It's Time For Gaming's Contractors To Strike?

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With millions of people in this country out of work, this guy has the nerve to be mad about playing video games for a living? Ummm, okay.

My name is Nathan (RC) Peters. In March 2011, I was hired on as a contract Quality Assurance tester to work at Certain Affinity studios in Austin, Texas. I worked on the multiplayer portion of Halo 4. Here is an inside look at the reality of being a contract worker within a video game company, and why you should never accept a job as a contractor.
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It is one if the worst jobs in the industry. If you'd want to see for yourself, just apply to any EA studio, they burn through their QA contract workers at an impressive speed.
 
Contract work is often the best, depending on the job you are doing. Stoner game testing is not one of those fields. This guy is basically unskilled, uneducated and still overvalues his worth.
 
Guy gets a contract job and is pissed that he was worked to the ground and not respected? Gee...sounds like every other contract job on the planet.

There's a reason contract jobs and temp agencies are becoming more and more prevalent: the bottom line. No CEO will ever want to lose profitability, even 1-2%, and everything becomes disposable to maintain it. Why would they bother keeping a large number of well paid staff on hand and see a 5% profit, when they can temp hire a ton of workers and sack them a few weeks before release and see a 20% return with no long-term loss due to continued employment?
 
Play testing is not playing games. Once you've opened the same door in a game with a thousand or more different combinations of stats and inventory the fun is dead.

It moves from dead to spreading death when you're in hour 38 of your "Thursday" and hoping to wrap up "Thursday" at some time on Saturday.
 
The same goes for pretty much any IT related temp work. Not worth it. The pay isn't good, and the people you are working for could care less if you are treated like scum.

Been there, done that, never again.
 
It sounds like the real reason the guy was pissed is that they made it seem like you had a good chance of being hired on full-time, but in the end it was all bullshit. I think I'd be pissed, too. It's experience to put on a resume, but unless you're going to be testing games forever then I don't think it's super valuable.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Contract work is often the best, depending on the job you are doing. Stoner game testing is not one of those fields. This guy is basically unskilled, uneducated and still overvalues his worth.
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Did you just skim through the article or not read it at all?

RTFA?
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Contract work is often the best, depending on the job you are doing. Stoner game testing is not one of those fields. This guy is basically unskilled, uneducated and still overvalues his worth.
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TeeJayHoward said:
Ding, ding, ding! "I have an art degree and I play video games! Why am I only making $11/hr?!"
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A BS in Audio Production is "unskilled" and "uneducated"?

Plus, who do you think actually designs game assets, other than code? It sure as hell isn't software engineers.
 
Breaking news: unskilled contract job with shit pay ends in bitter tears.

- Listen in awe as writer name-drops levels that he named. (honest!)
- Try to care as he doles out his life's story during the interminable first third of the article.
- Laugh as he screws his last two weeks up so badly that he gets terminated before he can quit.
 
lol @ strike

1 opening == many applicants waiting to take his or her place.
 
MavericK96 said:
A BS in Audio Production is "unskilled" and "uneducated"?
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I'll admit. I saw "Art Institute" and thought "Two year program or a Bachelor's of Art, maybe even an unaccredited university". Turns out, it's a branch of a properly accredited university. I honestly can't believe they call it a BS, though... He had to take Political Science, Environmental Science, and Biology. When I think science, I think engineer. Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, etc... I guess it doesn't mean what I think it means.

So yeah, Liberal Arts degree under a different name. He's getting paid what he's worth.


MavericK96 said:
Plus, who do you think actually designs game assets, other than code? It sure as hell isn't software engineers.
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I did 3D modelling work for the gaming division of a large company. I was paid $30K/year to do it. Not a lot of money, because it's not a lot of work. Any monkey can learn the software. It's not very difficult. Coding was far more challenging. Logic problems are fun, though!
 
It sounds like he was just new to contracting and to that industry as well.

It also sounds like he could have misinterpreted his value in the company, he did the "pissed off with a grudge" slide which does nothing to get your hired. Seen this a million times, employee things they are worth x, gets pissed and starts to slack all the while still applying for internal jobs and complaining he doesn't get them... ultimately because he complains, has a bad attitude and slacks off due to the "chip" on his shoulder.

