The HARSH truth about Game Dev 👩‍💻 #technology #programming #software #gamedev #career

[curry]

- Why game developers wear glasses?
- Because they don't C#

[salma-amlas]

Appreciate you talking about burnout and mental stress, sadly overlooked issue in coding world

[Sweet_Solos]

The most toxic part is even after all those hours most consumers tend to aim their rage at the developers instead of the companies who created these environments.

[noeldev]

Game development, even when not working for someone else really does burn me out, it's dumb easy for me to sit and start programming anything else than a video game, also it's very hard to get a well paying job in game dev

[trigun]

imagine working long hours for a games only for a dude thumbs down it on steam....feels bad man

[jameswoodland]

I'm a game dev, so I can confirm this. It takes a LONG time, realistically 4 or more years, but to live on making games you must put them out fast, which is overwhelming. It is nothing like a consistent 9-5 job.

[Justfalor]

As a former game dev myself, I can't argue enough for gamedevs to not join their own communities discord and have the app on your phone too. I cannot count the number of times an unreported bug has been thrown out into the server at 11pm only to keep me awake for 3 h to think on how to fix it

[assetaden]

I loved NF's line in a song he wrote, it goes as: "Yeah, the sales can raise, doesn't mean much though, when your health declines".
Try to avoid overworks people, you may get a bit more cash, but you'll definitely spend it on recovery, spending much more than you earned. Stay safe, mental health is not infinite.

[retro.]

I can relate. It's like a breeze to program software but when it's gamedev I have to take a lot of breaks and most of the times my game projects turn into Dev hell. I have to sacrifice myself to not cancel the project. But thankfully, I'm not really in the mood for gamedev this month.

[North_annex]

this is why i encourage game dev and coding as a hobby

[gteixeira]

Software development in general has became a very undercompensated profession, but game dev takes the cake. Many devs barelly break 5 figures while doing all that.

[Kodibot]

Thanks so much for all your videos Lewis! Got me into coding and through the hard parts where I lost motivation to code, after continuously watching your vids I've finally got the hang of coding and I'm studying easily 20 hrs plus a week truly truly thank you so much, I'm going to make sure I'm back here when I get my first software job, promise you

[carlcabanias]

This is what exactly happened to me when I was a game developer, I got burnt out that until now I didn't go back to developing games

[Goggalor]

At this point honestly. Started working with my first team and they brought me in 2 weeks out from delivering a demo. I've now spent the last 4 days or so sitting at my computer from sun up until sun down trying to understand the systems they already have in place so I can work on my tasks, but there's been little instruction and they're all in different countries than me. I'm trying my best and making some headway but I'm beginning to dread sitting down to program. It is starting to really affect my physical and mental health. Im having nightmares, sleeping less, eating less and have become socially withdrawn.

[peeparoni]

I didnt realize how bad game dev really was for me before i went to a therapist. I was studying to be a graphic designer with a focus on concept design, so i was basically transferred to game dev. The working culture even in my school was horrible, and we were forced into tight project deadlines from the get go. The shame culture others had if you didnt "pull your weight" and put your health first was awful, and the teachers at best put their hands up and laughed it off, and at worst were against you too.

I especially remember a specific game jam where i was forced into a project manager position, and due to my issues (now I know it was ADHD), I wasn't capable in drafting up a project plan or assign tasks. I was actually the least qualified person in the room despite having seniority, because I was a graphic design student, not a game dev student. Anyways, at the end of the day I went home to sleep despite my teams insistence that i stay and work, because I was actually in the process of being screened for bipolar, and a lack of sleep is the number one trigger for a manic episode. I actually tried to get an exemption from the game jam the moment i heard about it due to this fact, but my teacher would not allow me to skip it because I could not get a doctors note in time.
Anyways I overslept because I was so stressed and anxious when i had left home, that my team turned completely against me and bullied me for the rest of the game jam for wasting everyones time. They told me that I had doomed them to lose and not make it in time.

We ended up winning second place.

And after it was all done I had a very public panic attack in school and fell into a deeper depression for a little bit.

That was one of many many incidents that really made my health worse and from which im still in recovery for after 2 years.
I finally quit that school during my 4th year and the experience altogether put me off from ever working in my dream job or even graphic design.

Though I dont feel that bad about it, knowing that the industry is even worse than what I went through, and I've found a new possible career path.

[clockwerkclockwerk]

I remember having a job offer from a gaming company - 9hour shift, 6 times a week.

So yeah.

[mikumikuareka]

I am not a game dev, but a regular fullstack web dev. I've been working for 60-80 hours a week for a past few month because there are multiple projects I am responsible for, and all of them should be released asap.
At last Thursday in the middle of the work day out of sudden I got a 41C fever and a terrible headache, coworkers forced me to leave and seek for a medical help, because they thought I got covid, but doc told me that those are just overworking symptoms, and that I should stop playing with fire if I don't wanna die early, and that I'm lucky that I didn't get any heart diseases yet.
So yeah, I've never thought that this is true, but turns out overworking can really harm you. Take care of yourself and your health, my fellow programmers, don't be fools like I recently was.

[larsmaas]

I work around 13 hours a day (91 hours/week) (when I have now school) for around 3 years now. I don’t get paid, because I work for myself. But this is my hobby and I love doing it. And so far. I don’t have any problems with it

[breh]

Gamedevs are passionate, ofcourse since making games is a blast, and they fall in love with their games resluting in them trying to achieve more as fast as possible, talking from experience.

Although the real harsh truth is that game dev jobs are less, in quantity, salary, and it is the hardest out of all..

[pistondev]

I was self learning the python modules and such stuff after completing schools then I made a decent roulette game then I was thinking of improving my code to stop recurring to the max depth of recursion which was happening to the program all the day and after completing game I took like a break for a month maybe I also got burn out but I will still follow same path I need to develop my dream game❤