I am certifiably un-hirable in the video game industry.
NOBODY wants me, at any price (I've offered myself for free and nobody was interested).
There have literally been hundreds of games built upon the game engines I've created over the years and some of them even shipped! (Game industry humor there, sorry if it hits to close to home.)
Yet here I stand, having been an Executive Producer at one of the world's leading publishers yet currently writing game engine code for Android & iOS.
Q: Who gets chosen instead of me?
A: New grads with a Unity 3D side-project or two
under their belt. They're cheap, they'll work heinous hours without
question because they don't yet have a family, and best of all --
they'll shut the hell up and do as their told.
BUT I SWEAR I'M NOT A SCHLEP OR A WHINER OR A LOSER
Really!!!!
I've been creating games and game
engines for nearly 30 years. In that time I've adapted MANY, MANY
different platforms and technologies. I've personally developed and
published games for the following, and this list is
incomplete.
- 6502 assembly, 68x0 assembly, x86 assembly
- BASIC, Pascal, C, C++, Obj-C, C#, Java
- TRS-80, Vic-20, Timex Sinclair
- Apple IIe, Atari 800, Atari ST, Amiga
- SNES, Saturn, Dreamcast, N64, PSX
- DOS, Win16, WinCE, Win32, Linux, Mac OS, Mac OS X
- WinG, Direct2D, DirectX, XNA, etc.
- MFC, TurboVision, Qt, OWL, WinForms, WPF
- OpenGL, OpenGL/es, STL, Boost, etc.
- MCI, DirectSound, Halestorm, Miles, OpenAL, Hekkus, etc.
- Renderware, Flash, SDL, Cocos2Dx, Unity 3D, etc.
- Farseer, Box2D, Chipmunk, etc.
- Smacker, Bink, etc.
- PalmOS, iOS, Android
Experience plus critical thinking skills are a must!
Job ads always SAY they want creative, independent thinkers who are passionate about their work -- but they don't really mean it. I just wish they'd be honest about it, with us as well as themselves.
My feeling, shared by many in my industry, is that the
moment someone has enough experience to know, when stupid decisions are
being. Sometimes that's right around the same time that they begin also to think critically about her or his role in the company.
WELCOME TO THE PIGEON HOLE
Unfortunately, I have even more experience than all the above.
I'm not trying to show off here I just want you to know what my "credentials" are so I can convince you.
I've also held the roles of
Game Designer, Producer, Executive Producer, VP Engineering, Technical
Director, Founder, Marketer, and Business Developer.
Most know the term "Renaissance Man," but
the word "polymath" has crept into our industry lexicon over the last
few years, and it too is an apt description of my background.
But I used the word "unfortunate" because all that experience is,
once again, viewed in an extremely negative light by the video game
industry.
In their NARROW LITTLE MINDS it's IMPOSSIBLE for someone to be attracted to and successful in every role.
This attitude is denied but reflected in truth by their interview questions:
- What do you REALLY want to be when you grow up?
- But do you really want to be a programmer or a manager?
What I want to answer is.
The present time is my future and because of this,
right now I have mad skills and I can kick your ass without looking into the future.
I'm a paradox because of my age I can do everything you "kids" do but,
I've got a wealth of life experience that amounts to my having the cheat codes to every game problem you can think of.
The questions they ask also belie their self-denied age
discrimination. The only person for which #1 is a relevant question is
someone young and fresh out of college. Anyone 10-20 years down the
road should already be doing what they want to do when
they grow up. Why ask questions when the answers have no value?
(a) Nobody will hire me as a Producer or Management type because I've got too much development experience to be a real manager; or
(b) They won't hire me as a Developer because I have too much management experience to be a "real" programmer.
TIME IS ON MY SIDE because I know how to manage it.
I've been in this industry long enough to know what I want, so
trust my answer. At some point both the employer and employee need some
measure of trust, right? My answer to the above questions is always
the same, but nobody likes them because (again)
they don't fit the cookie-cutter responses they're trained to want.
My family is my primary focus. What I want out of an employment relationship is a place where I can work on really cool things with really great people that will hopefully become friends. I'd also prefer a company that appreciates work/life balance, especially for people with children.
