Hi, I am a game developer and have been working in a comapny for abt 16 months now. I would like to ask you guys for advice before I make a final decision. Well firstly... Some imp points. 1. I currently live and work in India. There are exactly 3-4 PC & Console game dev companies out here throughout the country. The company I work in pays p-nuts, much below what the average software developer gets here. The only other company is the one I have managed to get a job in, but there are some down sides as I will explain later. If I plan to stick to game development I'd have to think abt getting a job in another country sooner or later. 2. Game dev is a passion for me and I plan to stick to it as far as possible unless of course I'm on the streets, in which case I'll *have* to go and make some crappy banking apps. Now a comparison of the two jobs. The job that I currently have is really good as far as work environment is concerned. Can't get any better. I also get to do a lot of R&D work which means I get to work on something new every other week/month. This means that I touch a wide range of game dev aspects -> from rendering to sound to networking, and I get to deal with very small parts of a game engine being used in a casual 3D game. Now my final target is to work on the rendering part of a game engine and I do get to work considerably with that over here. In the last one year i've had the opportunity to pick up vertex & pixel shaders and work on a wide range of techniques like parallax mapping, speular mapping, etc. This is all very exciting because this is exactly what I've ALWAYS wanted to do an I'm getting paid to learn it. On the other hand, I work *very* little on an actual game, and I don't see myself working on a game for atleast another 6 months, based on the current situation out here. Now on the other company, the that I am planning to switch over to... Not such a great work environment. How do I know this? I know someone who works there, but in the mobile games division. This company is more of a money spinner. They have some engines that they use, like Kuju and possibly after a couple of months I'll get to work on the unreal engine. This may sound good to some, but working on top of another engine has never really appealed to me. ALthough I may be too early to actually start working on an engine on my own, I'd like to get my hands dirty and actually get the feel of working on an actual engine. Then on the other hand, this company gets projects from the big guys like EA so I have a good chance of working on games that actually get released. The downside is that I may not get the chance to learn as much as I do over here. There my only concern will be to meet the deadlines. I feel I would be better off in my current company as I get to learn a LOT. Stick around here for another year or so and then try applying to the bigger studios. So what do u guys think. Should I stick with my current job or switch over. Frankly I have not been able to get a good night's sleep over this. any advice will be GREAT.

Sounds to me like you answered your own question. If you don't think you'd be happy at the other place stick where you are. The pay is not always what we'd like, but there's something to be said for enjoying your job, and that you're greatly expanding your knowledge by the tasks you get to do. If nothing else it sounds like a good stepping stone until you're ready to go for something better.

Personally, I respect anyone who likes to implement engines from scratch and stuff, but at the same time we're reaching a day and age where it's difficult to be competitive with home grown technology, so it's not surprising that most game studios now are licensing technology. In the long run it saves them a ton of time and money, and more or less guarantees them to be competitive with other titles at least in terms of engine technology(won't save a crappy game of course). Smaller studios still can't afford to license Unreal or Source or D3, so they have their own tech.

Bottom line IMO is that it depends on what you want to do. Do you want to make games or do you want to make tech? In this day and age much of the time it's very hard to have both and remain profitable/competitive. From the sounds of it you're a tech guy, and may not like the other studios use of alot of middleware. If that's true then stick where you are.

As the old saying goes...

"Work to live.
Don't live to work."

Quote: Original post by DrEvil
Smaller studios still can't afford to license Unreal or Source or D3, so they have their own tech.

Or they license tech from other smaller studios, indie-friendly middleware providers (think Torque and the upcoming Torque Shader Engine, Nomad from Radon Labs, etc) and so on.


@anon75:
There are a few simple criteria you need to make sure any job you take meets:

1. Does it meet my financial needs? What about as my responsibilities grow - as I start a family, send my kids off to school, etc?


2. Is the work fulfilling? If food, shelter and clothing were taken care of, would I do this work for free?


3. Does it present me with learning/advancement opportunities? Can I improve my skills, take on new challenges, learn more about my industry and the business behind my work?

