Game Industry LAYOFFS Is this the end?

[@plutosisland7742]

Hey y'all I've been trying to break in for YEARS and I saw all of the layoffs and seriously wanted to give up. I've interviewed so many times and always get the "there was someone else with 10-20 years of experience sorry" but I finally made it into a small indie studio last week. Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.

[@oscarchavezart]

Good stuff, and congratulations.

[@zinzolin14]

I'm happy for you! Wishing you the best of luck on your position! I'm on the same search, but also drawing regularly and maintaining a presence on social media with my art. I'm beginning to start my freelancing journey while still looking for opportunities in a studio, hopefully be able make this work.

[@Miochh]

Congrats, so happy for you! Hard work pays off even if it takes long to get results.

[@The_JINX]

Congratulations! If you don't mind me asking, where did you look for indie studios that were hiring?

[@amac8652]

exactly what i needed to hear right now, thank you

[@consilo]

i got laid off from my job as a game engineer. now im living off savings and trying to get the indie game i animate ready for publishers. life is crazy sometimes, wish me luck. see you on the other side, trent

[@TrentKaniuga]

Good luck! You got this!

[@pokekingdomthehedgehog99]

Good luck man I hope it goes well 🎉❤

[@doris3026]

Are you good now ?

[@consilo]

@@doris3026 it depends what you define as good. I'm still unemployed and my savings have run out, but our game is on steam, I'm not out on the streets, and i still have a fire in my heart to make artful entertainment. never lose sight of what's important to you.

[@neverwin2518]

I think everybody believes working in the video game industry is going to be their dream job until they find out they're going to be looking for a new job every 18 months

[@ArtDadDraws]

This is way more true if you're doing AAA. The AA/Indie space seems far more stable as long as teams are a manageable size and games perform well.

[@tigerija]

This is kinda true.

[@solarmkarus2845]

Yup as someone whose in games this is fact. Indie are even worse because they dont have budget to hire.

[@pennylavendar6362]

It's almost like when a project is over you're not going to just keep paying someone to do nothing. What a wild concept for artists apparently.

[@neverwin2518]

@@pennylavendar6362 it’s not even about “paying someone to do nothing” so much, as most game studios move onto new projects relatively quickly or even concurrently. It’s more about keeping costs down over long time horizons by keeping as few senior team members as is necessary to keep things afloat. When you hire a new slate of artists you can start them at a lower pay scale than if you kept giving your old artists a raise. Obviously a great strategy for a company looking to minimize development costs, but not so great for artists looking for job security. Not saying it’s good or bad as it depends on perspective, but it’s certainly a reality that many artists are unaware of starting out.

[@watertribelife1280]

Working in the industry was definitely my dream job. The people the atmosphere the artists. Felt like a second run at being in art school. Even the company made a big deal about " We brought in all this money just to retain our artists." They've never had a layoff in 20 years and then BOOM swept up in a wave of layoffs, with no real back up plan and about 2 months worth of rent left. Best thing to do is shake it off network and keep applying.

[@action-b4st4rd87]

Went from freaking out, to hyped, thanks man!

[@j.2512]

keep in mind Trent is selling art courses so of course his line will be that you should pursue art and buy more instruction.

[@irawiter]

So true.. Lost a job due to war, continued studies in the art field in another country, job searching with all the lay-offs and economic situation is quest to say the least, but anyway, it is indeed a key to just keep going and work on skills and portfolio💪 It will get better

[@Leumas_Illustrated]

Thank you for being a voice of hope in these trying times.

[@Vegaboosterx]

Idk, man. I hear you, but I also hear a lot of stories about companies firing all their art department, just to keep one or two guys fixing their trashy AI art. I've been fired too from one of those companies and been trying to go back to the game industry for some months now, with no luck. It's way easier for people who already worked on big studios, like Riot or Blizzard, cause they have a lot of contacts and that big brand on their portfolio. But for us that worked on smaller companies, future looks barren on that front.