I can do either. Really. Look at my resume. I want to find the right place, right project, right people, and then fit in however I can -- there are NUMEROUS ways I can contribute! I applied for the position you called me about because I know I can do it. Time is my most valuable commodity so trust me I wouldn't waste it if I didn't think I could do the job.
This is happening to me. I can't get hired even working entry level jobs. My experience causes employers to think I will jump ship at the first opportunity (perhaps because they plan to do the same). I really would like to find a job with nice people, a steady paycheck and benefits. I am not asking for the world. I know if I work for a company, they will get value from me. If the value is sufficient, then I hope to be rewarded. But the jobs out there when they do get back to me, tell me they have reviewed my resume and chosen someone who they feel will be a better fit for their company. No interview, not even by phone, and yet they can tell I would not fit their team well.
ReplyDelete"Anon" your history sounds a lot like my own, I can't say I've seen Ageism in Australia but perhaps that's because we have a massive programmer shortage. Good luck, nothing beats experience.
ReplyDeleteSame boat. I'm 57. I've spent 30 years in the game industry as an artist, level and game designer and manager. From the early C64 and Spectrum days through Atari STs, Amigas, PC and every generation of console. When the company I was with went to the wall I didn't get ONE interview from any other company at any level (from level designer upwards).This hits home really hard.
ReplyDeletePeople seem to feel uncomfortable hiring people who are older than themselves.
Currently setting up as an indie developer (though not by choice) as its the only way to see any future. Currently financing it by washing up in a nearby restaurant!
I'm 58 with 37 years in the industry, and it is more difficult to find a great fit for both your experience and your goals. It's natural for you to be more discriminating as you get more experience, which narrows the opportunities. And sometimes younger managers are intimidated by older workers which can further restrict the opportunities. When hiring, I'm always looking for someone who is both skilled and passionate about the area they are contributing in. I've hired plenty of programmers who were 45+ years old, mainly because they clearly loved the challenge of programming what needed to get done on the current game in progress. Basically I won't hire someone just because they can do particular work, I'm looking for someone who is engaged by/driven to do that work. In my view, team passion plays a big part in getting (the right) game done.
ReplyDeleteGiven the size of the game industry, your entire career is considered when you are up to be hired. What you accomplished and how you treated people 5-10-20 years ago is often becomes a significant factor in a hiring decision. The more experience you have the more history is there to examine. An employer will reach out to people who have worked with you that they happen to know or can network to easily to get a read on you as a potential employee. What those random people say will carry a lot of weight on the potential hiring decision. This is the long way of saying you should be treating people around you with respect and courtesy, even if you have issues with them as they could affect your future. If you have been prickly/cynical/hard to work with/the smartest person in the room (while letting everyone else know how dumb they are), you may find it's progressively harder to get hired.
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ReplyDeleteHi Marc, thank you and thank you for this article. I am not from USA and I am a game artist for over 13 years. I can't agree with you more. Really appreciate you speaking out my mind ( or our mind?!).
ReplyDeleteI think young people who want to get into the game industry won't understand it, until they are experienced and old. Orz
Might I suggest academia? The base pay isn't great, but the hours are, and that leaves you the freedom to work on a diversity of side projects or take on a bunch of adjunct sections to boost your income and explore your interests. Moreover, experience is of direct benefit to you because the wider the variety of courses you can cover the more valuable you are to a department. Also, in most traditional academic departments, nobody wants the management roles (usually they have to draw straws to decide who has to be the DC), so it's unlikely that anyone will be intimidated by your experience. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteI'm 50 now, Anon, so I'm not afraid of working with young whippersnappers like you. Wouldn't happen to live anywhere near Austin, TX, would you?
