General Info on Aussie Game Dev

Submitted by TartanBoy on
Forum
Job and Work Experience

Hi to everyone on the boards,

I'm from the UK and I'm looking to move abroad to continue my games career. I'm currently considering USA, Canada and Oz.I'm looking for a good blend of lifestyle and career opportunites.

I'm committed to my current project therefore it'll be around 4-5 months from now before I could even consider leaving....I'm just doing some "homework" :)

From reading the boards, there seems to be a lot of helpful guys around.....I wondered if I could ask a few general questions about games dev in Oz?

1. Who are the top games companies in Oz that people want to work for? Are any of these "homegrown"? Ideally, I'd like to work for an Australia company, not the Australia branch of a US/UK company. And what type of games do they do?

2. What areas have the most companies around - seems like Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne.

3. What are the typical working hours like in Oz? I've worked some pretty hardcore hours over the years and have no problem with cruch-times...

4. Anything else relevant I should consider?

Thanks in advance for any help....

By the way, just to give you a little info on me - I've got 11 years industry experienced, 8 titles to my name, with a 9th currently in production, most of CV is programmer/lead coder work but last 3 title I'm defected to the dark side of game design and production!

Thanks

TartanBoy

Submitted by J I Styles on Tue, 20/09/05 - 6:14 PM Permalink

Just to quickly give you a few answers, I've mentioned it before to another UK based guy putting his feelers out that the Australian industry is a bit of a sardine can, and as such it's healthy practice not to name names, and to stay away from politics like the plague... that said, here's those quick answers:

1 - Vast majority of the successful studios worth considering for a career move (eg, not just another job), are unfortunately international branches or satellite studios. However, most of these are justly considered Aus dev studios anyways, since they're independant of their ties to a greater extent and just have the financial foundation and backing of their larger parents.

2 - Brisbane and Melbourne are the main hot-spots; next up to that is Sydney. Adelaide isn't a big contender for saturation of studios.

3 - Typical working hours... well there's the standard expectation of accepted crunch overtime, but generally you should also expect remuneration in return... whether it be cash, time off, or benefits, you -should- expect something back. There are the known companies that take advantage of the little juniors willing to sell their souls to work in the grand place known as The Games Industry, but anyone with a lick of experiance is usually smart enough to not let themselves be walked on like that.

4 - other things to consider - quality of life, not just for yourself but any others you'd be bringing with; cost of living; climates (It's kinda funny but you still get people amazed by the fact that Australia does have a variety of places with different climates, from the cliche desert, to the snowfields, to London-esque drizzle); Salary expectations and pay scale for the career route you want to pursue; quality of life at work (much different from general quality of life on your own time)... this ones more culture and environment in the workplace.

So... yah, expect a vast improvement on the quality of life standpoint. You should be able to push for a good package in a stable company with your experiance, and should be able to gain a very nice lifestyle with that.

Submitted by Red 5 on Tue, 20/09/05 - 6:30 PM Permalink

Hi Tartanboy, I'll try to answer your questions as honestly as I can so you're not under any illusions ;)

1. There are a number of homegrown companies here, obviously some more succesful than others, some large and some small.
Deciding which company you want to work for is an individual preference as you would know, usually based on the size, location and the type of games the company in question makes, and of course whether they're known for producing quality games.
I've heard of both good and bad experiences in just about every game studio here in Australia, just like most studios around the world... after 11 years in the industry I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from.

2. Brisbane and Melbourne are the 2 major game dev cities as far as numbers go.
I'm not positive, but either Sydney or Adelaide would be next.

3. Expect exactly the same as you're used to unfortunately.

4. Keep and eye on recruitment agencies such as datascope, and just one more thing... Brisbane is hot in the summer but has an amazing winter, and Melbourne... well, let's just say you should feel at home there ;)

Good luck mate!

Submitted by TartanBoy on Wed, 21/09/05 - 4:29 AM Permalink

Thanks Guys,

This is just the kind of thing I was looking for. This forum and the Aussie reputation for being very helpful continues!

