I’ve loved games since I started in 1980 but it’s sure nice to not have to care about games as a business. You were forced to care vs. a fan who enjoyed caring.
The worst of all was knowing a game would blow for YEARs but still watching those around fake excitement or having yourself to fake excitement and interest (just as any job). Yay killing NPCS 10 years after it was cool, so exciting everyone. Another example is the last two FPS games which were bombs. Oh let’s advertise and be excited about this thing! (knowing it will fail). hah. Shit didn’t even run on my computer while the version 2 versions ago ran fine.
Now *I* can return to picking and choosing what you care about or even if I care at all. While it’s fun to work on games if you’re directly influencing the game decisions (which I did for over 15 years), just being loosely involved in a company that happens to make games isn’t worth that much. That’s why people had no problem switching companies because they weren’t really involved in the game making so they didn’t have a connection. That’s also why hiring NON-GAMERS is a bad decision because they have no investment at all. But hiring woke employees is the worst decision of all and you’re watching it play out in the last 5+ years in hilarious ways.
I could do a separate article about this but games were exciting in the early computer, Atari 2600, NES/Sega/Genesis/PC days because each game was a unique and unexpected experience. But now these AAA studios which I was a part of, just cut and paste the same exact shit every time and #4 is the same as #2 with better graphics/sounds/minor features. That’s why some people stick with the older versions (like Battlefield 4) because you’re really getting a worse experience as the game upgrades (Battlefield 5).
It was absolutely hilarious to see workers stuck on the same game for like 10+ years. Many quit because they were so sick of the same game universe and wanted to work on SOME different game but these AAA companies just wanted to pump the same fucking game year after year because of the cash they made off it. $60 DLC haha. But as long as these idiots are buying Game + 1 (number), they’ll keep making them. Just don’t get stuck on working on them through version 1-10. Another hilarious thing I saw was your game gets canceled and then you get dumped back on the same 2 games that have been around for 10-20 years. So they’d quit rather than having to work on that same recycled shit again. hahahah
I still say working a game company could still be one of the best jobs if you find one that isn’t woke and isn’t cutting and pasting the same shit each year. And if they actually pay you. Perhaps in indie games.
Tech companies, especially, are the woke backstabbing forfront of political battlelines and I’ve seen many former workers now enjoying their non-woke new workplaces (even outside of games) where they don’t have to deal with that shit anymore. haha. One of my friends is now in welding and he loves it, he’s like ZERO woke bullshit. No diversity training. No 6 hours of required bias training. No being forced to report and condemn your privilege.
What’s especially funny is the direct customers who aren’t into any of that stuff and continue as normal in discord, outside chats, or voice where the woke game companies can’t control their speech or behavior.