How is the recession effecting you?

[Twindragon]

The title says it all. I read that even the porn industry wants a 5 billion dollar bailout because of the recession. I just want to know how the recession is effecting you. I myself live in Canada and haven't been effected by it too much but the recession hasn't hit here as hard as it has in the US but our time is coming. In Vancouver, EA was going to build a new studio but bailed on the project so I know that doesn't effect me directly right now but for the future that could have been a good place to send a resume.

Your thoughts.

[temmink]

As someone who is looking to join the industry in the next 12 months in Australia I am a bit concerned about the down-turn, that being said, there are plenty of jobs advertised here at the moment and even a new studio opening here in Brisbane so I'm not sure what to make of it. I too would be interested to know how people are feeling on the other side, does the contract/freelance nature of a large part of the industry make you uneasy when things are looking dire? I think there are some definite advantages but job security isn't really one of them even for the superwowawesome artists out there.

[Maph]

As up untill now, the recession (well, Belgium is still in denial of being in a recession, so around here it's still called "the financial crisis") hasn't affected me personally yet. Except for the fact that this might not be the best of times to be looking for a new job... :brick:

[seven]

As a game developer this isn't really the best time to look for a job anyway. Most schedules won't start till Late Feb or March.

As for here, I'm seeing crime go up in my neighborhood (which has been relatively quiet for over 20 years). My neighbor 2 doors down shot and killed an intruder a couple weeks back. There have been a lot more thefts from parked vehicles and a couple burglaries. I'm seeing smaller businesses go down as a result of not enough people buying goods because they're afraid of loosing their job. It's a downward spiral. That's why our new president is looking to inject more money into our economy so people will have confidence to spend (not that I agree with paying that off in the coming years). I am getting tired of socializing losses. I don't like paying for other people's mistakes. I'm also tired of feeling anxious that the funding for our projects will be pulled and I will also be looking for a job.

What I've seen for the past 15 years is speculation in the stock market to the point that its gambling causing gas prices to go up, the housing market to go up and more houses being built. Now that people have lost the ability to speculate there and gamble... now people are speculating why but as they wonder what's wrong and point fingers many more bad things are happening and will continue to happen from anywhere between 6 months and 3 years. I have confidence in my government to help pull us out but I'm furious that they and the general public all effed up. When most everyone screws up in every part of the equation, how do you remove the suffering of sins from the ones who didn't do anything wrong?

[Blenderhead]

As a graduate who finished 5 years of college just as it began, I have been royally screwed by the recession. I'm still unemployed...and I have no idea when that is going to change. Soon after DWIV I hope ;P

[walrus]

Let's see, how has the recession affected me? I got laid off when the company i worked for couldn't find funding and needed to trim expenses. Now I'm at a new job. things look safer here... but not entirely safe, in this economic environment... fingers crossed!

[LowRez]

The recession hasn't effected the games industry as badly as I thought it might, this may change in 2009 though, I can understand the film industry shrinking as budgets tighten, but games have so far been fairly well proofed against it bar a few studios EA cutting a chunk and Free Radical for example, not heard much else from friends in the industry, think it'll be a year of stability compared to other industrys however should the recession get worse then games will feel the effect like everyone else and jobs will be lost/no new positions popping up....

[cookepuss]

How is the recession effecting you?
As a freelancer of many years...

Less work + Too much downtime = Time for a career shift

If there's an upside, it's that I can use this unfortunate amount of free time to build up a narrowly focused reel and hopefully draw a predictable salary. At 34, I loathe the idea of a career shift, as it more or less means starting my life from scratch. However, the facts are what they are. Freelance may pay well, but only when the work's there. Right now... not so much.

Now I'm at a new job. things look safer here... but not entirely safe, in this economic environment... fingers crossed!
Safety is relative. The rule of thumb is, "Last one hired. First one fired." As safe as you may feel right now, in this economy, I wouldn't plan on any expensive purchases. :p

[walrus]

I didn't say i feel entirely safe, but I know how my role fits in with the company's future plans and how that will effect layoffs. In my experience, your rule of thumb has not been the case. At my current job (the one I just started) I've already seen over a dozen people let go and I wasn't one of them. Overall, I've seen a lot more of "people we can't afford any more, first one fired." Case in point, I've been through more than one layoff where they got rid of the people who had been around a long time and had higher salaries than those around them. At the last place, they axed the Marketing VP (no marketing jokes, please, he was good at his job) and the Art Director (moi) first. Now, what was once a 4 person art team is now down onto the shoulders of one guy (whom i do not envy!)

But to agree on one point, no expensive purchases: check! Anyhow, good luck in your career shift!

[seven]

Art Director (moi)Now, what was once a 4 person art team is now down onto the shoulders of one guy (whom i do not envy!)

