[quasimodem]

I started my career in a traditional tech role and quickly grew to hate it.

I used my savings to fund a 2-year sabbatical in which I wrote my own game engine using C++ and LUA (this was in the dark days of XNA, no Unity yet).

Towards the end of my sabbatical, I went to GDC and started getting involved in the scene and used my game engine to apply to AAA studios. I eventually landed a job in Vancouver BC and went to work at an amazing studio for the next 5 years, which gave me enough time to meet some co-conspirators and start my own studio.

After 5 years of hellish work, intense stress, and poverty wages, we created https://store.steampowered.com/app/656350/UnderMine/ which found enough success to make another game. It destroyed several relationships, burned me all the way out several times over, and caused me to tear my retina I was at the computer so much. It's hard to be honest with myself about what I would have done if the game had flopped.

So it's certainly possible to go from traditional tech into games. It can take a while. Everyone's path is different. Be prepared for some life-altering downsides to the games industry, especially on the indie side.

[zubspace]

Wow, love your game! Interesting to hear the story behind it.

I just came out of Ludum Dare this weekend and always play with the thought of entering the indie game dev scene, but I'm just too afraid of leaving my stable dev job.

[quasimodem]

Thanks!! Of course there's much more to the story and most of it is awesome. I just use those points to drive home how hard indie dev is.