
I quit my job today to make video games full time - wyldfire
https://imgur.com/gallery/CVq5bO8
======
emptybits
> FTA: "I have sketched game ideas since I could draw a straight line. This is
> from my childhood sketchbook."

Sounds like he's doing what must be done. Very excited for the author. We
could debate professional opportunity costs or net worth deltas resulting from
his decision, but it sounds like he was dying a little bit every day and
always wondering "what if..." so this move is bold and beautiful and possibly
necessary for mental health. GOOD LUCK, Chris Zukowski!

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zukalous
Hey thanks for finding my post. I have always thought I wasn’t cool enough for
hacker news. AMA. To answer a couple questions 1) Before I joined any company
I always had my personal lawyer review the contract to make sure it allowed me
to make my own games on my own equipment. Wouldn’t work for a place that
didn’t. 2) I am aware of the opportunity cost of having no to little salary
for a few years. But I factored personal satisfaction and FOMO into what the
actual cost was. Plus you gotta live a little.

~~~
codesushi42
Congratulations. You are awesome.

I wish I had done the same years ago when the games industry was less
saturated. And I was younger.

Kudos for living the dream.

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ordinaryperson
Good for him, I hope he finds happiness. BUT...

My ex worked for [MAJOR VIDEO GAME PUBLISHER] and if he gets a job like that:
say goodbye to your friends, family, nights and weekends.

I had dinner with my ex yesterday -- even tho [MAJOR VIDEO GAME] has been
released for a while now there's DLCs coming out before the holidays and it's
crunch AGAIN...my ex is working 6-7 days a week, 10am-10pm. The co has offices
in several timezones so work is always flooding in, 24 hours a day.

I don't want to discourage anyone from following their dreams, and maybe indie
vg publishing is a different beast, but I feel like this post potentially
under-represents how crushing working in vg publishing can be.

~~~
trilila
There is always that one that spews negativity. Always. And always an
employee.

~~~
krapp
That one is usually right, though.

The video games industry is known for being a ruthless meat-grinder of human
beings and human potential. The indie market is known for being a black hole
where even good, well advertised projects vanish into without making a dime,
never to be seen.

~~~
trilila
For workers, yes, and that is quite expected. A company is profitable for as
long as it makes games that go viral. And interest in those games fades in
time, so it’s quite expected. As indie tho i know plenty of success stories
out there to think otherwise.

~~~
krapp
>As indie tho i know plenty of success stories out there to think otherwise.

Survivor bias. For every success there are many hundreds or thousands of
failures, not all of which are necessarily of poor quality.

~~~
trilila
yeah best not to do anything because some fail. non-survivors bias.

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algaeontoast
This is so cool man! Glad you know what you value in life, as so many don't.

I left the FAANG I was working for about a month ago on my own terms, it felt
weird at the time to start burning through savings to sharpen up on my own
work but boy was it worth it. Not to mention the fact that last week my team
was cleared out and basically ruined by a legal battle they brought on
themselves (it even ended up being covered in WSJ).

Knowing what you value in life is priceless, life is simply too short to be
working on things you don't at least find interesting.

~~~
wyldfire
> Glad you know what you value in life

Just to make it clear I am the submitter but I am not Chris Zukowski /
zukalous. Title was preserved per the rules.

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TheMagicHorsey
I used to program video games for a living. It's not all unicorns and
sunshine. Just because the cubicles have cool drawings of video game
characters all over them and you have an Xbox in the lounge doesn't mean that
work is going to be more satisfying. In video games hours are longer and wages
are lower because so many people want to live the dream.

I make approximately 4 times more money in cash at my new career in a startup.
And that doesn't count equity. The place I work is doing well so my equity is
worth significantly more than that (but it was a lottery ticket so just
consider the cash component). On top of that, the product I work on improves
the lives of people more tangibly than entertainment does.

I still love video games and hang out with my friends from that industry ...
but all the ones with families are trying to get out of the industry just like
I did.

It's a shit career unless you are at one of the top companies like Blizzard,
Riot, etc.

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briankelly
This is the same game from the speedrunner post awhile back:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20328266](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20328266)

~~~
zukalous
Hey you remember me. Sorry I wasn’t here on HN back when that went viral.