[@williammclean6594]

I just do art for hobbies but I'd love to work for like a company one day. But it's looking pretty scary. If there's no regulation on AI art and not just with art, it looks like they want to automate everything. So in 5 to 20 years maybe like 80% of jobs will be gone. And I guess you know It's good that we don't have to work if machines can do everything, but personally I would want to have a job just to feel fulfilled. You know doing something meaningful. You know I have hobbies and stuff like that but I still would want to have a job that I like

[@annawaiq6360]

If you believe it is barren for you, exactly that is going to happen.

[@Icecold_Art]

I can relate man, just got fired as well.

[@williammclean6594]

@@Icecold_Art I don't think it's a very stable career. Unless you have your own business. You're probably going to get laid off quite a bit. It's like seasonal work. You get a job until a project is done. Then you have to find a new job once it's over. Rinse and repeat

[@Icecold_Art]

@@williammclean6594 Not in my case, I was working at company for nearly 4 years. And the project is still going, as there are others. These are "just" company cuts, as the shareholders need to be pleased by the CEOs. But this is true, this industry is very unreliable, so being used to being flexible is the only thing you can do about it.

[@metternich05]

I'm not sure this video is as optimistic as everyone here seems to think. It seems a contradiction that the video game industry is extremely volatile but on the other hand studios are making big $$$ and games/movies are constantly being churned out. But who wants to work in a totally unpredictable industry? The future is grim. The only takeaway I could grab is: save up your money and don't spend it all. A basic wisdom but it's applicable to any life situation and has little to do with the current miserable state of the job market in the game/vfx industry. At least some vfx studios started to unionize recently. If anything, the root problem is that studio managements have too much power while employees are entirely powerless even though they would have tremendous blackmailing potential. The writers strike demonstrated that perfectly.

[@TrentKaniuga]

Maybe those employees should start their own companies?

[@metternich05]

@@TrentKaniuga I'm sure some of them do, like yourself, Trent :) Which is the most desirable career path for anyone. I know it has its own risks but large studio CEOs and stakeholders (I won't name names but we all know them) get insanely rich while the people who actually make them rich are at the mercy of their mood swings. I don't want to sound like a communist but this system is just out of balance and needs fixing. Apparently it's not the problem that there's no business any more and they can't make a buck off their games. They sell more than ever.

[@CompactJitters]

Well Said! Thank you for sharing. Your videos always feel positive and hopeful, but honest. This advice also applies to all industries. The gaming industry was not the only industry with massive layoffs. It just seems to be more talked about and it has been my experience all corporations go through an ebb and flow of layoffs and hiring booms.

[@luizprado5859]

they are just firing people to re-hire a new team... with lower salaries

[@j.2512]

replacing veteran artists with indians with midjourney

[@hollowedboi5937]

What scares me is seeing how a lot of my peers and people online are talking about doing schooling, a part time, and a full-time at the same time while also posting how great their lives are but not being able to pay for everything. There's a lot of contradictions there from what you see versus reality and so much overworking themselves to have a hustle and side hustle and hustling that hustle and everything becomes work. I understand if its dire and they gotta do something to get by, but on those levels its seems unmanageable how frustrated and sleep deprived they are. I'm afraid if after schooling this is what will happen to me. My high school didn't have financial literacy for my year of students because there was so much weirdness with covid and several teachers switching in the class giving contradicting info and wasting time yelling at one student than teaching. But if anything, yeah I've heard you should pay yourself 10-25% of your income to either continue to save or to treat yourself, the rest should go into rent, food, facilities, bills, etc. Take advantage of your early years to not just try new things but figure out how to live by yourself, what routines and foods work best for you and know that you don't have to live crazy rich lives with all these material things. You got the fundamentals down that's all you really need, the rest is excess. Good to have sentimental stuff and some souvenirs but you don't need to have everything.

[@Devin_Laugherin]

Literally the same thing i've thought - its more like storm of decade. Industry shakeup both bad and good. Project closures -> New projects. Layoffs -> Hires. Studios gone -> studios emerged.

[@BraveAbandon]

There will always be too much work available for people in the top 10% of skills no matter the industry

[@zinzolin14]

I knew layoffs were a big reality of gaming and entertainment industry, even though these recent ones have been particularily huge. Despite that, I think it also allows for more room for opportunities and growth for the people involved. This is a good reminder for aspiring artists and creators wanting to (and/or already do) work in the industry to always remain vigilant and strive for better, and also be open to other means of work. Thank you Trent for always bringing in the honesty and optimism us creators need to hear.