But to agree on one point, no expensive purchases: check! Anyhow, good luck in your career shift!

yeah... our art team went from 4 people to... two a couple months back. Guess who is one of em. :(

I'm not making any big purchases either.

[Eclipse]

People around our offices just got laid off again today. Somewhere around the tune of 20 people I think, maybe more I don't have all the info. It's really scary when you see it going down, I had (have) a really bad stomach ache :(. It's getting crazy....

[LowRez]

As a freelancer of many years...

Less work + Too much downtime = Time for a career shift

If there's an upside, it's that I can use this unfortunate amount of free time to build up a narrowly focused reel and hopefully draw a predictable salary. At 34, I loathe the idea of a career shift, as it more or less means starting my life from scratch. However, the facts are what they are. Freelance may pay well, but only when the work's there. Right now... not so much.


Safety is relative. The rule of thumb is, "Last one hired. First one fired." As safe as you may feel right now, in this economy, I wouldn't plan on any expensive purchases. :p

I disagree with that last line a little, last one hired, first one fired depends totally on the company, some companys may use the "recession" to trim some of the senior staff who may have become jaded and over payed, and thus lower the overall wage bill quicker...

It would totally depend on the status of the company and what it needed to achieve in cost cutting. Also add the multi team factor into it, where an entire team no matter who, will be released because they have a project in early development or just finished a game.

However If your an absolute Junior as in straight out of college yes theres more risk as your easier to let go of and won't have arrived with a reputation or solid cv. So thats where the rule would apply more.

Anyways it's all semantics, job losses are not good however they happen and too whoever they happen to at any company. Good luck to all who are at "balanceing on the wire" companys

[zeke3d]

laid off 2X in one year, I feel you guys trying to get your foot in the door. But I am back on the scene again, with fast technology comes fast recovery!

[TeacupBandit]

Also laid off twice. Just got a better job, luckily. Tuition rose, loans lowered, went farther in debt. Hey, but more time for my own work...

[GutsandBolts]

I havn't been affected much but we have lost 1 local developer, Sandblast games, and had pretty big layoffs from several others, Gas Powered and Zombie.

[cgjeff]

Laid off just before christmas crew checking in :brick:

[Lamont]

Laid off just before christmas crew checking in :brick:Huh? You work at Sony or Midway? We (team) got dropped 3 months after I moved to the Mid-West for the job. But this is life, and these are the times.

Before things got bad and I had to tighten the wallet, I made moves to buy software I would need in order to go out on my own in case the time came. The first two days of not being employed I drew up 3 plans in case I didn't get a job before I ran out of cash. And having a plan in place does make things better. Fear and uncertainty can be the worst enemy.

This could be the best time for me as I've ALWAYS wanted to make my own game, and I have purchased the tools to do so. Also, I am lucky in the fact that I have family that owns properties and offered to let me stay for free (just don't burn the place down). As long as I have my computer I am fine.

One thing that does piss me off is overblown productions. Just because you've thrown a sh*t-ton of money and marketing doesn't mean you will profit. Too much f**king money is being thrown into the fires in this industry across the board. The people with the power treat this industry like f*cking Vegas or Atlantic City. And when you see these things going on and you see the choices they've made you're like "WTF!?". And you're in no position to do anything about it 99% of the time.

Ok, let me go do something happy now.

[Snowfly]

It's a bit sobering to see how you folks in the west are faring. Up until a couple years ago, the US games industry seemed like a safe haven to me, now I feel less unsettled working in the Asian online games industry.

The effects of the recession haven't fully trickled down to this side of the globe yet, unless you work in finance. I personally haven't had to make any lifestyle adjustments yet (but anyone who knows me personally would say I'm always in recession mode anyway). Although everyone at work knows we need to rock the project to keep our studio afloat.

Also, shifting jobs is the last thing on my mind right now.

[zeke3d]

I think Lamont hit it right on the head. I wont say much more on that....

tips for knowing you will be laid off are. turn off everything you do not need, cable tv, etc, and act as if you are back in college or pre game jobs, I don't care how good you have it, you cant be sure when things will turn around, for me its taken anywhere from 6 mo, to 1 mo, to 1 day. If you have a partner, be honest with them and tell them how you are feeling in detail. Dont be afraid, things will turn around. If you are new to the industry and get laid off immediately that might seem like a big blow, but if you can recover especially really quickly, you will have that much less to fear about. Its like when neo was shot down in the hallway in the first matrix and then came back to life, ok I made my geeky comment :) . At the end of your day, you are not your job, your wallet, your things. As a person you are you, your relationships, and as an artist your art, so be, feel and give love.

