Cancelled games and your resume

Elisabet.YA

So right.

I've seen some resumes with "unannounced game" in them. Don't know if it's common. But I don't really remember people putting "cancelled game" in their resumes. Even though, logically, a cancelled game is still some amount of work. Sometimes a lot of work. Some people even put up their artwork from said cancelled game if they got permission for it.

So, does it happen that people put in their resumes "worked on game that was cancelled for X company" or something like that? Or is that taboo?

osman

I doubt there's anything wrong with that. If you're proud of the work you've done it, why not put it up there?

Elisabet.YA

Yeah I understand people putting up artwork of it, no problem. I just hardly see "cancelled game" in peoples CV's. That's what I'm wondering, does it happen/is it common for people to put that simple text into their resume?

I'm guessing this isn't really something people who have worked in the industry for years think about, since most likely they have some published games under their belt and they just don't feel it's necessary to mention the cancelled ones. But for new people just breaking into the industry, what if all they currently have are cancelled titles? Is it normal and well received to put "cancelled game" in their resume? Or does it reflect badly on them?

It's just something that all of a sudden popped into my brain heh.

Kurt Russell Fan Club

I've worked on more cancelled games than released games. I usually don't mention them in the CV but I would if I was really proud of them or wanted to let people know just how many projects I've been on.

It's probably not your fault that it got cancelled and I think most employers will realise that

Kevin Albers

I've put cancelled games on my resume before. No big deal. It helps indicate the sort of projects I've worked on. It's not my fault that an MMO I worked on a few years ago didn't ship...it's still useful information to a potential employer that I have MMO experience.

Elisabet.YA

Great to hear some different opinions. So I gather that people don't really mind

Is it usual that people have more cancelled games than published ones under their belt? Or can it go both ways?

I'm in a real inquisitive mood today :P

blankslatejoe

it can go both ways---but oftentimes it really is luck of the draw. I've got several released and only one 'canceled', however I've spent over half my time in the industry working on that canceled game.

Snefer

Yeah, I havent put any of the cancelled games on my CV even though its about 50/50 shipped and cancelled games for me aswell. If its a game that was made public before it was cancelled I'd say go ahead and add to the CV.

skylebones

I haven't put any cancelled games on my CV either. My last company was very strict about what we could put in our portfolios so I also had nothing to show for it. I felt listing 'unreleased game' was too vague without at least a bit of art.

Too bad to because it was one of my favorite projects.

Kurt Russell Fan Club

I know one guy who's been in the industry ten years and has never shipped a game. But it's really rare, most people have a better hit rate than me.

I tend to get put on preproduction and vertical slices when they're around, which doen't always pan out and the pitch is usually pretty short.

blankslatejoe

yeah, I know a few people who fit that bill too--one of the most badass programmers I'd ever met had been in the industry 13 years--but he'd never worked on a project that hadn't been canceled.

Eventually he got fed up, left the industry, and landed a senior job at google immediately.

It happens, but that kind of record is rare (and heartbreaking..the dude was awesome)

slipsius

I havent had any experience with this myself, but I would say definitely put it on there. Especially if you got laid off or something when it was canned. How else are you suppose to show that gap in your employment between your last shipped game and your current application.

sprunghunt

'cancelled' is the same as 'unannounced' since you can cancel production on a game only to start it back up again with another team (eg: duke nukem forever)

unannounced sounds nicer though.

skylebones

The odd thing is that even though we never announced or showed our game, Blur did a killer cinematic and put it out there for the world to see. Yet I still can't talk about the game.

Elisabet.YA

sprunghunt: That makes sense. Hahah unannounced does sound better than cancelled.

Kind of amazing when you think about it how many projects out there never make it. Did you guys feel that you worked on more games that got cancelled early in your careers than you do now?

BoBo_the_seal

I have worked on a lot of titles that never made it over the finish line. The way I see it, I still did the work so I list them. It's more as an accounting of time than anything. I hate seeing large gaps in a resume.

- BoBo

Ace-Angel

blankslatejoe wrote: »

yeah, I know a few people who fit that bill too--one of the most badass programmers I'd ever met had been in the industry 13 years--but he'd never worked on a project that hadn't been canceled.

Eventually he got fed up, left the industry, and landed a senior job at google immediately.

It happens, but that kind of record is rare (and heartbreaking..the dude was awesome)

Ouch, that sounds harsh, did he leave because he didn't want to stick around with the 'unannounced titles' BS deal for 13 years, or did he leave because it was taking a more personal toll on him? (Couldn't show off stuff he worked on, had trouble finding jobs via resume recommendations, etc?)

blankslatejoe

Ace-Angel wrote: »

Ouch, that sounds harsh, did he leave because he didn't want to stick around with the 'unannounced titles' BS deal for 13 years, or did he leave because it was taking a more personal toll on him? (Couldn't show off stuff he worked on, had trouble finding jobs via resume recommendations, etc?)

Iirc it was a personal toll. He had zero trouble finding jobs, as when people went from one place to another they all tried to poach him, he was that well-respected.
And it's not like he shop-hopped either--he'd be at places for years (large studios iirc) on end, and one project would get canned so he'd get put on another, etc.