Interview with a CodeImp

[Rex Claussen]

My interview with Pascal van der Heiden, whose trademark is CodeImp, has been posted.

[Rachael]

This is a very interesting interview, I found his response about working for a game company particularly interesting, but yet so unsurprising considering the state of the industry today.

I think working on video games can be a dream job ... if you AREN'T in one of those big super macho companies. But then again, it does not matter what you do - work for any company at all with 300 or more people, and you ARE treated like shit - no matter your profession. You could be getting paid to sleep by said company and they'll find some way to make you feel utterly terrible for it.

[Rex Claussen]

This is a very interesting interview, I found his response about working for a game company particularly interesting, but yet so unsurprising considering the state of the industry today.

I think working on video games can be a dream job ... if you AREN'T in one of those big super macho companies. But then again, it does not matter what you do - work for any company at all with 300 or more people, and you ARE treated like shit - no matter your profession. You could be getting paid to sleep by said company and they'll find some way to make you feel utterly terrible for it.

Not being in the gaming industry, I was a little surprised to hear Pascal's take on being a part of the commercial gaming scene. But then, upon reflection, I realized that he is experiencing nothing different from someone in the corporate world, where artistic expression is often given second place to profits. So I am in agreement with some of what you said. The part about large companies treating their employees like shit is not always true, however. If you have a good manager, you can often be buffered from the vagaries of corporate meddling.

[CodeImp]

Glad to see you like the interview. But I disagree with your opinion on large companies. I currently work for a large international corporation and things work very different here. Everything is well planned, no stress and much better salaries. Everything has its downside too: My current job is not as creative as game development can be. But creativity can't be an excuse for the work environment/circumstances or salaries in the game industry though. I'm not sure what makes the differences, but it doesn't depend on large or small per se (the game company I worked for was around 30 people only). Maybe it is the experience of the industry (the game industry is very young and often works with young people and internships who don't know any better) or the financial position of a company.

[Rex Claussen]

....the game industry is very young and often works with young people and internships who don't know any better....

Young people tend to be free thinkers and allow their creativity to emerge more than older people. Some industries (and companies) encourage such expression. However, when a company grows, and in particular when it goes public, there is a great deal of obligation to be financially profitable. Sometimes, the emphasis is on short-term profits, which then tends to squeeze the employees. If the employees are younger, then it becomes easier to squeeze them. But I agree that this is not universally the case.

Staying on topic: Who'd have thought that an interview primarily about DooM-related stuff would generate such a level of discussion on corporate motivations and employee expectations. Excellent!

[Rachael]

Well I am sure there are exceptions to every rule, but I have never personally had good experience with major companies, especially ones that are publicly owned.

In the case of publicly owned companies, the problems can often be traced back to investors, whose only motivation is their own self-gain in the company. I've heard the excuse before - "we do things the way we do because we have a responsibility to the investor." They often fail to consider the domino effect with how they treat their employees, which always ultimately comes right back to them and hurts the very people they're trying to please - in more ways than one.