[Rasmus Holmgren]

I'm moving into the new year with cautious hopes of more work after a spell of unemployment that I'm very ready to break, but it does seem like freelancing is an iffy place to be right now... Started out great a year ago, not so great now, hoping that my soon-to-be-relaunched portfolio will yield some results. It would be great to hear more from other fellow freelancers on tips and tricks of the trade, get sent in the right direction or just plain talk shop more! I think we're way too quiet between ourselves, or am I talking to myself again? ;)

[Amethyst]

Rusmus Holmgren: ryansumo posted a link in General discussion called "Where to find freelance jobs". Easy to find and Good Luck in getting work in these tuff days.
http://www.gameartisans.org/forums/showthread.php?t=6555

[Lamont]

Analyst: Nintendo Saved Christmas From Game Biz Recession (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21814)

Title should be: "Game industry gets record sales!!! Too bad those sales weren't made by your studio ;)."

[BluPanda]

Interesting article on gamasutra concerning this very issue.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3901/game_developer_layoffs_the_real_.php

[Dbjunk]

Was just about to post that Gamasutra Article.

as far as how it affected me, well I got my first title out the door last summer and was looking to settle into a permanent position. Then, the doors began shutting on a lot of the major players in town and so did some of the smaller devs in the area.

now Ive moved back home and Im looking for anything I can find. whats sad is that the industry is supposed to be "recession proof" as the article says, and sales are up, but you couldnt tell with the lack of available positions out there.

For the most part Im having a hard time transitioning into another industry. There arent many multimedia opportunities around here and to be perfectly honest, I got a taste of the game industry, and Im hooked!!!

[Lamont]

Whats sad is that the industry is supposed to be "recession proof" as the article says, and sales are up, but you couldnt tell with the lack of available positions out there.Sales are up, but the industry is more than Call of Duty 4, Gears of War, Guitar Hero, Wii Fit and whatever else there is that's selling like mad...

[Dbjunk]

^true. I guess the numbers can be misleading.:think:

[Rasmus Holmgren]

Amethyst: Thanks, I just noticed it :)

[tsunade]

Well, I'm a college student, so I am literally sweating bullets right now(Junior). Working hard and seeing what I can do from there.

[eriKa]

This is a bad time to be a new graduate. Not only am I competing for the *very* few jobs in my area (can't move quite yet..), with my very talented co-graduates, I am also up against industry veterans. The 2 main companies for us to gravitate to here have both had massive layoffs.

Right now it's all about taking whatever job (mostly) pays the bills, and work work work on my portfolio. Hopefully irrational enthusiasm combined with ludicrous man-hours will result in me getting my foot in the door somewhere.

I guess the bright side is I should have some time for dominance war this year. :) And a major portfolio overhaul.

[monkeyboy]

Last year, the multimedia company I'd be working at for six years closed down. I started at a graphic design company the week after (I always viewed this as a temporary) and absolutely hated it, so I quit and decided to put everything I had into getting into a local games company. Spent almost five months unemployed, totally sucked up all our savings, but I got the job I always wanted. After the hell that was last year, I'm feeling pretty darn good about 09.

[jolo88]

Im a graduate and what the recession has taught me is not to rush. Im just working local minimum wage jobs at the moment. While training and improving skills because my biggest fear is getting an ideal job and then being told the company needs to slim down.

+There is always room for improvement, and a bigger portfolio can only help your chances of work in the fufute.

[ryansumo]

(but anyone who knows me personally would say I'm always in recession mode anyway).

Ha! You and me both, brother.

[coldkodiak]

Laid off just before christmas crew checking in :brick:

Reporting in.


This economy is a total bummer. But keep trucking, we'll make it.

[Susurrus]

Hey,

I was recently working for Rare LTD as a 3d|2d artist building avatars for the Xbox360..

I feel that in general alot of these cuts that are happening (not just in the games industry) are using this crisis as a scapegoat, getting rid of people they no longer want, or maybe a way to shift and evolve. Its a tricky one for sure, and probably differs for each studio/situation. Its all cumulative, and in regards to Rare, hopefully it will mean better games..!!!!

crisis precipitates change...

good example is Free Radical is now Crytek UK.... and that makes me smile... working for crytek is alittle more possible now that its located on the same island as me :D

Although sorry to the FR dudes for loosing jobs, ive heard that crytek may well be giving old jobs back to the original FR crew.. hopefully they do!

Currently, im brewing some new artwork for my portfolio and entering DW.. but its tough not knowing whats around the corner. I just keep telling myself its ALL ABOUT THE ART!

Good luck to all during these tricky times! :thumb:

see you on the other side

[Neox]

hm didn't touch me so far, i'm booked for quite a while and still see no end, hopefully it keeps that way :)

[Lamont]

Some studios friends have worked at cleaved all the higher paid people. Another friend of mine who works in the engineering industry said they got rid of people that way too, no matter how long they have been in the industry or how good they were.

Now a friend on the West coast who does contracting said he got a surge of work because of this, although his rates are good and allow him to make a decent living, it's not as high as an in-house artist and the cost associated with it.