These criteria are listed in order of importance, and a resounding yes to a higher concern mitigates the negative of a lower criterion. ie, if your fnancial needs are exceptionally well met, you can tolerate a less fulfilling job (and make it up by investigating areas of interest on your own time), and so on. However, a higher consideration covers a lower one for only so long.

Every person has to make the determination of whether a job is worthwhile based on how it scores in these subjective categories as an individual. For me, for instance, game development pays too low for it to be a viable career choice, period. Consequently, I "got out" before I ever got in; I chose another career path and relegated game development to a hobby (though I am closer to turning it into a business as an indie now).

It seems that the absence of fulfilling work is very important to you, and it should be. With a work history full of compelling output, you can get a position anywhere, even if you don't have a huge number of shipped titles to your name. Consequently, I, also, think that you should stay where you are.

Good luck!

Quote: Original post by anon75
Not such a great work environment.

If you already know that then forget about it. I once worked in a company where the environment was really bad. Very anonymous plus some people seemed not to like there job which was also not that good for the environment. Decisions have been ignored, etc. A few months after working there I get up in the morning with only one thought in my head 'Great, in 10 hours you are home again!'. Was not really fun. Even though I was earning quite a lot of money I quit the job.

You will first realize how valueable a good working environment is when you worked in a pretty bad one... And even if you get a bunch of money it won't compensate a bad working environment and/or the fun you should have at work.

Hi guys,

Thanks for answering my Q guys. Well Oluseyi, answering urs

Does it meet my financial needs? What about as my responsibilities grow - as I start a family, send my kids off to school, etc?

Well although the new job definately will pay very very well, this is not my concern now. That is why I left all money out of the initial posting. I don't have a family and don't plan to start one for some time. That give me the freedom to do what I want for some time.

Is the work fulfilling? If food, shelter and clothing were taken care of, would I do this work for free?

Current job: yes
New job: Most likely to be no

Does it present me with learning/advancement opportunities? Can I improve my skills, take on new challenges, learn more about my industry and the business behind my work?

Current job: yes. A lot of free time to study and research
New job: Definately not

Basically this means that I am going to continue on my current job for some time and when I make a jump, make sure it is a really big one and a really good one both as far as money is concerned and as far as technology is concerned.

Once again guys. Thanks a LOT. I really appreciate the help.

just to add another vote on the "stay" (for now) fire ...

I just left a job for a lower paying job because the work made me miserable. Me and another coworker left at the same time, and about 5 of the last 8 hires have left ...

If you stay happy your whole life, pushing yourself to learn and grow enough to land that next job that will be needed to keep you happy (both satisfaction wise and money wise) you will not regret it ...

If ever the low pay actually makes you unhappy, leave of course - for another job you like that pays better .. never leave for a job you don't like - no matter the pay (perhaps unless you could work 1-2 years and earn 5-10 years salary).

But also don't assume you will be unhappy at another job, change is also an impulse to grow ... so if you find your learning and happiness are decreasing at your current job (not now, but in the future) do not fear leaving for a risky position elsewhere, you can always leave your new job if you don't like it.

So I recommend you stay for now, and be happy, and push hard (as hard as you personally want to) and keep your eyes open for better oportunities as they arise ... but the current alternative sounds like a black hole.

Trust your gut instincts

I say stick with your job for now, learn as much as you can, and get a better job the moment the opportunity comes along.

If my current job allowed me to pay for the things I needed, then I would not move to a better paying one that was less interesting. If you are lucky enough to get payed to do your hobby then hold on to that - that saying "work to live etc" is only true if you don't enjoy your work. If you enjoy your job then money is less important as long as you can afford the neccessities - think how many hours you spend at work compared to how many hours you get to actually enjoy the wages, most of your time is at work.

You could tell your existing company of the offer you've had and say that you really like working there but that the bigger salary is very tempting. Then either they offer you more (probably if you're any good) or they don't. I did this and got a pay-rise from it. It's perfectly fine to tell your employer you've had a job offer elsewhere.

Quote: Original post by d000hg
It's perfectly fine to tell your employer you've had a job offer elsewhere.

In the UK, yes. :)

India? Don't know.