How is the art industry doing?

jetskee96

I looked but didn't find any post about this. I am coming up to 3 years in my journey to become
an environment artist. Last year I went to GDC and had my portfolio critiqued as expected. I planed on that and was hoping this years visit would land me something or at least enough contacts
to get a job later this year.

My question is simple, are there a lot of art jobs? Is it possible that we are in a slump due to the consoles ending their life cycle? If there is a slump, has this happen before? Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

PolyHertz

Not so good to be honest. Since the recession hit the number of companies that have closed is almost too large to count, even within the past month there's been quite a few studio closings and layoffs; THQ, Junction Point, Trion Worlds, and Gas Powered Games are all talked about on the first page of the General section alone atm. The industry is in a slump, sales are down across the board and as a result the barrier to entry is higher then ever.

Your chances are significantly better though if you've got some studios near by (companies like to hire locally when possible) and have some decent concepting skills (highly valued because too many 3D artists ignore it these days).

Joopson

It's changing, is all. I think as a whole it is healthier than ever, though, taking into account the indie and mobile scene.