[game_edu] Game studies and the economy

[Dan Rosenthal]

Has anyone considered whether the game industry is experiencing a  
phenomenon similar to the law industry, where a combination of a  
tightening economy and a glut of talented new graduates willing to  
work for extremely low pay to compete for the limited number of jobs,  
has lead to belt-tightening measures among senior staff?  It's been my  
experience that as far as major law firms go, many have been firing  
large numbers of highly-paid senior associates, to replace them with  
cheaper but highly talented junior associates. Why pay $300K a year  
when you can train a new guy into the job at $160K?

The reason I mention the comparison, which I'm sure has its flaws, is  
that I was struck by the sheer number of students looking for work at  
GDC. With the rising number of game design programs in universities  
worldwide, I wonder if we're experiencing the same kind of glut of  
graduates that the law firms are?

On the one hand, that means that some of the most talented students  
have a chance to truly excel and stand out heads and shoulders above  
the rest. On the other hand, it means that talented students may get  
lost in the shuffle as well.

As far as law schools go, there have been an increasing chorus of  
voices calling for schools to self-police and restrict the number of  
students that they accept, but I'm sure we can all guess how much  
effect that has had (protip: rhymes with zero). I haven't seen the  
same thing from the games industry, nor am I suggesting that it should  
be implemented: I'd love to see the day where we have 300+ game design  
programs graduating 500+ students each per year. I'm just curious if  
anyone on this list has considered the subject.

-Dan

On Apr 1, 2009, at 10:13 PM, Jose P. Zagal wrote:


> I also have the impression that any bad news in the games industry  

> is automatically attributed to the economy. Truth is, game companies  

> have always trimmed people, closed studies, and so on. I'm not sure  

> that things are particularly worse than before. I'm not saying that  

> they're rosy either, just that it easy to get caught up in the  

> negative hype.

>

> For example, I would have said that GDC seemed pretty empty...but  

> the attendance numbers would clearly show me wrong. :-)

>

>

> Jose

>

>

> Ian Schreiber wrote:

>> This is a great question, and in fact one of the big things I was  

>> hoping to get out of GDC this year was an answer to the question:  

>> why all the layoffs when games (judging by revenue) are still a  

>> growth industry?

>> This is just my opinion (based on talking to a lot of people and  

>> trying to "read between the lines" on the expo floor), but I think  

>> it comes down to two things:

>> 1) A lot of game developers are, frankly, not superstars. Game  

>> companies with a lot of mediocre employees are trying to cut the  

>> deadwood.

>> 2) Since everyone is doing this at the same time, it causes a  

>> cascade effect that is really benefitting development shops. Want  

>> to lay people off, but afraid of cutting the staff too much? No  

>> problem, there's lots of people looking for work, so you can cut  

>> deep and then staff up fast if you need to later on. Want to hire  

>> people? That's also no problem, lots of talent in the job market  

>> right now.

>> Now, I did see some companies hiring very aggressively. I also saw  

>> a number of geographic regions heavily incentivizing developers to  

>> move to their region (seriously, probably a third of the booths in  

>> North Hall were a location).

>> Corollaries:

>> * Students are going to have a rough time of it for now. The bar  

>> has officially been raised. I think the industry will always have a  

>> place for people who are genuinely skilled and talented, but the  

>> marginal students should be thinking about another line of work  

>> that's less demanding.

>> * The regions that are trying to attract developers (such as those  

>> with booths) are worth looking at for students who are willing to  

>> move out of the country AND start their own independent studio  

>> while their burn rate is low. I don't normally advise this to my  

>> students (starting a business when you have no experience is a  

>> great way to lose everything you have) but in the rare case when a  

>> student is ready to take this step, it seems to be a great time for  

>> it.

>> * If your institution is looking to hire industry-experienced  

>> people for teaching positions, this is a really great time to staff  

>> up your department. A lot of people are getting sick and tired of  

>> the layoffs and would like something that at least has the  

>> appearance of stability :)

>> * With so many schools churning out game-related degrees each year  

>> and the industry growth not keeping pace, I can't see this changing  

>> in the near future. But it does mean that as schools, the bar has  

>> been raised on us as well; the schools with mediocre programs that  

>> produce mediocre graduates will find their students unable to find  

>> work.

>> - Ian

>> --- On *Wed, 4/1/09, Brena Smith /<brena.smith at gmail.com>/* wrote:

>>    From: Brena Smith <brena.smith at gmail.com>

>>    Subject: [game_edu] Game studies and the economy

>>    To: "IGDA Game Education Listserv" <game_edu at igda.org>

>>    Date: Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 12:54 PM

>>    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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