I''m just curious...is there such a thing as a 9-to-5 (regular business hours) job in the current game programming industry? If you work at a game company (specifically as a programmer or game developer), what kind of hours do you work most days?

I seem to recall an interview some time back with someone from Epic (probably Tim Sweeny, but Im not sure), and this person mention that they have some employees who have families and dont like to spend all their life in the office, and thus work mostly normal work weeks and only work long hours occasionally. I can''t reacall if these people were programmers or not (or if they even said).

Blizzard is another one company that I seem to recall someone saying once that they have pretty respectible hours, though I''m not as sure about this (as I heard it from someone else, not from an interview or anything) as I am about Epic.

Heres another interview with Brian Hook:
http://www.voodooextreme.com/games/interviews/hook/

"But for a lot of people, Verant is the perfect place to work sane hours, good benefits, lots of vacation, and the stability you expect from working for a large, established megacorporation"

Of course, "sane hours" is a subjective statement, but I would expect he probably means it to fall in the roughly 40-50 hour/week range.

Thanks for the info. I''m going to graduate from college in a year and a half and I''m considering a career in the game industry (programming most likely) which is why I''m interested in the hours they work (it might make the difference between a hobby and a career).

Note to All: This thread is an open question, so the more voices the better!

A lot of people have thi macho thing about having to work long hours, but employers (even in the games industry) arent stupid.
A lot of people surf the web and goof off as they work, but if you are dedicated and work hard, sensible employers wont mind you going home at 5 or 6 if the work is getting done and there isnt a deadline the next day.
Of course you have to be good enough to have the self confidence to enforce that rule! if you arent good at coding dont expect to pull off a 9-5 attitude in the biz.
both artists and coders have been known to work pretty late, its not just a coder thing

http://www.positech.co.uk

I wouldn''t expect 9-5 hours in any, shall we say, salaried position. Those are the hours you would work at Sears or OfficeMax.

Expectation usually range from 40-50 hrs/wk. It''s up to you, but I wouldn''t accept a job that demanded 50+ hrs on a regular basis.

50+ hours ?? NO THANKS ! 40,0 hours ought to be more than enough...If I do too many hours I don''t work very effective anyway....My brain needs to rest...Actually I get tired after about 4-5 hours (I have a shitty monitor at work...Ahh my eyes)...

Oh, the joys of living east of the Atlantic. Anything above 40 hours is the exception here.

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Where do you work Kylotan?

quote: Original post by Kylotan
Oh, the joys of living east of the Atlantic. Anything above 40 hours is the exception here.

You work less than 8 hrs/day??!? As a programmer?