A little back story on me. I spent 7 years in the game industry. I was an avid game player and went through the ranks at a number of game studios in Austin, including Human Code, Aspyr, and IonStorm. This lead me to having some really good friends in the industry.
As part of my time in Seattle, I visited with friends at both Valve and Bungie studios. These are both pinnacles of the video game industry. Top tier companies. Great people at both companies and the companies really take care of their people. I thought that I might see the environments and the crazy awesome stuff that they were working on and feel like I wanted to be a part of that again.
But I didn’t. And they are working on some crazy cool stuff.
I’m making less than I ever have for what amounts to late nights and hard(er) physical labor.
And I couldn’t be happier. I work around 25 hours a week and I make enough to make rent and bills. When I’m done with my hours, I don’t think about my job. I explore photography, I hang out with friends, I settle in to myself and my home.
I don’t think I can go back, not even for these amazing companies. Not that they asked. Maybe I shouldn’t have worn my “Your Mom” tshirt.
In the movie Ed Wood, Orson Welles says to Ed, “Visions are worth fighting for. Why spend your life making someone else’s dreams?” That quote has stuck with me, and I’m spending my life working on my own dreams now. It would be hard to go back.