[@nullcase404]

As concept artist, creators, this is a wake up call to make ourselves our own brand. Now more than ever we need to promote our uniqueness to the world in a sea full of generic AI generated art. Also not being afraid to start personal projects that might create bussiness venues later.

[@williammclean6594]

That's great for some people but some people don't want to make their own comic or like have their own business. They just want to work for a company because it's steady money. If you have to like go on your own, there's no guarantee that you'll make any money out of it. And not everybody wants the responsibility of having their own business. I'd rather work for a gaming studio than like make my own game.

[@carlosquall15]

​@@williammclean6594That is very rare. In my lifetime, I haven't seen an artist who doesn't dream of owning his/her own business. Every artist I met is a visionary.

[@subterranean327]

Another episode of Trent telling me my useless college debt was a bad idea. I wish there was more of this common sense advice around 7 years ago. I can still learn from it though; that's what matters.

[@te9591]

Yes, you're not alone.

[@oscarchavezart]

Tell me about it. A double edge sword.

[@te9591]

Which school did you go too?

[@Walkion]

I regret more the fact of going into an “art school” to learn stuff that you can find on KZbin nowadays. I’ve had better courses online than I ever did in 4 years of art school, except a good course online is around 20-45 euros whereas my school was 30k in total with not much to show for it.. . Too many of these schools are shady businesses with poor content, if I had to advise a kid that wanted to go into 3d ect I would tell him to go for these super high quality online courses instead and just practicing instead of watching tutorials or going to these lame schools.

[@te9591]

@@Walkion seriously, for like $50 i could have rewatchable video of Alan Moore, himself, go over conceptual storytelling. The only schools really worth joining are like CalArts, Tisch, and like some of the Canadian ones. Not sure what your country has going on in it, but the US now has Defense for Repayment available it looks like.

[@mrssirens]

I think its also important to think about these occasional layoffs as a way to push or negotiate for higher pay, there's a lot of stuff out there showing that having 2-3 years in a company or studio is more than enough to negotiate higher when applying for a new job. It's why lots of tech related positions can make increased salaries or yearly income so rapidly over say a 10 year period, as theyre moving on every 2-3 years.

[@officialgrimwaregamesllc]

love the positivity! Great video

[@DeputyChiefWhip]

The crazy thing is, massive layoffs and a month or two later they're rehiring

[@KukiolStuff]

Great video! Also I have some good news about this. Some people from Riot and Blizz were looking for an opportunity like this to kickstart their own indie game studios! So probably in the next year we will see plenty of open vacancies for juniors in those companies!

[@sound285]

I got laid off from game software about 10 years ago, I miss it very much, was never able to make my way back. I was fortunate. I learned how to problem solve during that time. Going back to a "normal" job was hard but I managed.

[@WickedArt5]

Great video Trent! my best friend from high school who was a software engineer on the hearthstone game for the past year and some change got let go. He shook it off and went straight to trying to get another job promoting himself and getting good shout outs from the people who still work there.

[@Icecold_Art]

Lost my job recently as well, as a senior Illustrator and concept artist with more than 10 years of experience. Heck some of my friends report that ENTIRE art teams got laid off in ther ex companies. This is not the first time this happened to me, the last time it did it was dire though. Both me and my fiance did lose our jobs nearly at the same time, not long after christmas. And since we had to buy some stuff for the apartment earlier, ( and christmas gifts! ) we were out of savings. You've mentioned 6 months of salaries as a compensation, wow lucky guys in the US I guess, I've got 1 motnhly salary and a good luck kick in the butt so to speak. It was a super tough and stressful period, had to grab onto any sh**ty comission just to not starve and have the rent money. I did my homework though, I always have some money on the side now that is for the moments like these, and got into investing as well. And as this has happened to me again, I got NO "free money this time around" but can still sleep at night thanks to that pillow* You were talking about.

[@ArtDadDraws]

On top of all of this, these layoffs are already resulting in new studios forming, which means more jobs. It's a shift away from AAA to AA and Indie.