As I said, it'll be a number of months before I do move but I'll continue to browse these boards to glean more info on Aussie dev, and should I come out to Oz, I'll stand you guys a beer! :)

Thanks again for the info

TartanBoy

Posted by TartanBoy on
Forum
Job and Work Experience

Hi to everyone on the boards,

I'm from the UK and I'm looking to move abroad to continue my games career. I'm currently considering USA, Canada and Oz.I'm looking for a good blend of lifestyle and career opportunites.

I'm committed to my current project therefore it'll be around 4-5 months from now before I could even consider leaving....I'm just doing some "homework" :)

From reading the boards, there seems to be a lot of helpful guys around.....I wondered if I could ask a few general questions about games dev in Oz?

1. Who are the top games companies in Oz that people want to work for? Are any of these "homegrown"? Ideally, I'd like to work for an Australia company, not the Australia branch of a US/UK company. And what type of games do they do?

2. What areas have the most companies around - seems like Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne.

3. What are the typical working hours like in Oz? I've worked some pretty hardcore hours over the years and have no problem with cruch-times...

4. Anything else relevant I should consider?

Thanks in advance for any help....

By the way, just to give you a little info on me - I've got 11 years industry experienced, 8 titles to my name, with a 9th currently in production, most of CV is programmer/lead coder work but last 3 title I'm defected to the dark side of game design and production!

Thanks

TartanBoy

Submitted by J I Styles on Tue, 20/09/05 - 6:14 PM Permalink

Just to quickly give you a few answers, I've mentioned it before to another UK based guy putting his feelers out that the Australian industry is a bit of a sardine can, and as such it's healthy practice not to name names, and to stay away from politics like the plague... that said, here's those quick answers:

1 - Vast majority of the successful studios worth considering for a career move (eg, not just another job), are unfortunately international branches or satellite studios. However, most of these are justly considered Aus dev studios anyways, since they're independant of their ties to a greater extent and just have the financial foundation and backing of their larger parents.

2 - Brisbane and Melbourne are the main hot-spots; next up to that is Sydney. Adelaide isn't a big contender for saturation of studios.

3 - Typical working hours... well there's the standard expectation of accepted crunch overtime, but generally you should also expect remuneration in return... whether it be cash, time off, or benefits, you -should- expect something back. There are the known companies that take advantage of the little juniors willing to sell their souls to work in the grand place known as The Games Industry, but anyone with a lick of experiance is usually smart enough to not let themselves be walked on like that.

4 - other things to consider - quality of life, not just for yourself but any others you'd be bringing with; cost of living; climates (It's kinda funny but you still get people amazed by the fact that Australia does have a variety of places with different climates, from the cliche desert, to the snowfields, to London-esque drizzle); Salary expectations and pay scale for the career route you want to pursue; quality of life at work (much different from general quality of life on your own time)... this ones more culture and environment in the workplace.

So... yah, expect a vast improvement on the quality of life standpoint. You should be able to push for a good package in a stable company with your experiance, and should be able to gain a very nice lifestyle with that.

Submitted by Red 5 on Tue, 20/09/05 - 6:30 PM Permalink

Hi Tartanboy, I'll try to answer your questions as honestly as I can so you're not under any illusions ;)

1. There are a number of homegrown companies here, obviously some more succesful than others, some large and some small.
Deciding which company you want to work for is an individual preference as you would know, usually based on the size, location and the type of games the company in question makes, and of course whether they're known for producing quality games.
I've heard of both good and bad experiences in just about every game studio here in Australia, just like most studios around the world... after 11 years in the industry I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from.

2. Brisbane and Melbourne are the 2 major game dev cities as far as numbers go.
I'm not positive, but either Sydney or Adelaide would be next.

3. Expect exactly the same as you're used to unfortunately.

4. Keep and eye on recruitment agencies such as datascope, and just one more thing... Brisbane is hot in the summer but has an amazing winter, and Melbourne... well, let's just say you should feel at home there ;)

Good luck mate!

Submitted by TartanBoy on Wed, 21/09/05 - 4:29 AM Permalink

Thanks Guys,

This is just the kind of thing I was looking for. This forum and the Aussie reputation for being very helpful continues!

As I said, it'll be a number of months before I do move but I'll continue to browse these boards to glean more info on Aussie dev, and should I come out to Oz, I'll stand you guys a beer! :)

Thanks again for the info

TartanBoy