[game_edu] Game studies and the economy

[Dan Carreker]

Actually, I had a hiring manager tell me this is exactly what is happening. 



Dan Carreker
www.NarrativeDesigns.com
"If I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. 
 I'd type a little faster."  - Asimov

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan Rosenthal" <swatjester at gmail.com>
To: "IGDA Game Education Listserv" <game_edu at igda.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 9:39 PM
Subject: Re: [game_edu] Game studies and the economy



> 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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