[jiggy2011]

If people continue to work in the games industry despite the workload and pay they must be getting something out of it.

[potatolicious]

People continue to join the games industry - attrition rates are sky high and the vast majority do not last.

Perhaps the argument should be reframed as - why is it that despite high-profile and commonly known, and completely batshit insane working conditions, do people still sign up (and then quit the industry entirely)?

Are we doing a poor job publicizing these conditions, or are the stories just so horrifying that they become almost outlandishly unbelievable?

[andrewfong]

I'm armchair psychoanalyzing, but I think it's largely because the people entering the games industry are young and it's exceptionally difficult to grasp how terrible something like 80 hour work weeks are until you've been through a few. I mean, it's fairly common for university students to forgo sleep crunching for finals or spend ungodly amounts of time playing their favorite game. Add in "it's not work if you love what you do" and "I'm a special and unique," and you can see how someone might be persuaded to join the games industry in spite of the overwhelming evidence that this is a terrible idea.

For what it's worth, this also seems to be true of the legal and medical professions as well. And, more relevantly, startup founders.

[jiggy2011]

Everyone I knew who went into games knew what the conditions were before they joined. It's only bad if you don't have a backup plan.

[tomphoolery]

My primary reason for learning to program was to create video games. Eventually that dream died because the juice was not worth the squeeze. Like I'm gonna spend 100 hours a week at work for some OTHER guy's idea? Give me a break.

[fsk]

If you really like programming games, you should take a regular corporate software job and write indie games on the side.

[coldtea]

Duping someone young and impressionable to think he's getting something out of a deal is not the same as actually offering something.

Especially if you drop them like dead-weight when they grow a little, and want to have a family et al and 80 hour per week doesn't seem that enticing anymore, and working on a game is not "the be all end all" a 15-year old thinks but just work.

[ekianjo]

> If people continue to work in the games industry despite the workload and pay they must be getting something out of it.

Most people are. They get to meet with cool folks, they get press coverage, there's a lot of feedback loop between users and creators (much more than in virtually any other industry), and you get to work with people who have the same passion as you - and you can actually USE and ENJOY what you create as well. That's worth something, even if not necessarily in monetary value.

[teamonkey]

Also it's very challenging and can be very satisfying. It can actually be quite fun working in games.

[pixl97]

People commonly work against their own self interests. People commonly vote against their own self interests. People commonly do stupid things.

[jiggy2011]

What if you really enjoy working on games that much?

[failrate]

As someone who has worked in startups, web shops, and now in games, I definitely feel like I fit in better here. A lot of my peers are talented but socially awkward. I don't even feel like there's any political maneuvering going on around me. That is partially due to the company at which I work, but having worked many events over the years, I would definitely say that game developers tend to be a very particular type of geek.

[megablast]

That certainly is one way to look at it.

But people still do lots of horrible jobs. People work waiting for crap pay and abuse by people as well.

[serve_yay]

Indeed, and bless their hearts.