Howard Daft

Jobs I’ve had in order: Lawn Care Woodworking Subway Sandwich Artist Truck stop Dishwasher Movie Theatre Usher Web Designer Animator (JR - Games) Animator (Freelance) Animator (Com) Lead 3d Animator (Com) Animator (Film) Lead Animator (Film) Assoc. Anim Supe (Film)

Yeah as much as I’m an advocate for people being entrepreneurial I know it’s not so simple. In my recent post telling people to make games I had someone judge me for telling people to eat ramen and endure. But that’s the reality of many poor entrepreneurs. I was broke when I started my first business, didn’t even qualify for unemployment due to an injury. It can be done but you sacrifice so much and it’s hard work. Nothings as simple as ‘just start your own business’. You have to embrace a lot of suck. It’s a gamble though, and for many that’s not feasible :/

So let’s talk prospects for juniors. Yeah so, it was already hard for juniors to find roles before gAI and this crash. I’m not going to sugar coat this. Most big studios have their own art teams in cheaper countries in east Asia, east Europe or India. Those that don’t have their own, use outsource which has exploded in popularity. Studios were already closing up junior roles and sending the work out to cheaper countries. A lot of outsource also use an army of contractors, so there’s an even lower commitment to staff. Contractors can also be global so you’re competing with a much larger talent pool with suppressed wages. Freelance and outsource artists usually work in bubbles, many lack real development experience. Outsource is completely different to working in a full development team. Fight me. Most art outsource artists and freelancers don’t deal with integration or even work with the clients creative teams directly. There’s some exceptions, but the vast majority don’t. We already lack competent seniors and it’s about to get worse. We’re going to have a generation of artists who can’t even use source control. Great hard skills from only doing art, bad soft skills and lacking so much knowledge about the processes and workflows that tie art to other disciplines. With the rise of gAI it’s going to cut 2D roles. Countries where outsource goes will likely not have many if any restrictive laws. And now the industry is going through a reset it will be even harder to get studio roles when you’re competing with experienced juniors and even desperate mids. Some of you will find work, most of you won’t. Placement rates were already low. And universities are churning out thousands of new hopefuls every year. Many studios will likely not be hiring for a while after giving up so much talent. The sad thing is because of the job shortages any studio that treated staff poorly in the layoffs will be overlooked by applicants desperate for work regardless. I wish I knew what to say to those of you looking to move into games to give you hope but the truth is it’s hard and it’s going to be hard a while yet. This is now an endurance race. Some studios are still hiring but there is more talent than positions. This is why recruitment companies are struggling and closing too. They aren’t needed in this climate. So what to do? While you’re still young and lacking commitments, do gamejams. Work with other graduates and potential juniors. Make games. There’s little investment money out there I firmly believe good games can be built by small scrappy teams. Build many small games, they might not make money, but there’s always a chance. Eat ramen, work hard. Take commissions or part time work to get you by. - in a few years when things settle, even if you are freelancing you will actually understand gamedev and be a stronger candidate for in-house positions. - you might find success and have your own studio! There’s no reason not to. Just doing art likely isn’t enough. You guys have to understand what you’re competing with. Here’s a sprinkle of hope. This year I’ll be doing some AMAs and putting together some resources on how to build effective creative teams. Where most small teams fail is on the business side. So I’m going to be doing a lot of knowledge sharing here to help small teams get started. If anyone needs any support with this reach out to me any time. I can help with - project planning - marketability - budgeting - production - pitching - business strategy It’s only over if you give up.