Hey guys,

I'm new to the forum and signed up to ask you fine gents some questions about the industry.

A little background,

I've been employed in the Architecture field for over 5 years now. I can not say that I like my job and the pay is garbage. I've learned that the only reason for anyone to get into this industry is if you HONESTLY love the work because in the end that may be the only inccentive to stay.

That being said, for my entire life I've been a huge gamer and the gaming industry may be the only industry that I can honestly say I'm very familiar with. I'm consistently reading up on new games and the companies involved.

I'm considering a career change. I can barely stand the architecture industry and I'm looking for a way out.

I've been looking online for information about what it's like to be employed in the gaming industry but figured it best to go straight to the source and ask you gentlemen.

What can I typically expect for pay, atmosphere, hours, etc?

I've a kid so working round the clock may not be ideal.

What advice can you give me if I were to seek a job in the industry?

Are there any niche jobs that'd help my career along?

I live in Ontario, Canada - What's the industry like here?

Any advice for schooling in my location?

Sorry for shooting a bunch of questions at you but any information is greatly appreciated!

Thanks guys.

1. What can I typically expect for pay,
2. atmosphere,
3. hours,
4. etc?
5. What advice can you give me if I were to seek a job in the industry?
6. Are there any niche jobs that'd help my career along?
7. I live in Ontario, Canada - What's the industry like here?
8. Any advice for schooling in my location?

1. It depends on which job specialty you do. Read the Game Industry Salary Survey (just Google it).
2. It's reasonably fun, considering the pressures and politics. It's a job in which you see people enjoying their work more than you probably do in architecture.
3. Long. Google "EA spouse" and "video game crunch."
4. Can you be more specific?
5. Read this forum's FAQs. http://www.gamedev.net/page/reference/faq.php/_/breaking-into-the-industry-r16
6. I suppose so, but I'm not sure what you're asking.
7. Not sure what you're asking. More opportunities in Toronto, London, and Ottawa than most other cities. See gamedevmap.com and gameindustrymap.com
8. None. Why do you want to go to school? Nobody'll be impressed that you just went back to school.

Data might be a little old but I found this report.

Canada's Video Game Industry in 2013

I live in Ontario, Canada - What's the industry like here?

Just a FYI, but Ottawa has a burgeoning gamedev industry, and local university Carleton offers a degreed gamedev program (not a coincidence). It may be possible to both work in the industry while gaining specialized formal education there.

Data might be a little old but I found this report.

Canada's Video Game Industry in 2013

An article from one year ago is not old. Next thing you know, information from a month ago will be "old"!

3. hours

3. Long. Google "EA spouse" and "video game crunch."

Also, it depends on location and job.

In many parts of the world overtime pay is strictly mandated.

In the US it is mandated but loosely enforced, and a specific class of "computer professionals" are specifically exempted from overtime pay. If you are a designer, artist, modeler, or tester and your US-based employer is not paying you for overtime it is time to put in a call to the appropriate government agency, either at the state level or the Department of Labor to find the right group. Let them know that your company is requiring unpaid overtime and work with them to get the investigation started. Every few years there tends to be some regional shake-ups where the state investigates and finds all kinds of unpaid overtime violations, occasionally some people categorized as contractors who legally must be employees, and so on. It is the law, not your contract, that specifies if you are entitled to overtime pay.

Repeating: The Fair Labor Standard Act specifies that your specific work actions, not your job title and not your employment agreement, are the basis for overtime exemptions. Doctors, lawyers, company owners, and "computer professionals" (now called 'programmers') are nearly always exempt. Many people get a job in this industry and since the other artists or testers or designers are working extra long hours, they don't think about reporting it and assume things are just that way. Yes, professionalism says you do the job you are paid to do, but there is a difference between voluntarily staying an extra hour or two because you want to finish versus your boss mandating that you work 50 or 60 hours. This is an area many companies (either intentionally or accidentally) end up skirting the law.

The easpouse lawsuit was one of those regional periodic purges. After the EA case quite a few other SoCal studios had visits from the state. Washington had one about two years later, as was my state. The government doesn't like it because it results in less taxes paid to them.

If you are a programmer, if you own a certain share of the small business, or if you are in any kind of management position with both 2+ direct reports AND less than 50% of your time is spent building stuff, those three groups are generally legally exempt from overtime in the US. If you are the corporate lawyer you are also exempt, but you would have already known that. Everyone else in the game industry (designers, testers, animators, modelers, etc) is legally entitled to overtime when the company requests extra work hours even if your contract calls you exempt and even if your boss tells you otherwise.

