Ship a game,here's your pink slip
polycounter lvl 18
Been thinking alot about the alarming trend which seems to be occuring in this industry quite a bit now. That is when you ship a game with a studio,you get canned shortly there after. It feels like for alot of people,they are working as unofficial contractors without the benefits of being a conctractor.
Im close to shipping a game myself and im getting nervous and will begin to update my portfolio this weekend.
Am i paranoid or is it safe to assume your job could be in jeopardy after you finish a game?
Im close to shipping a game myself and im getting nervous and will begin to update my portfolio this weekend.
Am i paranoid or is it safe to assume your job could be in jeopardy after you finish a game?
Replies
Then the week after. BANG! "We're cutting out 80 guys. See ya". I had a fulltime ongoing contract and I was just as easily dropped as the interns. Shit sucks.
If you haven't heard anything about a new project by the end phases of the studios current one you should be worried. Especially if you haven't been there long enough. I know i'm being negative (maybe a bit to much) but really. I think we've all seen how the industry is run at this point in time and it doesn't hurt to expect the worst and prepare for it and be happily surprised.
Is it possible to use your recent work in your portfolio? Or would that break the NDA, even on a shipped title?
^^ This. For sure.
I've been pleasantly happy on the last 3 projects I've worked on, but ALWAYS have your stuff ready to go, regardless of what studio or titles you are working on. Don't let the end of the project come around and not have a plan.
~ Duly noted...
When do you live? When do you have time to enjoy yourself if you have this fear? How do you keep your stress level down (other than drinking).
Most guys in my studio are a bit over the games industry. Some of the younger guys are thinking they'll move overseas. We were the only games company left in Adelaide. Whatevs
Yeah exactly the sentiments from guys that were cut from the studio in November, April and now in August.
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/08/krome-lays-off-100-employees-shuts-adelaide-studio/
Btw...'you do not have a contractual entitlement to a redundancy payment at Krome Studios'.
I actually had to look it up, and yes. that is my assumption. only its more like, well we're downsizing and not gonna fill your position, so here's some money that we may have put towards your position, since we're not gonna fill it anyway.
@oxynary Sadly sometime will have to be allocated for this,i wouldnt call it living in fear,more like being realistic about the nature of this industry. Ill find time to live but not as much as before. Getting laid off is one thing,getting laid off being unprepared is another altogether worse thing.
@Monkeyboy commiserations,im sory about losing your job. I hope you land on your feet soon.
You are so right about that. Living with fear is not a good thing. I know people enjoy 3D, but just how much can you work with it under a stressfull condition, where does the creativity go? Out of the body thats for sure.
p.s. get your portfolio up and running mannnnn.
I would like to see more new employees discussing this when they sign their contracts. Sure I don't expect much to come of it for a long time, but I hope for bright future. After all right now the answer is going to be:
"Sorry but no. So do you want the job or not?
You know that part in a movie where everyone is standing around asking what the hell are they going to do to defeat the big evil thing? And that one quite guy walks over to a pike of junk and whips off a tarp and everyone is awed... be that guy.
I think you can have a little of both. Budget and balance your at home time wisely. Work efficiently, unplug while you're working and focus like a cutting torch on the task at hand for the given time. Easier said then done, but that kind of discipline is pretty handy and it can really help to work on those time management skills also. Its not impossible to put in 18hrs a week. 2hrs each day of the week and 4hrs on the weekends. If you're not slacking that can get quite a bit done.
The artist that doesn't want to keep their portfolio up to date starts to fall into the same apathetic mentality some students fall into. They don't want to put in the required work to show they can do the job they want.
Bottom line: Sometimes it requires a little sacrifice to get where we want to go. These are tough times and it might require a little more sacrifice.
I know I know...I'm not getting back in to games though. No industry left in Adelaide (apart from indie development) and I've never really entertained the idea of moving. I'm trained as an illustrator and I'd prefer to get back in to that. Who knows what'll happen :O