He asked tons of questions, trying to get noticed... but there are 2 sides of the story. He could have been a douche telling every one what he would do etc etc etc. I have found if you have to really "work" it, you are not doing it right and it probably won't go over well.

You have to have a thick skin with contracting, it can pay extremely well in the right jobs aka not IT "temp" work but design and deployment projects etc. You get to do the cool part of a project then leave to do it all again, skipping the whole maintain boring part etc.

While contract work can get you a job (that is how my career started to get foot in door)... you can't count on it.. thats now how it works. Its also why you should pretty much only work in one place for a year or two then switch to get those 20-30% raises cause you will never get them at current location. That is the way it works... sucks and stupid yes but apparently the numbers crunches have it figured out.
 
MavericK96 said:
A BS in Audio Production is "unskilled" and "uneducated"?

Plus, who do you think actually designs game assets, other than code? It sure as hell isn't software engineers.
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Now, at this time I had no degree to speak of
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Yes. He is unskilled and uneducated. He took a shit job that basically only stoners take, expecting to get promoted to some sort of game/audio producer. Things rarely ever work that way, and it's usually more about luck than anything else if the moons align and you do get that promotion. At best, he may have been promoted to a low level management position, managing the other stoners.
 
dandirk said:
You have to have a thick skin with contracting, it can pay extremely well in the right jobs aka not IT "temp" work but design and deployment projects etc. You get to do the cool part of a project then leave to do it all again, skipping the whole maintain boring part etc.
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Tell me more! I've always wondered about the $200/hour contractors who design, purchase, and set up whole networks or redesign AD forests from the ground up, then leave. How does one get into a field like that?
 
And, wow! He once worked an entire weekend VOLUNTARILY. I did 100 hours of voluntary overtime in December and didn't expect a fucking medal for it. Then he asked for a dollar an hour raise after he had put in 2 weeks notice?
 
MavericK96 said:
It sounds like the real reason the guy was pissed is that they made it seem like you had a good chance of being hired on full-time, but in the end it was all bullshit. I think I'd be pissed, too. It's experience to put on a resume, but unless you're going to be testing games forever then I don't think it's super valuable.
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Yeah, that is what happened to me when I was doing "temp" IT work. There were 3 of us at that time and we were all promised we would be hired after 8 months. Never happened.

Never going through a temp agency again.
 
Loser. One day he will grow up, sounds like he's lived a fantasy life up to now.
 
Oh, and badmouthing an industry after you quit...I guess he is likely to find a new career. Hopefully one that does not involve welfare.
 
First off, never get a contract job through a temp agency. His $11 an hour job was probably billed at $30-40 an hour and the temp agency pocketed the difference. Most companies know this and will contract with you directly to avoid the markup.

The game industry sucks, I keep trying to tell people this but I get ignored until they come crawling back whimpering that they wish they had listened. Sometimes you get lucky and I know guys who are doing very well in the games industry, but I also hire a lot of ex game developers because they are insanely talented but get burned out / eventually want to have a family. Enterprise software development doesn't sound sexy, but the money is good and the problems are just as challenging. The big thing is you can work 9-5 (or less) and make double what you would in a game studio.

As for getting into the world of the "$200/hour contractors" get your certs, find another contractor who will take you under his wing, then do it yourself. It definitely helps to have worked in the industry for a while before jumping into the world of contracting, because a lot of your work and referrals will initially come from your past, but I know guys who just jumped straight into it out of college.

If there was ever an industry that should unionize, it is game developers. I am not a fan of unions, but when the industry you are working for lobbies and gets a special status declared for game developers that means they don't have to pay them overtime, give them breaks and there is no limit to the number of hours worked in a day (state of California)... that is a pretty hostile employment environment. Now, this guy's story isn't bad at all, I used to work 7 days a week for months on end. I had to pay my neighbor and friends to feed my dog. After a couple of weeks of falling asleep in my chair, I bought a sleeping bag to put under my desk (didn't have enough time to go home and get the one I already had). So working through one weekend isn't something I can sympathise with, until you are hallucinating about Native Americans walking down the hallway, you don't know what crunch time is.
 