ReplyDeleteI had a somewhat similar problem. I always wanted to work in the game industry, but 25 years ago in New Zealand there were very few opportunities . So I settled for a career in Advertising and Marketing which was very successful. One day after moving to Spain (for love) I came across the opportunity apply at Electronic Arts (as an Account manager). I never even received a reply for my application, so I tricked my way through the door by posing as a delivery guy with balloons. I spoke directly to the recruiter who instead offered me an entry level position (30,000 euro less). Instead of being offended, I took it, and, I kicked ass. I worked as a tester and after having worked years as an Art Director, I found every little bug imaginable, often finding more than double the entire rest of the team found all together. The trouble was, at 35 years old, I was away older than my peers or even my bosses. I embarrassed my teammates (by doing great work) a scared people away from hiring me, so much so that my boss put his friend up to applying for the only job to become available in our department just to shut me out. But I promise you, I'm a great guy to work with for those who are capable of working at my level.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine you would kick ass too with that much coding knowledge, because I after 20+ years of working with computers, I'm slick and can do anything. The EA staff on the other hand were surprisingly technically inept, vocal about how they hated the company and worked hard to do as little as possible. After working for 2 years I left because I got sick of interviewing with people who had a fraction of my experience and never hired the best person for the job (not one even conducted due diligence).
I hope you get a good position and continue to do great things. It is without a doubt that you would capable of a magnitude of projects.
When I resigned at EA it took me seven days to find a very senior Marketing position where I am well respected.
I've been conceiving, designing & developing games for more than 32 years now, with over 80 titles under my belt to date.
ReplyDeleteExtensive experience & game credits will always command attention; yet as an independent developer who has to compete with an ever-growing crowd of hungry startups, I understand all too well that the sheer volume of young talent available today makes hiring VG veterans a difficult economic choice for those bean-counters only concerned with the bottom line.
Ultimately, VG vets should take comfort knowing that what they bring to the table is unique... and trust that there ARE clients/employers out there who recognize that innovation is ageless, and experience and a solid track record is what gets the job done right.
This is extremely worrying to read. We hire quality and don't care about age. We all have family and understand the needs. Shit does sometimes happen and we need to work together but normally not an issue. The biggest issue sometimes is being able to afford the older people with the current rates we as a developer can raise from our clients BUT please do contact us at Firebrand Games - we prefer people who KNOW what they can do and have shown it. We have some young and some old but the ones that do not need their hands held, or to spend years learning and making mistakes are welcome! Perhaps I see the future being 48 but experience has a lot of value. I think mostly the problems happen when the employer has little experience or confidence (I mean the staff there rather than the company) and hire less able people. I have worked in places like that and it sucks. I personally would rather and indeed do hire people much better than me! Every time I did not do this it cost us money so do get in touch!
ReplyDeleteMy first attempt at posting this comment seems to have been chewed up by internet gremlins, so here's another shot at it:
ReplyDeleteI recently needed to hire programmers to work for me at my small independent studio (T-Go Co Games) and I ended up hiring younger workers, but that was entirely due to budgetary limitations. I simply couldn’t afford to hire older and more experienced programmers.
If I had the budget for it, I would absolutely prefer to hire people with more experience. I can’t understand the insecurity of an employer who is intimidated by employees with more experience or talent than themselves. If you gave me the choice, of course I want my employees to be better than me! Who wouldn’t want that? I want employees who can help guide the project and have insight to offer, not employees that I have to babysit.
looking for a concpet artist, game designer, fun but reliable person with critical but positive thinking? :) .. me too :D No I am joking I am looking for a job I have few real experiences in game industry (I do all my creations in freetime) but my imagination is endless .. whoever hires me get´s to work on my "14 year long in my mind hidden" science fiction- fantasy saga 8)
Deleteif this story and the comments are not a fat trollin, than i got something wrong in this life for sure. How is it possible to be so pro, fullpacked with skills, a 45+ oO and not to manage to generate savings for the happy rest of the life or to start your own business, creating your own product?
ReplyDeleteThe games industry doesn't make you rich unless you own the company.
DeleteHave you considered going indie and sharing your experience with a younger team? Especially if you have enough money stocked away that you wouldn't have to make money right away, maybe hooking up with a start-up would be the way to go. I'm in my early 50s, and that's what I'm doing. I decided to start my own indie company (gamesomniverse.com) and we're in our 2nd year of development on a 2D hidden-object puzzle adventure game. I wanted to make sure I could continue doing what I love into my retirement years. If you're interested in donating some time to a young company, drop me an email. Otherwise, maybe consider starting your own indie company. Good luck to you!
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