[game_edu] Game studies and the economy

[Tom Dowd]

Our students returning from GDC also reported a smaller job fair, both in
terms of scope (number of companies present) and the size of the team the
companies that attend the show brought with them. I cannot say whether this
was perception or reality as I was not there either. My not being there was
a result of the economic troubles and the slashing of travel budgets across
the college.

 

As for the state of the industry, three things are happening - publishers
are getting conservative on projects with higher levels of uncertainty
(developmentally or in terms of marketability) and cancelling these "on the
bubble" projects, developers are losing projects, throwing their financial
situation into chaos (too many mid-sized and small developers run in a very
risky financial state, and with the current credit crunch the bridge loans
that they used to finance themselves during project transitions are not
available), and lastly some developers are trimming the fat and running a
leaner ship (to abound in metaphors) in case things continue to worsen.

 

The big things students need to understand is that the competition for
entry-level positions is intensifying. In addition to competing against
their student peers, they are now competing against laid-off members of
industry who are applying for those jobs. More than ever it is imperative
they have a solid, appropriate, portfolio and strong interview skills when
they step out into the field.

 

Tom Dowd

 

-----

Tom Dowd

Columbia College Chicago

Faculty/Interactive Arts and Media (Game Design Major)

tdowd at colum.edu

 

From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf
Of Scott Maddock
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 12:05 PM
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv
Subject: Re: [game_edu] Game studies and the economy

 

Anecdotally...

 

I understand that the career fair at the GDC was considerably smaller than
it was last year (I wasn't in attendance last year, but it's something I
heard from multiple sources who were present then and now).  I know of at
least one school with a dedicated game development program that was supposed
to see at least four new hires directly into the program faculty, but was
then denied such because of the economic hardship.

 

A number of companies have had non-trivial layoffs in the last few months,
or are threatening to go under.  Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, developer
of the Stargate Worlds MMO, all but did go under, but has since managed to
find some investors and appears to be on track again.

 

Midway, I think we all know about.  Big Huge Games also seems to be in
trouble.  EA and Activision have both laid off large numbers.

 

In short, I think the whole industry is feeling the pinch to some degree, in
the professional and academic sectors.

2009/4/1 Brena Smith <brena.smith at gmail.com>

Hi all,
I have two questions: First, I know that all educational institutions are
not untouched by the economy these days - but have any of you seen any
specific impact on game studies departments?  Second, any thoughts on how
the economy has impacted the electronic game industry in general?  Are game
companies seeing a lot of layoffs?  Are students still able to find jobs?

Many thanks!
Brena



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