EchtoGammut said:
First off, never get a contract job through a temp agency. His $11 an hour job was probably billed at $30-40 an hour and the temp agency pocketed the difference. Most companies know this and will contract with you directly to avoid the markup.

The game industry sucks, I keep trying to tell people this but I get ignored until they come crawling back whimpering that they wish they had listened. Sometimes you get lucky and I know guys who are doing very well in the games industry, but I also hire a lot of ex game developers because they are insanely talented but get burned out / eventually want to have a family. Enterprise software development doesn't sound sexy, but the money is good and the problems are just as challenging. The big thing is you can work 9-5 (or less) and make double what you would in a game studio.

As for getting into the world of the "$200/hour contractors" get your certs, find another contractor who will take you under his wing, then do it yourself. It definitely helps to have worked in the industry for a while before jumping into the world of contracting, because a lot of your work and referrals will initially come from your past, but I know guys who just jumped straight into it out of college.

If there was ever an industry that should unionize, it is game developers. I am not a fan of unions, but when the industry you are working for lobbies and gets a special status declared for game developers that means they don't have to pay them overtime, give them breaks and there is no limit to the number of hours worked in a day (state of California)... that is a pretty hostile employment environment. Now, this guy's story isn't bad at all, I used to work 7 days a week for months on end. I had to pay my neighbor and friends to feed my dog. After a couple of weeks of falling asleep in my chair, I bought a sleeping bag to put under my desk (didn't have enough time to go home and get the one I already had). So working through one weekend isn't something I can sympathise with, until you are hallucinating about Native Americans walking down the hallway, you don't know what crunch time is.
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This is a very accurate summary of the industry.

If you want those high level contract jobs, expect to work like a slave for years. Just having your certs will not do it.
 
I just don't get the point of the article.

I have no real skills, and took a temp QA job in the gaming industry, and they expected me to do a QA job. It's an unskilled job, but I deserve a raise for being present and should be hired full time, but the company didn't see it that way!
 
You just do no shit in your own back yard unless you never expect to go there again and even then it will splash back on you. Fool.
 
Reading this article:

93764-DataLaughing_gif.gif
 
Here's something I have learned about jobs.

Jobs are supply and demand like everything else.
If it sounds like it might be fun, then it either will pay low, have poor working conditions / hours, or both.
If it's something someone can do with little or no experience, there's a huge pool of workers available, and it will be low pay and/or poor working conditions.

What is at the intersection of those two? Video game QA. One of the crappiest of the crappy jobs. Go form a union and picket for more pay or more fair working conditions.... dozens of people will line up to cross the picket line and take your place... which means supply and demand are balanced. Don't like it? Do something else.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Yes. He is unskilled and uneducated. He took a shit job that basically only stoners take, expecting to get promoted to some sort of game/audio producer. Things rarely ever work that way, and it's usually more about luck than anything else if the moons align and you do get that promotion. At best, he may have been promoted to a low level management position, managing the other stoners.
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:rolleyes: Hard to see you up there on your high horse, man.

LeninGHOLA said:
And, wow! He once worked an entire weekend VOLUNTARILY. I did 100 hours of voluntary overtime in December and didn't expect a fucking medal for it. Then he asked for a dollar an hour raise after he had put in 2 weeks notice?
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He never said he asked for a raise after he put in his two weeks. Just because they were both in the same paragraph doesn't imply anything. In fact, he says "at the time of my announcement I had given up", meaning that he had asked prior to that and got nothing, so he gave up and put in his two weeks.
 
MavericK96 said:
:rolleyes: Hard to see you up there on your high horse, man.



He never said he asked for a raise after he put in his two weeks. Just because they were both in the same paragraph doesn't imply anything. In fact, he says "at the time of my announcement I had given up", meaning that he had asked prior to that and got nothing, so he gave up and put in his two weeks.
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I'm being realistic.