[@j.2512]

Sadly the elephant in the room is most of these companies are projecting not needing artists or as many of them anymore because of AI. I understand you can't talk about it realistically because you are in bussiness selling art instructions and selling people on the idea that an art career is possible Sad reality is, these jobs won't be coming back and the brunt of artists won't be hired again even if the companies are breaking record sales and increasing profit margins unless there's a groundbreaking legislation on AI technology which seems unlikely at least anything that favors artists, most lawsut

[@TrentKaniuga]

I am in the business of running a game studio. I make tutorials because people constantly request them. Its not nearly as profitable as my game development business. The truth about AI is that its not as useful for game dev as many people think. When you work in games, and after youve shipped games, youll understand. All of these people that are scared of AI replacing artists are like non engineers trying to explain space exploration. You don't know until youve done it.

[@KoniWorx]

This was the case for me. Treated really poorly before. I'm on my own now in freelance and I have never felt this free and I've been growing quicker than ever.

[@Niko_3D]

I always wanted to start my own studio for game dev. So I might just do that this year, 36 years old I think its about time I stop being afraid of what ifs...

[@annawaiq6360]

YES!

[@BraveAbandon]

No matter what happens you walk away with a learning experience that you can apply to the next project, and the next one and the next one, until you succeed in your goals

[@pastelmoon9118]

wish you luck!!

[@Mick0Mania]

Can you give any tips for networking, while not actively looking for a job? I am currently (privileged to be) employed under a small startup (comic book company) that pays well, but I aim to move on to working on video games instead (concept art, illustration, general 2D and some 3D skills). Should I be approaching recruiters, art directors, artists and asking for portfolio reviews? Should I be approaching them as if I AM looking for a job in the next few years? The problem is compounded by the fact that what I produce at my job is partially under NDA and isn't indicative of the kind of work I am looking to get hired for, which further discourages me from bothering people with my current portfolio.

[@lart556]

you know i might be COMPLETELY mistaken here but .. i like to think this is the shifting of the tides in the industry it might be for better or for worst who knows only time will tell in the end, i personally like to keep hopeful about all this while at the same time trying to keep the reality in check. DONT GIVE UP guys!

[@fumansiu]

Not compelled to humanize the board of directors, but I appreciate the parts that were frank and also reassuring to creatives as a whole. Indeed, layoffs happen across all industries as part of the boom bust cycle, it’s common business practice and Microsoft is one of the top users of this strategy.

[@AlexBaldivino96]

I wanted to become a concept artist for a game studio at first. But just seeing these layoffs made me question if this is even worth a pursuit for a career. It’s really discouraging.

[@TrentKaniuga]

EVERY industry has layoffs from time to time.

[@jeanpierrepolnareff9919]

It has never been easy in any time period in history to be an artist. If you get turned off to pursue it from external factors that have no effect on you(layoffs, ai, job market) you will never make it. Work hard and get to know people that are involved in the industry. Get a good portfolio and post it everywhere. Moaning doesn't get you jobs, the truth is brutal.

[@j.2512]

concept art is getting replaced with AI. The job is becoming more and more about editing some AI pics for low wage rather than an specialized position. Now studios that needed to hire 50 artists are going to hire 5 AI editors and pay them really badly

[@j.2512]

@@jeanpierrepolnareff9919 those external factors literally have an effect for thousands of proffesionals. Your post is unhinged tbh.

[@annawaiq6360]

Where did you get that? @@j.2512

[@cecilebiwok6453]

Why is the art industry drying out while Im trying to get in there

[@TrentKaniuga]

The art industry is whaaaaat? Dude. There are more art jobs than ever

[@cecilebiwok6453]

@TrentKaniuga can't believe responded lol. But I'm a self taught artist and I think I'm pretty good. There just aren't any entry levep positions and every intermediate position I have applied to, rejected my application. Haha

[@scribblingjoe]

I think that with the advent of AI. People are starting to become more wary about being replaced by large companies. Kinda like how if you’re in a dark forest all alone everything sounds like a threat.