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batoure
I was comming in here initially to be like.... "Wait have a plan!!! _reaches
out with hand to pull you back from jumping off a cliff_ "

Then I realized this dude is the maker of "1 screen platformer" he's gonna do
just fine

~~~
zukalous
Thanks for your vote of confidence. It is still a risk but I wanted to do one
of these “I quit my job” posts that wasn’t like “now all I have to do is learn
how to program and I can make my open world mmo life simulator.” I have been
very meticulous in my planning but still aware that this is a risk.

~~~
chii
No risk, no gain.

Having meticulous plans and preparedness means you're already ahead of they
pack!

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jimijazz
> I would sketch out game ideas and maps while pretending to take notes in the
> endless deluge of meetings...

You're my hero <3

~~~
zukalous
Haha.

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sixdimensional
I for one can really identify with the comment the author made about the
"grey" in cubicles. My work used to have exactly those cubes and after a while
it almost felt like everything looked grey and walking outside where there was
color was so refreshing. It was like the difference between the Moon and
Earth.

In fact I wrote a poem on my blog about this very experience of being in a
cube:
[http://www.actinginbalance.com/square/](http://www.actinginbalance.com/square/)

Now, they replaced our cubes with open-office. Actually, it is less grey but
still does feel very limiting, we have a lot less space, and it is noisy.

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resist_futility
His blog

[https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ChrisZukowski/842841/](https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ChrisZukowski/842841/)

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CodeCube
XBLIG shoutout! Congrats and best of luck on your new venture.

~~~
zukalous
Did you make any games for it? I still talk to many of the developers in that
community.

~~~
CodeCube
I was an XNA MVP ... worked on a bunch of community content/articles. Was
working on a game towards the end, but then the windows phone era of XNA came
in and diverted my attentions, and by the time I'd made more progress on my
game the community was winding down :(

Still want to revisit that game idea ... someday

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mertnesvat
As an aspiring entrepreneur, I have also small side projects which are waiting
to be discovered or better to put it trying to see what's worth before I leave
my job.

I think you did well about decision time if you have some responsibilities as
I do. It's better to wait for a good time.

I consider your story is a success even from the beginning because of your
attitude towards accountability and desire to make more games.

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arvinsim
I have always loved video games but discouraged by the lack of work balance in
that sector.

So if I ever work on a video game on my own terms, it would probably be small.

Are there are any resources for which one can accomplish a small game in a
reasonable amount of time(let's say 6 months)?

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dsign
That's not going to be an easy life, but it's not going to be boring either.

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tcbawo
Be careful about doing side projects on work time or with company resources.
Some vindictive employers may use this against you.

~~~
XJ0OYtjb
Comments from the author on the subject:
[https://imgur.com/gallery/CVq5bO8/comment/1698922551](https://imgur.com/gallery/CVq5bO8/comment/1698922551)

> I am careful. I worked with my company's IP department to get a clear. I had
> to sit with a company lawyer to explain my video game.

> Also they are COMPLETELY different industries. So they didn't care. It was
> the weirdest meeting that laywer had ever had at my company.

~~~
_chris_
Great to hear he did his homework!

Last I looked into this, AIUI, the default in the US is "everything the
employee does the employee owns" (damn you wedding photographers!).

So naturally, virtually every tech company contract will have a "work for
hire" clause which says "never mind that, everything the employee does the
company owns (on or off the clock, in the shower, whatever, it's all ours)".

California adds an extra exception, which is "whatever the employee does (on
their own time and equipment) that is 'unrelated to the company's business' is
still the employee's." While that may safeguard my oil painting hobby, I'd
always be nervous about any programming (game or otherwise) if I work for a
tech company...

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nineteen999
Good luck, so many of us have tried and failed, or punted it off for another
try in the future again. I wish you all the very best success.

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vlod
Let's say I wanted to do the same (2D style game). Any recommendations on a
tech-stack? Unity?

~~~
oehtXRwMkIs
Godot please

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spicymaki
I wish this person the best of luck. I am typing from my dank cubicle.

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fabain
Gaming industry is one of the highly demanded industry in 21st century. best
of luck on your new project

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commandlinefan
You left a job that gave you a cubicle? Man, I'd kill for a job that gave me a
damned cubicle instead of a cacophonous open office... but sadly there are
none left except for the one you just gave up.

~~~
bbayer
Hallway and cubicle just make me think that probably he works for an
established defence company.

~~~
garmaine
Absolutely. The building reminded me of my time at Lockheed Martin.

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PasserBy2024
TL;DR: mostly consult on shovels, but do some gold prospecting on the side.

~~~
unixhero
That's gold, right there.

