Game Dev: Are You TOO OLD To Start?

[@Dailyfiver]

Stan Lee didn’t start drawing his first comic book until he was basically 40. You’re never too old to follow your passion.

[@midniteoilsoftware]

I started game development during the early stages of the pandemic and without stating my age I will admit that I am on the older side. I think it really comes down to talent + passion + resources + time + effort (and maybe a little bit of luck).

[@sasquatchbgames]

Couldn't agree more!

[@claireglory]

lets just say a friend of a friend works in AAA company in japan. he started in his late 30's. so no.

[@Seancstudiogames]

Excellent video! I’m 50 and believe I can make games. I have advantages though. -older kids -established good career -Am goal oriented and have a plan -developer background -Aware that time management has be my “point game” Great video, I subscribed as well.

[@m4rt_]

If Jonathan Blow (who is around 51 years old, who made Braid at age 37, and The witness at age 45, and is currntly wokring on Sokoban and a programming language named Jai ), and John Carmack (who is around 52 years old, and made Wolfenstain 3D at age 22, the original doom at 23, the original quake at 26, and is now doing stuff for Oculus) can do Game Dev, then yes... you can do gamedev. And no, you can't be too old for gamedev.

[@OmegaF77]

It's like asking "Are you too old to draw?" It's a silly question.

[@chazlewis8114]

Great vid! I launched my first game 2 years ago at the ripe old age of 38. Honestly, I would not have been able to release a successful game in my 20s. If anything being older is a huge advantage. Better business skills, less frivolous distractions, better time management skills, etc.

[@sasquatchbgames]

That's awesome! What's the name of your game? I wouldn't have been able to stick to a project for more than a month in my 20s lol. Too many shiny ideas that grab my attention

[@chazlewis8114]

@@sasquatchbgames I've released "Pedro's Adventures in Spanish" and "Linguist FPS". They werent huge releases but they've made us enough money to live off as a 2 person studio (Myself as artist and my girlfriend as a programmer) Similar to your situation, so it can be done!

[@ITAngel]

@@chazlewis8114 Nice nice, what game engine did you use for your games? I been testing and bouncing between Unity and Unreal Engine at the age of 45. With a family and 2 kids and working in the Information technology field in the operation department. I currently lack programming skills but do enjoy tinkering when I can work with the languages. I attempted my first game jam in 10 days with Unreal Engine using visual scripting and that was pretty fun and a bit stressful.

[@RealCoachMustafa]

I'm in a similar situation. 36 years old, married, 2 kids, full time job, and don't even have time to play games.

[@sasquatchbgames]

I get that for sure. So many things to do and only so many hours in the day

[@DrIngo1980]

I (44, m) only got around to watch this video now. And boy oh boy, this was eye opening and very, very encouraging actually. I have no clue about actual game dev, but I have 20+ years of commercial business application development (mobile, web, client+server [anyone remember this actually?]) and I always dreamed of doing some kind of game dev on the side. Maybe I'll give it a try some of these days (you know, before I die of a heart attack age 47 or something lol).

[@thehypersonicegg5540]

Very high video production quality especialy for a channel of this size its hard to belive you arent growing much faster im sure it will speed up eventualy though

[@sasquatchbgames]

That's so nice to hear, thanks so much! Keeping our noses to the grindstone, hopefully it'll start paying off soon :D

[@arturodelreal]

I'm 44 years old and I'd like to start to learn and make vg, I'd like to focus in games of Virtual Reality, I think is the future in games. Thanks for the video!

[@sasquatchbgames]

Best of luck!

[@jamesmatson463]

Im 37, your comment is a year old, so its been a while, but I downloaded unity 3 days ago. Its comments like yours that let me know you dont have to be 22 to start this.

[@yobeenocreative6984]

I am 49. Worked in game dev studios 11 years and most of the folks I worked with were my age or older. Much experience with the older gen.

[@m4rt_]

I personally have a full time job as a developer. And I do Game Dev, and general programming in my spare time. As well as also doing some cyber security in my spare time :)

[@sasquatchbgames]

Holy crap, that's really impressive!

[@TESkyrimizer]

I have plenty of older senior programmers and team managers at my old job. They were very smart folk. Age is not much of an issue if they are managing teams of people and projects worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[@flashheart1676]

For me, I like to ask the question, "What would I like to be doing with my life at age 100"! If the answer is "making games" , then the question about being TOO OLD doesn't matter, does it? I have friends who have retired and now have NOTHING to do. It's sad for me to see this. I'm 64, I try to stay healthy and MAKE VIDEO GAMES. It's my passion, and I will be doing this 10 years , 20 years , and maybe even 40 years from now. And, like everyone here, a successful game would be nice, but it's not what wakes me up in the morning (oh wait, it is! ). Anyway, I really like your series. And no, you will NEVER be too old for this.

[@Fefs-yi1gf]

Thanks for sharing this one, definitely resonates with me, the embarassment factor is there, I usually say I'm a translator or something like that to get rid of the unconforable questions, hope I can overcome that. Cheers ✌

[@Tenchinu]

got cut right at the beginning of the pandemic... and had to go back to retail and fast food for a while, but in all that time I was just studying and working in my own 3D stuff. I did eventually get a job related to the industry, and now all my free time is to study 3D and game dev even harder!! It is a little late in life, but... I mean, wft. Its learning and doing something I adore, or going back to a job I RRRRRRRRRRRRLY never wanna do again for... fuck, not even the same salary. Rather die poor than miserable

[@sasquatchbgames]

Im sorry to hear about the cut, but that’s really awesome and inspiring how you landed a job in the industry! Congrats man!