[@j.2512]

Trent is selling art courses, of course its not convenient to mention that because he markets his product by convincing people an art career still has a future but prospects are looking grim. Lots of well paying jobs are getting cut and replaced with minimum wage labour of editing AI pics rather than using real artists

[@LewisCoxIII]

Thanks for the high dose of positivity!!

[@pastelmoon9118]

graduated 2 years ago and its been hell... no one is hiring and trying to do any jobs I can get to get by juniors have hard time to get first jobs.. did 2 interns tried my best, always kept asking how I can improve my workflow and how to be flexible in teams but nope.. nothing the grind is not giving any results..

[@halidramzan2803]

Thanks for always keeping me sane in an insane world mahn. ❤

[@seanodaniels]

Always have a side project / business as well. Never put all your eggs into one job. Especially artists! Do your own art!

[@ArtofWEZ]

Thanks Trent, I have only been FT in the industry for 7 years and never experienced this sorta downturn till now.

[@SpaceCadetAstrodite]

I have been pursuing my career in games since the 7th grade, honing my skills, networking, learning other skills like 3d sculpting and VFX. And I've managed to work on enough small projects and indie teams to sustain myself. But with the unpredictability, and the layoffs... It's not stable enough for me to even consider starting a family, or even moving out. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but no one said it would be this harsh. I can't imagine trying to have a child while being the main bread winner, and a mother.

[@adrianpedraza8612]

Why would you want to have a baby with someone that can’t help you financially. Even if you love them it’s not a good decision. I hope everything is well with you.

[@EzarinKeagle]

I am so mad with the way blizzard has been treating overwatch, actively taking a game ive loved since i was a child, i grew up with it, and to see something that i relied on to keep me mentally stable for so many years be turned into a quick cash grab and having no respect for something so important to me and many other people

[@barabara1051]

This is really valuable! Thank you! I wanted to ask you if you think 2D jobs are becoming scarce in the video game industry. I have the sense that most jobs are for 3D artists and that studios are starting to use AI for 2D art, having a few artists for concept art and paintovers. Would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you!

[@Nogardtist]

more of a reason to start your own game as a solo dev

[@hugo-samson]

Man the same is happenning in the film industry because of strikes and it's a real apocalyptic scenario there ahah I hope you guys will have it better in games!

[@jhonsmithy2873]

most of the layoffs are people who was hired during the pandemic and their work no longer is needed

[@Markerton]

industry is just booming, just look how busy artists are, they even quit youtube Dave Greco, Robotpencil, Sycra, Art Department podcast, Bobby chiu, Ross Draws, Moderndayjames, Kienan Lafferty...

[@thelemoneater]

Most of my old team, myself included abruptly got let go in December there, had to pack up and leave the city cuz I didn't want to burn through my savings waiting to get a new job in Dublin and moved back in with the family. Things in Dublin were so expensive I was barely saving anyway so I wasn't going to last long, but yea, I landed new work there recently, the pays better, its remote and it just more interesting than the last job. Getting fired on the spot was a moment of all time, but its forced me to move on and things are kinda just better, like I don't need to commute 2 hours a day, or pay extortionate bills that my old housemate was racking up, living in an area where I didn't know anyone, plus the old work feeling deadend... Bottom line, been trying to be optimistic and it seems to be working out, *Insert cringe motivation quote here*

[@EwertonCosta]

sorry trent but i have to disagree with you, companies which make those huge bulks of demissions in begin of the year is all about two things, first, to show the investors the money per employer earns, and also to low the big guys salary aswell, those ones which worked for a decade and got alot of rises, now they are just firing people to hire "fresh" paying much less, since this happens in the most big studios, the veterans have to subue themselves for a rookie salary because they have no more options, this happens in all kind of industries for decades, doesnt matter much if you work hard, yes indies studies are the deal right now! some much smaller places are the best choices right now

[@christone1989]

I can answer this in five seconds. Big business CEO men do not care about our culture, thus they do not care about new games being released which hinders creative production. Once they buy the studio, they have the franchise, they have the product, they treat this product like a singular commodity which they re-use and resell over and over and over (Skyrim). They have the product already made so they cut creative employees that literally made the product. In their eyes, the dummies who keep buying the same product on different playforms (Playstation 5??????) keep falling into the same trap which ends up giving them profit, which is why we don't get new games released thus hurting our creative culture. They should KEEP the creative employees and give them freedom to make NEW PRODUCTS which make NEW GAMES, but they don't think like that in business school, after all these are capitalists we are dealing with.

