[soggybutter]

I would've focused on game engine development and gone into the game industry instead of chasing the money in web/web-adjacent tech. It's almost impossible to make that kind of change now without taking a massive pay cut and it genuinely makes me sad almost daily

[chubot]

I think you have to take a pay cut regardless

I worked in games ~20 years ago at my first job, and then got a huge increase when I moved outside the games industry

Games just don't pay well. I respect people who do it for the love and art of it. As far as I can see, low pay is part of the deal.

There is the outside chance of a massive hit, but most game devs aren't owners, and risk is proportional to reward

[tarruda]

Becoming an indie game developer on spare time could make you happy

[soggybutter]

I've made several half-attempts at this over the years, but it always ends up falling to the wayside when life gets hectic. Maybe one of these days I'll finally push through though!

[cyclotron3k]

Could you work on an open-source game engine in your spare time, then use that to pivot across? And/or get a web-dev job in a games company and then try to get an internal transfer?

[soggybutter]

My wife has suggested the latter a few times and it definitely seems like the most realistic approach. I have a small game engine I've worked on off and on again over the last few years, but it never feels like I have enough time to make real progress

[TillE]

If you're into game engine development and C++, Godot is very accessible for new contributors. It's a great place to explore that stuff while also making (small or large) contributions which will actually get used and appreciated by a growing number of serious game developers.