Read this -

In the end, I put my two week notice in, just about two weeks before Halo 4 was released. At this point we were already bugging DLC maps, I was assigned to what is now known as "Skyline" (another one that was my suggestion). At the time of my announcement, I had given up. Post Halo 4, I wanted some type of assurance. Who wouldn’t? I asked for a one-dollar raise, and never heard anything back. In fact, instead of learning in person, I had to call my temp agency, who then called Certain Affinity, who then called me back to say that CA denied it.
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He did ask for a raise after he had put in his two weeks. This guy sucks. He should have stayed with the music production he was actually making some money from.
 
Concillian said:
Here's something I have learned about jobs.

Jobs are supply and demand like everything else.
If it sounds like it might be fun, then it either will pay low, have poor working conditions / hours, or both.
If it's something someone can do with little or no experience, there's a huge pool of workers available, and it will be low pay and/or poor working conditions.

What is at the intersection of those two? Video game QA. One of the crappiest of the crappy jobs. Go form a union and picket for more pay or more fair working conditions.... dozens of people will line up to cross the picket line and take your place... which means supply and demand are balanced. Don't like it? Do something else.
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If it sounds fun, it could also require a specialized skill set. I make pretty decent money programming with great benefits, and I think it's fun, without being bent over a barrel for anything. No mandatory overtime, no real requirements for ass in chair time, etc. As long as I get my work done, nobody cares. Which is how every job should be, IMO.
 
The game industry no longer has the passion for making games. It's about making a dollar now. I'm sure his story would be different if he worked as QA tester in the early years of game development.
 
TeeJayHoward said:
Tell me more! I've always wondered about the $200/hour contractors who design, purchase, and set up whole networks or redesign AD forests from the ground up, then leave. How does one get into a field like that?
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Get a job with Microsofts Consulting team for an example.
 
Concillian said:
Here's something I have learned about jobs.

Jobs are supply and demand like everything else.
If it sounds like it might be fun, then it either will pay low, have poor working conditions / hours, or both.
If it's something someone can do with little or no experience, there's a huge pool of workers available, and it will be low pay and/or poor working conditions.

What is at the intersection of those two? Video game QA. One of the crappiest of the crappy jobs. Go form a union and picket for more pay or more fair working conditions.... dozens of people will line up to cross the picket line and take your place... which means supply and demand are balanced. Don't like it? Do something else.
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Agreed.

This is why I do not like unions. They think that basic work should get the same high pay as more difficult jobs. I am not one to belittle someone due to their job. If a job is required, then someone needs to do it. A person is no less important than the other if the job is required and it accomplishes a needful task. That being said. Not everyone is capable of doing the same jobs. There are some jobs out there that there are a large number of people capable to handle. These are typically lower paying jobs. Then there are jobs that a smaller portion of the population can do efficiently. These jobs get a higher pay.
 
After reading this article, he sounded entitled to me. He though he deserved to get a raise after working there less than a year. He also came off a big arrogant by name dropping the Maps that "he suggested". Im not sure were he though having a degree in audio production (or whatever it was) was going to get him promoted in a field of which he played video games. I myself am in the QA field but its web based and i deal alot with wed developers and DB programmers. Never in my entire life would I give my notice and turn into a shit bag and show up whenever I wanted, he burned that bridge to the ground and can't use them as a reference now. He just sounded like a hipster that didn't try that hard to get a real world job.
 
EchtoGammut said:
....working through one weekend isn't something I can sympathise with, until you are hallucinating about Native Americans walking down the hallway, you don't know what crunch time is.
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I admit, I laughed.
 
Actually he sounds like a typical starving artist and has painted a pretty bleak picture of himself. At the time 32yrs old, sells off all his stuff and moves in with his sister because other temporary/freelance things hadn't worked out. Where upon discovering he has a ton of extra time due to not having a job.

Then decides to fill his day with 8hrs of BF3. At that tims has an itch to "get back into the gaming industry". Proceeds to complain about an $11 an hour contract gig like he's an up and coming CEO and was promised he would one day run the company.

Throughout the article he reminds everyone a few times how he "works in the gaming industry". As though he's a long time pro and has held very important positions within. :rolleyes:
 
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