[@TrentKaniuga]

I've seen business like that struggle too. I think you raise some good points. But its risky to just put money in the creatives hands. Ive seen many creatives that cant stick to a schedule. They spend money like water, and end up with an unfocused product that just sucks up money and never gets released.

[@christone1989]

Hi Trent, thanks for replying. Yeah you are right, you cannot just throw money at group of writers/artists and expect them to come up with something that works instantly. You have to have a passion for what you are making in order for others to have a passion for it too. @@TrentKaniuga

[@shada0]

I feel like as long as there are people who want to create, they'll always find new areas to create in. Even if every door closes, Artists will always find a new way inside.

[@dallincockrell3504]

Love you Trent and everything you do, you’ve taught me so much!

[@Houdini_Bob]

I am not in the industry. one of the hardest things to predict is housing cost. I bought my house in 2009 for 125K, in 2019 it was appraised for 180K I for 175K, an increase of 55K over 10 years. I just looked at its appraisal, 4 years later it is appraised for 235K, an increase of 55K over 4 years. life didn't go the direction I thought it would is why I sold it in 19, but I'm not sure I could have afforded it valued at 235K, its completely asinine

[@TrentKaniuga]

Realestate and stocks compound. Never sell.

[@ecupcakes2735]

i should mention layoffs in the game industry is not new. many game devs work on a contract base, so when a project ends or funds run out, their contract ends or they get laid off. the recent changes are more tied towards the post covid economic recession. Almost every industry including tech and games, are taking a downturn. it just happens that tech and games get a lot of public news for layoffs....and the press thrives on bad news. Do not loose hope. In time the economy will recover but it needs time to stabilize. Cost of living hasn't come down yet and this will play a key part in the economy stabilizing. Meanwhile we are seeing lots of new union movement in lots of related creative industries, which will have a positive impact later on. It has never been more of a crucial time to fight for fair wages, compensation, worker rights. Pay attention to these movements, support these movements!

[@frankyavery]

Thanks for the insight

[@spacenomad4477]

Living off 25% of my wage? I'm a junior 2d artist/animator and I make slightly above the minimum wage in my country... I'm doing some freelance work on weekends, but it's not paying much. I'm saving for a surgery rn and if I'm laid off it would be a disaster. Easy for you to talk when you don't have other problems

[@TrentKaniuga]

I know it’s tough. But there are always ways to save money and invest. Every country has some kind of 401k (tax deferred). You can cook at home more, save money on food, entertainment and housing (get a roommate, ride the bus, only buy old games etc). Even on minimum wage you can earn 1 million in retirement over 30 years. I ate ramen and peanut butter/jam for 10 years to build a safety net.

[@harrisejaz280]

trent, are you just capturing your screen for these videos (using ops etc) or is there specialised software for just capturing the when painting is being done, ignoring pauses?

[@Artsensei86]

Thank you for being the non jaded side of art. I tell my artists friends that it is good to keep positive people around to be able to uplift your own work

[@KimberlyPinkney]

When one door closes... Why panic? Now is the time to take that wealth of experience and tech and make the games they love. There's clearly a market, and a big pond out there and they already know how to fish!

[@ImaginArt24]

Ngl some of these companies are straight up bad BUNGIE.

[@Nintendofan1984]

Just don’t erase all the content I purchased on your gumroad please.

[@TrentKaniuga]

why would I ever do that? lol.

[@Loukevsky]

@@TrentKaniuga it's like people just read the title and instantly fill-in the blanks about what the video is.

[@rakeshkulaye]

Hi, do you have any free basic course for beginners who are just starting to learn digital art ???

[@ilsh0064]

I think yeah, check his gumroad​@@rakeshkulaye

[@EzarinKeagle]

I was wondering how do you find these studios? is there a search engine or website that you look into?

