Quality of Life in the Game Industry

It's very unusual to see something like happiness being discussed in press releases and industry white papers. A paper published by the IGDA (International Game Developers Association), titled "Quality of Life in the Game Industry: Challenges and Best Practices", does just that. Some of the alarming findings from the survey include: 34.3% of developers expect to leave the industry within 5 years (and 51.2% within 10 years), crunch time is omnipresent, overtime is often uncompensated and spouses are likely to respond "You are always stressed out." (43.5%). The IGDA paper not only diagnoses the current situation but gives some excellent advice on how to improve the quality of life in our work environments. A must read. A couple of short excerpts from IGDA's paper:

"Some within the industry consider long hours, high pressure and generally poor quality of life as normal, or even as signs of strength to be bragged about. We do not. No enlightened company should, either: one of the surprising findings of the IGDA Quality of Life Survey is that the majority of game developers now consider games to be only one of many valid career choices for them, not the be-all and end-all that industry folklore still holds dear. As projects get ever bigger and we have to compete with companies like Qualcomm, HP and Pixar for talent, we just can't afford to drive our best people away by offering comparatively mediocre quality of life conditions."

"For young career-oriented people fresh out of school, our industry's shortcomings, with its endemic long hours and 95% marketplace failure rate, may not always seem obvious or crippling. But after a few years, all-nighters fuelled by coffee and pizza lose much of their appeal. Most people come to want significant relationships, a more balanced life, and sometimes, children as well."