long it should take, is often up to you.
As long as you can do your job, the companies I’ve worked for have generally seemed very willing to let me work on my terms. When I was tired, bored or lazy, I could go play or relax somewhere without anyone complaining. Happy employees with improved morale make better games.
Advantage #4: Fun Office Environment
Everyone who works at a video game studio has one thing in common: they love games. If they didn’t like games, they never would have been hired to make them. Because of this, the office environment often has fun or quirky things everywhere you look. Many people bring new and strange objects to display or play with during the day.
Most video game studios have plenty of games and toys to keep their employees entertained. Some things I have come across at various studios: Arcades with free coin operated games, foosball tables, ping pong tables, razor scooters, board games, action figures, puzzles, daytime basketball games and giant stuffed animals
Coming to the office still means you’re going to work, but there’s no reason it can’t be fun too.
Perk #5: Free soft drinks and snacks
This benefit may not be important to everyone, but it’s nice to know that you won’t go hungry working at a video game studio. I have never met a video game company that hasn’t offered free sodas and snacks as part of the benefits of working there. I guess being loaded with caffeine and sugar helps increase productivity. During long days at the office, companies often offer a free dinner as a thank you for staying late. A company I worked for served full meals at a variety of restaurants every night for many weeks.
Pitfall #1: Long working hours
Making video games is a lot of work. The amount of time needed to make the latest game seems to be growing exponentially. Development teams continue to grow each year, but somehow the amount of work per person doesn’t seem to slow down. The games are very complicated. Also, the nature of games is that they should be fun, which isn’t always that easy to accurately write down on a schedule. A lot of experimentation is needed, especially with new game concepts.
Before a milestone and especially a few months before the release of a game, the workday will be very intense. Work has a way of piling up very quickly. New features and old bugs take up all your time. Working long nights or weekends is not uncommon. Fortunately, employees generally care about the games they’re creating, and their passion helps energize them during these occasional long shifts.
Stress can also become overwhelming. At one company, I had a giant stack of bug reports waiting for me on my chair when I got to the office. I was working all day, scrambling to fix bugs as fast as possible, working flat out all day and night. I’d go home to sleep for a couple of hours, but when I got back to work, a new, even bigger stack of bug reports awaited me.
Typically, after a project has been submitted, there will be a down period where employees can have a chance to relax and recover. The workload will suddenly be significantly reduced. One company gave extra vacation time after a project submission, and another put employees “on call” for about a month, where they only had to come to the office if there was any kind of problem. It’s good to know that your long working hours don’t go unnoticed.
Pitfall #2: Choosing what to work on
Working on your own video games in your spare time is a lot of fun. You can choose exactly which game and tasks you want to work on, focusing only on the fun stuff. Anything boring can be safely ignored since the only audience is you. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the big video game studios. There are many tasks to complete, some of which are not very glamorous. Fixing console manufacturer standards violations or creating data tools isn’t very exciting, but someone still has to do it to ship the final product.
These tasks are usually assigned to people just starting out in the video game industry, perhaps as a rite of passage, but probably just because no one else wants to do them.
In addition to the possibility of working on less glamorous tasks, it is possible that you will be assigned a project that does not interest you at all. Usually the company will let you work on projects that interest you, but this is not always possible. A particular project might be behind schedule and you need a few more employees to fix some bugs or add some new features. However, the project you are interested in already has enough workers.
I believe that the passion of the employees who work in a video game studio is crucial to the success of that game. If you’re not excited about what you’re working on, it will show up in the game you’re creating. To avoid misunderstandings or disappointments, before deciding to work for a particular company, it is important to find out which game you will be working on as well as what tasks will be assigned to you.
Pitfall #3: Don’t Pay That Well (Maybe?)
Some people have told me that the salary of a video game programmer is not as good as the salary of working in more conventional companies. Enterprise database programmers, for example, could be making more money. This could be true. However, choosing your profession is not just about pay. You spend a large percentage of your life at work. Money is not everything. Choosing something you enjoy is also important.
I thought the pay at the companies I’ve worked for was very reasonable. There’s also a lot of upside potential for royalty checks coming from a game that sells well, which has turned out to be significant at times. You definitely won’t be living poor if you get a job as a programmer at a video game company.
conclusion
I hope this article has been helpful in learning a bit about working as a video game programmer. Like everything in life, this profession has pros and cons. If what you’ve read sounds good to you, I hope you find your dream job creating the next big best-selling game.