[@TrentKaniuga]

google. its still kinda new. but yeh

[@scarletsletter4466]

My understanding with the survival game is that they just felt like it wasn’t a good investment. Indie firms can make a hugely successful survival game & even make it FTP or sell it for $30 or less, so it’s a waste for AAA to keep spending >5yr development on. If you’re MSFT corporate & you’re looking at the assets you just acquired with ATVI acquisition, you’d have to go against every business principle to pour money into a survival game that’s already spent 5yr in development, when you’ve got WoW & CoD. Dollar for dollar, you’ll make so much more by investing in those beloved properties. I’d bet among those of us on this video, at least half would pick up a really good WoW or CoD project, but less than 10% would shell out AAA cash for a survival game

[@WallaceAyers]

If every single industry in the universe can just stop doing layoffs, that'd be nice..

[@rexxthunder]

Are you still looking for an effects artist, I looked at your website and I was not able to find a job listing or contact information.

[@samliveshere88]

ohh man if I didn't already have a job I'd apply for that FX artist position in a heartbeat

[@guitarbuddha74]

I like that you are trying to be positive but I honestly believe you trace enough of this kind of thing back far enough it is generally greed. It's unfortunate things are that way but they are.

[@hawktondog]

Blizzard laid off staff and opened a bunch of roles on WoW. They seem to want to focus on their main IP with the new rolls and the next 3 xpacks announced. Riot did the same with league after closing their indie section.

[@TheHunter_171]

Hey im just 17 year old and i have been interested in art for quite a few years now trying to study and doing free courses and regularly drawing now. Should i continue? Do you think art career in future would be sustainable? I don't want to be rich but i just want a normal life where i can draw everyday I have so many characters i want to write stories about I want to work in my fav game companies. I'm just scared i dont know what to do right now after all this Ai stuff now

[@metalassassin8841]

The titans will fall... We just need to do our own thing, is it risky? Yes! Not all of us can do it, but we must.

[@Riste.R]

Thank you :)

[@sylvarogre5469]

Somebody once said, "Crisis is dangerous opportunity."

[@Revostar111x]

I am a student graduating this year from animation school. Any tips so I can land an internship?

[@ArucardPL]

Do you think genAI might have something to do with those layoffs? I see many people crediting them largely to AI (especially concept artists, I actually heard some stories about companies firing the whole art team except for one person to keep making concepts with AI) which I doubt might be 'largely' but I also doubt it's not causing job losses (especially since I keep hearing stories of exactly that happening). So I'm curious to find out what your feelings about this are and if you actually see it making it such a big impact as people are making out to be.

[@TrentKaniuga]

I’d say it has about as much do do with AI as it does with the weather.

[@nme2nv194]

If all these corporations are going to use workers and then toss them why don’t all those employees start their own company?

[@TrentKaniuga]

Thats what I did!

[@Heisenburg17]

and it's just a beginning

[@13igorsm]

I alway thought that , the industry hire by seasons, like 10 to 10 months or someyhing like that.

[@jamfilledjars]

I mean, I still intend on going to study character art in South Korea, or art in general. I want to be a character illustrator/concept artist with my own brand. That’s what I’ll do. I’m aware of the volatility, I just don’t care lmao.

[@killerwill]

can you talk about pacing yourself on a project? i feel i know i wont have as much time to work on a given project and find not knowing when to move on in a pipeline can be a issue from a sense of no direction if that make sense

[@sookendestroy1]

Games is over, we did it guys

[@fuzzydragons]

yep the reality of a creative job is you are going to spend most of your life balancing bills and looking for work 😝

[@TrentKaniuga]

Unless if you also have a good financial or business education. That would help.

[@fuzzydragons]

very true. they need to offer more classes on those subjects starting in high school

[@reidmonninger1110]

Do you speculate US companies will outsource more to other countries to lower costs? Its true cost of living in the US is higher so employees working in countries that cost less to satisfy if makes sense to outsource more if the cost of living here is only expected to keep rising.

