[emtel]

> What is it about game development field that makes it so labor intensive with consistent overtimes?

I helped lead a team that built and shipped a 3D multiplayer game from scratch with a custom engine. I went into it expecting it to be harder than I thought it would be, and it was harder still.

I think the thing that makes game dev fundamentally harder than other types of software is that most software products solve a problem or take away pain. So they only have to be good enough that the user is better off using the product than not using it. And there are still many problems out there that people face for which there is no solution. So even an imperfect solution might be quite good.

Games on the other hand have to be so good that playing them is more fun/appealing/rewarding than the next best thing the player might do with those hours.

While the technical challenges in some types of games are daunting, I suspect that even technically simpler games like 2d platformers are probably much harder to develop now than they were a few decades ago, due to necessity of competing against every other activity the player has to choose from.

[mattbrewsbytes]

I think this hits the nail on the head.

There is a low barrier to solving someone's pain in creating a typical CRUD app. Its easy to pick an industry, find an application that could use some newer features and create something. Copying feature parity involves little creative work.

There is no ceiling on making a game fun to play. Creative, fun ways to do crafting, leveling, fighting, puzzles, etc. can engage players to come back and replay content infinitely if that is the goal.

[JabavuAdams]

This is a good observation. You can have a feature list for a game and complete every one (hah, who am I kidding!), but if the end product isn't fun, so what? It's not going to be successful, and all your effort is wasted.

There's the in-principle estimatable work to implement all of the game systems and then there's all the other unpredictable work to actually make the damn thing fun.

Feature-creep is endemic because creative directors/stake-holders can just move the goalposts or insist on their pet features / vision.

[johnnyanmac]

good post, but to be pedantic:

>I suspect that even technically simpler games like 2d platformers are probably much harder to develop now than they were a few decades ago, due to necessity of competing against every other activity the player has to choose

I'd say they are harder to *succeed* than a few decades back. Especially for indies. Development is easier than ever with tools and assets available for no cost (during development at least).

e.g. If you make a platformer in 2008 and get it on a store for $20, you would probably get a decent following just because you managed to get it on the store.

If you make the same game in 2020, even if it was a really good game, it's harder to be noticed and gamers will always have "but is it as good as Hollow Knight/Celeste" in the back of their heads. Games that each spent years refining their mechanics and ultimately sold for $20 each. Games that right now sell for $10. It indirectly buries and caps your market to try and compete there.