Hmmpost

In another life or some fantasic parallel world I’m full time game programmer. I enjoy programming games and it’s usually one of the first things I do whenever I’m learning a new world: put together a quick game. Though I may stand corrected, but I believe I’ve programmed a game in every programming language ever ‘learned’ to date. I hesitate to use the word ‘learned’ as I feel like programming is an ongoing learning process, not something that you ever wake up one day and say: “I’ve learned it, next!” Sony is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Everquest Massive Online Multiplayer Role-Playing Game and Beckett magazine has an interview with the EQII team where the subject of what it is like working at a game company: Some people have the impression that working in a game company is a lot of goofing off and playing games all day long. It’s a business though. The ultimate goal is to put a roof over our heads and food on the table. It’s like a regular job, but with even more stuff and benefits from it. I think as a team, and as a company, there’s probably 30-40% more dedication than I’ve seen in any other environment. People are willing to stay extra hours at night to get something done, or come in on weekends. It’s not like we’re out for four hour lunches every day. We don’t ride scooters in the hallway. There seems to be a perception that working in a gaming company is just all fun and games, but it’s not. It’s really a business, it’s hard work, and the people who work here are very passionate about making sure we make every effort to make sure that the game stays fun.

I’ve always envisioned that actual work at a game company isn’t just playing games and entertainment so the above paragraph isn’t sobering. Even if you are a games tester you still have to report back on what you are doing and often times play the same levels over and over and over and over again. That could be more boring that debugging tens or hundreds of thousands of lines of code. But even so, I think it would be a lot of fun working at a game company. Our middle son, a teenager, wants to get into working at a games company or being a pro gamer or perhaps even both. I’m going to be showing him this article and reminding him that no matter how fun any job appears to be on the outside, it’s still work on the inside. And work isn’t always fun.