I have an ex-architect friend who's recycled their 3DS Max skills into becoming a game artist.
They're making an independent game, and doing contract work for about 3+ other local indie studios. So that kind of transition is definitely possible :D

As for full time work, it all depends on the company.
I've worked one place with an atmosphere of stress, tension, and hopelessness, where 10 hours of 'voluntary overtime' was expected, hours were mercilessly tracked with an in/out logging system, and pay-cheques were often one to two months late...
But I've also worked at another with the atmosphere of a giant trusting family, where there was never overtime, pay was always on time, HR was helpful, management were on our level, and hours were self-enforced ('if you have to pick up your kids at 3, that's fine, we trust you'll get your work done').
On that note, employers: simply trusting your staff and treating them as adults/friends does amazing things for morale/productivity!

Unfortunately, if you don't have enough confidence in your experience/talent for the role, or if you're the sole bread-winner for your family, then it's pot-luck as to which kind of company you'll end up in.
I would recommend interviewing the interviewers though - make sure to remember to ask them about frequency of overtime, culture/morale, etc... And once in a role, don't be afraid of standing up for your rights. A lot of toxic workplaces come about because peer-pressure makes injustice seem normal, but it can actually really brighten the whole team when a fresh face simply says "no, that's a bad idea, I'm going home now".

All the reasons that you give for wanting to get out of architechture are also reasons to NOT go into the games industry.

You should only go into games if you absolutly LOVE games and nothing more.

The pay in the games industry is garbage compared to doing the same job outside games.

The work life balance whilst not as bad as the EA spouse thing is still very bad there are almost no games companies where you won't be expected to pull short notice late shifts or weekends. (Note I said almost. There may be one or two but these are the exception to the rule.)

There is very little job security. Even the most successful companies will give staff the axe at the drop of the hat after a big release.

If you really want to go into games then I'd suggest trying to get a few freelance gigs that you can fit in alongside your current day job rather than just up sticks and leave.

The other thing I've found is even the nice companies that have no crunch policies and family friendly policies soon change whenever the end of year figures come through and managers get a little cranky.

This is my view as a bitter ex games industry programmer. It may be entirely different for artists on the pay front.

I think it's really true only for the programmers. For artists it's probably more job security to be in games actually (if they get a full time job).

I mean if you are an artist and you're not really into freelance I think the game industry is your best hope, there is even some composers with full time jobs.

I've been employed in the Architecture field for over 5 years now. I can not say that I like my job and the pay is garbage.

Hey that's what I think of the gaming industry :P

I've learned that the only reason for anyone to get into this industry is if you HONESTLY love the work because in the end that may be the only inccentive to stay.

Same...

What can I typically expect for pay, atmosphere, hours, etc?

As a rookie, I'm going to assume you have no previous experience and will land as a QA (it's quite possible you'll end up elsewhere, especially given your architecture experience which is sometimes relevant to some extent of AAA level design). Salary will be minimal, athmosphere depends on the place you work for, and generally, hours will be squeezed away from you like you can't possibly imagine.

The only person that I know that made it out of the architecture field into game development said he was actually better off in Architecture. But that's a very small sample.

I've a kid so working round the clock may not be ideal.

Join the club. I've got 2. Up to recently, I was just about never around. Not all positions are directly vulnerable to crunch time, but I'm in the management field, so I'm generally the one to bleed first. You may have a different experience depending on the studio, of course.

What advice can you give me if I were to seek a job in the industry?

Make sure that this is what you really want. I don't think of this industry as 'forgiving' or a good place to 'spend the time'. For the most part, experience earned in the field can't be used elsewhere as most jobs are either more creative or have a more scientific approach. Game development is right in the middle imho, and this makes our particular skillset unique. Very few people manage to transition out of game development seamlessly (aside from developers of course).

Are there any niche jobs that'd help my career along?

QA. It's a good job to land. It's not the only way in, but personally, I feel like its the best way to learn as much as possible about the industry from a position that shows you nearly everything from the get go. Get involved and you might just step up. That's what I did, initially.

I live in Ontario, Canada - What's the industry like here?

I'm not fully familiar with Ontario's current situation, but I believe there was a Zynga studio there for a while (not sure if it is still around). A number of skilled developers worked for Zynga there. There's also Ubisoft Toronto. I think the head is still Jade Raymond (originally the designer for Assassin's Creed I). I've also heard of SnowedIn Studios on a number of occasions.

You can probably find out more on the game dev map.

Any advice for schooling in my location?

Depends the job you want to land in the videogame industry. What would you like to do?