[@Tenchinu]

@@sasquatchbgames naaaa! tons of people got cut everywhere. Plus, it was only BECAUSE i got cut that i went for it. Glad i did :)

[@eightsprites]

Good point on 95% fail, but so do 95% of all startups. I never thought of that!

[@AmirBautista-s2w]

I tought programing is like a lego that once you learn how to use, it will be easy to do complex build but I was wrong programming is like painting a realistic art that no matter what you do you cant finish it in a very short time because every detail you have do it meticulously.

[@owdoogames]

I'm 20 years older than you. I played my first video game in 1980 (Space Invaders), but I only started trying out game dev as a hobby 3 years ago in lockdown. I really wish I'd started 20 years ago, and had access to the tools we have now! I've messed around with almost all the main game engines and frameworks since March 2020 - GameMaker, Construct, Gdevelop, Defold, Godot, Love2D, Monogame, RayLib, Bevy, Unreal, Unity and Flax. But I still can't decide which one to focus on, though have started work on 5 different projects in Godot, and done a lot of the official Unity Learn pathway stuff. I've only completed a few little 2D games. I've about half-a-dozen larger game ideas sketched out, mostly 2D but a few 3D, which is why I've been investigating Unity, Unreal and Flax (Godot is still not quite up to scratch yet for 3D, I don't think). I'm feeling a bit burned out if I'm honest. Just trying to decide which engine to use for a project gets me down, and I feel like I've been wasting a lot of my time and energy learning too much inconsequential stuff. This was supposed to be fun.

[@aaronasissoard1098]

Since I’ve started I’ve had similar experiences but through research it seems to be reoccurring advice to pick just one engine and learn it. Sure it’s okay to try out multiple but find an engine that lets you get your project done. Like for example no need to learn unreal engine if you aren’t trying to do more than 60% of what the engine offers. You wouldn’t go to McDonald’s when you are wanting spaghetti 🙃 hope that helps. I’m still new to this but I thought that your comment was worth responding to with what I learned so far

[@iiropeltonen]

I like how you've Been really Open about your insecurities in these few videos. When Will Nicky star in a devlog?

[@sasquatchbgames]

Nothing big planned currently, but she’ll make little appearances here and there. And thanks!

[@threeqs2424]

Just seen this video. Very helpful. When you are 20 you are too young. When you are 30 you are too busy. When you are 40 you have financial commitments. When you are 50 you need to save for retirement. When you are 60 you need to protect your money and prepare to retire. When you are 70 you think you are too old. When you are 80 you are thinking about the next life. When you are 90 you are probably in that next life. Never a good time apart from today, now, this minute…!

[@vast634]

Never to old to take up a hobby. But real life limits what you can do full time given the risk and reward. At 19 doodeling some years away without a monetary reward is one thing, at 40 totally another.

[@NicoMarcucci]

Very well written video and I appreciate the perspective. (I dont really get the comic relief bits, though. not sure they helped)

[@sasquatchbgames]

Thanks, And fair enough, thanks for the feedback!

[@inferno057]

very good subject decryption but i would like to know your opinion on working for a game company not creating your own game how hard is it to find a job in gaming industry and is it a viable career option and how much learning time is needed to prentend landing a full time job at gaming company

[@starrs802]

Hey i freshly turned 24 Im doing my entrance exam in order to be able to study next year. I would start with the study when i freashly turned 25. And would study till 27 Im actually afraid that i wont fit in anymore. Can someone who has an idea of the average age in that kind of educational field Tell me if 25 still fits in or if i would stick out too much? (I would study it regardles since its my dream but it would be great if i hafe an idea of what i get into😅)

[@xanderpixel281]

I am doing game development in my free little time as a hobby, I am in your situation just did not took the risk.

[@sasquatchbgames]

Gotcha. Good luck on your project! What are you working on if you don't mind me asking?

[@xanderpixel281]

@@sasquatchbgames Thank you! I am working on a Tetris shooter game. One player tries to make block lines to blow up the other player inside the Tetris game that is using shield and shooting power to blow the blocks up (depending on stamina). The other player tries to smash him with blocks and if the other player doges and manages to get up to the top, wins ! its still a work in progress. Hope it made sense!

[@Pla7ypuz]

I am 14 and watch This video anyway idk why

[@funnelvortex7722]

When you're young they tell you you're too young, when you're old they tell you you're too old, you're never the "correct" age for anything, so why bother listening to them? Age only matters for: drinking, driving, voting, military, legality, consent, and collecting retirement. Everything else is people talking BS.

[@Tertion]

I'm exactly at the same point you are (minous the family...)

[@shavais33]

The guy who has reached a point where he can play or make video games all day every day? Has "made it." They beat the video game of life. The person who sold their house to try to do that is a protagonist in a super hero story. kzbin.info/www/bejne/raeTYqOfiqdpq68&ab_channel=K%27RtoonExpress The Wife of such a person, who is supportive and sticks around, is The Cullinan. No, she is The Koh-I-Noor.

[@MineSRV246]

14 is early?

[@QDetective]

i might be too young in fact

[@sasquatchbgames]

That’s awesome! the younger you can start, the better

[@engineerbill7140]

YES (i am 23)

[@Coco-gg5vp]

First

[@sebastianhall8150]

You win this time