I've a nicer resume than lots of other people in my line (game design), have had overseas work experience in a big company that many can only dream of... and when I'm back, I realized how small the industry is and how little jobs there are to go around.
...I've friends who have worked 3-4 years, starting pay of 2k, right now, they are still drawing 2k. No bonus this or last year due to bad economy, some forced to take a pay cut or take unpaid leave... I won't even go into OT (and there's no OT pay)
...I work in the Games line, I do 3d models. And it's a line of work where 2 years down the road, technology upgrades, the workflow of your job changes, the demands on gamers gets higher and higher, while us the artists, gets less and less time to work on what we are doing.
...The government has been trying to push this industry for years (8-9 years now)... this industry is developing too slowly (even if it is developing), there's a lack of companies to choose from, the pay is low cause those companies prefer to fund their next project (we certainly don't get the kind of pay I see in the U.S.), and from day 1, everyone tells each other that to survive in this line, you'll need to have PASSION. But passion doesn't feed, that's the sad truth. So when I do have a family, am I going to have them worry about my job security all the time?
...First of all, the games industry in Singapore is not going anywhere. At least not in the next five years. We will not be able to produce any AA games with our local pool of artists. Their standards are nowhere near the level that companies like Blizzard CA hires. All the reports about which local companies developing what games are just media hype.
MDA wants to attract more games companies here, and although some did, they are having trouble finding local artists who are up to the standards. They tried hiring foreigners of course, but with the law of having a certain ratio of local employees to the number of foreign employees have left a lot of game companies floundering now in Singapore.
You think Ubisoft Singapore is developing some AA titles? I'm not surprised if the employees here are just doing some backend work for the big titles that the main Ubisoft office in France is working on. That's the cold, hard truth about the gaming companies here are facing. How many game companies have you read in Digital Lifestyle that were developing XX games in one year, only to read that the companies have closed down in the next?
...What of the local artists here? ... Most of them joined this industry simply because they like to play games. Passion for playing games is not enough. What you need is a passion to MAKE games. You need to know what does developing a game means, and what it entails. Students here flocked to apply to Digipen without understanding that, and even I can't help but go "-_-;?" at their work. At the rate they are going, they won't be going anywhere after graduation.
... the games industry here is really not going anywhere. Not in the next 5, or even 10 years...Unless our local students can change their mentality about this industry and start working really hard to be one of the best, instead of thinking that "hey, game companies here need to hire a xx number of locals here anyway, so I'll definitely have a job when I graduate".
...I actually get worried for all the students joining digipen/game degrees, without understanding the industry first... I was like that when I joined my poly course, and didn't think about job opportunities until I got out to work. Your work can be good... but you won't be hired unless you're exceptional.
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Advise about jumping from design to accounting