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It's pretty much dead on. When I was first in the game industry I was in QA..the lowest rung on the ladder. I pulled 80-90 hour weeks 10 months out of the year and slept in my cube probably 6 days a week. The longest week I ever pulled was 103 hours when we finaled Falcon 4. The only good thing during that time was Californina still payed overtime and doubletime so I was rolling in cash but I no time to spend it or do anything with it.
A good buddy of mine worked on the past few sims/urbs games and recently left EA because of these tactics. He would work 20 hours a day for months, ship a game, get a month off and then go back to the same grind again.
I get comments all the time like "oh, your job must be so easy and fun...you make and play games all day!" I just smile and nod, I do love what I do and am damn glad I'm not pumping gas or busting my ass doing construction(nothing against you blue collar guys!). But in the end it comes down to it being a job and a very demanding job. Missing a ship date usually equals thousands of dollars in sales and execs do not like that at all.
There are some perks though...get to see all the newest games before anyone else, work with some real interesting people. Seeing new technology is always a blast also.
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- And so he says, 'I don't like the cut of your jib.' And I go I says, IT'S THE ONLY JIB I GOT, BABY! -
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