CIU111 - Week Two

This week in CIU111 we discussed the topic of ‘Your Income & Your Art’; which is all about our contributions to our respective industries and the income associated with that. The idea of completing a degree and immediately starting work for the company of your dreams is one that most students share, but only a small percentage get to accomplish. There are many different paths which can be followed in order to reach the goals you set for yourself in your industry, whether it’s running your own studio, consulting others, or being an employee at a large company. While there were many different things discussed in the tutorial, the topics I found that piqued my interest were the idea of a day job, and psychic income.

I currently work as a manager at a nightclub so, even though the hours take place late at night and early into the morning, I find that it fits perfectly with my study schedule. Working mostly weekends and studying during the week has helped me to seperate my work life and study life. I didn’t realise until the idea of psychic income came up in class, that I already evaluate and assess the internal jobs in working and studying, and the benefits associated with each. I had never heard of psychic income before but after having read about it further I think that having it coupled with a day job is a a good step in the right direction for me. Below is an image which was a part of the lecture, where people from different industries were interviewed and asked “what drives/motivates you?”:

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(screenproducersurvey.com, 2012)

I found this particularly interesting, and I rearranged the chart into what I found motivates and drives me:

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With the explosion of technology being so readily available to the community coupled with the lack of job security in the game development industry, I’m unsurprised to learn that the working conditions can be unstable and uncertain. According to a 2017 report by the International Game Developers Association, 39% of people surveyed believed that there is no clear career path in the industry and 20% didn’t know how long their current job would last. Also, 27% of people surveyed have worked for three to five employees in the past five years (LeRay and Brown, 2017). There seems to be quite a high turnover rate in the industry, with many people being overworked during crunch time, uncertain of the success or failure of the game they are developing.

With the uncertainty of a future as working as a full-time employee for a AAA development company with a reliable salary and structured hours, having a day job and working part-time as a developer is more ideal for me. Carrying on the appreciation and passion I have for design and development currently while I’m working should help me to push through the first few tough years. Ideally, I would love to work for a company like Nintendo or a smaller indie developer like Klei Entertainment, but I’m happy to keep learning and continue down my own path to become a game developer.

References:

LeRay, L. and Brown, R. (2017). IGDA DSS 2017 Press Release - International Game Developers Association (IGDA). [online] Igda.org. Available at: https://www.igda.org/news/381234/IGDA-DSS-2017-Press-Release.htm [Accessed 16 Feb. 2018].

Screenproducersurvey.com. (2012). Interactive Screen Survey. [online] Available at: http://www.screenproducersurvey.com/ [Accessed 16 Feb. 2018].