[@reidmonninger1110]

I mean if 20-30$ an hour is a lot of money to an artist in another country who is equally skilled to an artist in the US, if I owned a game company and had limited funds and wanted my game to be as best as it could possibly be it would make more sense to hire overseas....I wish I was wrong but the logic here seems pretty solid. It doest mean I won't still keep doing my absolute best to try and be better than the artists oversees so my value outweighs theirs but it still kinda sucks, like I can't help the fact that I need to be paid more....I want a family and I happen to live in one of the most expensive places to live on Earth. I've also been super lucky and able to find work. About half the artists I know though who are also super talented have had bad luck and many have needed to take on work at retail stores and cafes just to survive till the next gig and they paid about 200k for their art education.

[@TrentKaniuga]

if you are really good, it doesnt matter what you cost. Companies will pay 300k per year for a skilled pro. But yes. Some of those production jobs will go to more affordable artists. This is the same with your average household. Why pay more rent when you can live at a different rental community for cheaper? Why pay more for groceries? Well, if the quality is really good... then its worth it. And the big studios will be able to afford the quality.

[@reidmonninger1110]

@@TrentKaniuga good point....I appreciate you always responding, Your'e like my online art industry therapist always giving me a hope to keep pushing forwards haha. Thanks man!

[@rainbowgaming8441]

i am not worryed about this at all life moves on other hobbies come along as we get older

[@rocketlegs6933]

Always love hearing your take on these things mate, thanks! Would you say living off 25% of your income would be really hard unless you're making a pretty large sum? (especially with the cost of living atm) Most people are probably ~ 50% and that's being frugal (obviously an opinion). Would love to hear any strats you have :)

[@TrentKaniuga]

I ate Ramen noodles and grilled chicken and rice for 10 years while working at Blizzard and Capcom. So... most of the time people just spend too much on starbucks and expensive cars and iphones, then say that they cant afford to save money. But we live in a consumer focused society. I know its hard. But I'd rather have financial stability than flashy stuff.

[@ellenripley4837]

​@@TrentKaniuga this. Living above your means is always the biggest mistake a lot of young creatives make when getting any kind of creative job. Even when I got a pay raise I kept my spending the same and thanks to that I'm not panicking with this economy and inflated prices.

[@arthurtenorioarts]

Hey trent! Discord link is expired! Could u refresh it, please? =)

[@rakeshkulaye]

Hi, do you have any free basic course for beginners who are just starting to learn digital art ???

[@TrentKaniuga]

Yeah! Thats the FREE DIGITAL ARTIST STARTER KIT that was mentioned in the video.

[@steveenmolina2574]

Probably you are right, but we shouldn't normalize things that shouldn't be normal. The compensations (salary) between chiefs and employees are huge, the game industry is like another big industry, for example as dirty as the petrol or the textil industies. It's not just because the salary of the employees increased, the salary of the customers increase too. This is a dystopia, for example Blizzard, the company was sold and the chiefs are richer than ever, same chiefs involved in harassment scandals and probably some victims lost their jobs. The Game Industry is not dying, the industry is getting much richer than ever and it is getting as dirty as the petrol. Even as customers we are getting endless video games with poor quality but we still buying them because we dream in the video game that we deserve that we payed. There should be more cooperative companies, made by workers and take a fair piece of that cake for the real labour. I'm currently working but one day the cost of my rent will be the 90% of my salary, because there is another industry that want to grow faster than my salary.

[@TrentKaniuga]

Its funny because if I said anything to criticize Blizz while I worked there, I would be harassed by the fans, Be careful not to believe everything that you hear about a company from outside sources. Life was never meant to be "fair", under ANY system, at ANY time in history. However, you can prepare yourself for a secure future regardless of relying on a company or job to provide anything to you. Every career will have poor managers, AND good people. Some execs and chiefs deserve to be paid more. Some dont. Also, who decides? Well, it should be the people who own the company. Right? So start your own company. And try to run it right.

[@steveenmolina2574]

@@TrentKaniuga First, harassment in work spaces are well documented along any industry and the game industry is not a exception. Second, I will try to prepare myself to secure my future because the rent is not free, because the food is not free and I have to be prepared, but where is the limit? Is there a limit? After the employees finish their working days, how many hours should they spend preparing themselves for the next trend? Third, I'm not talking about creating a "good" company, I'm talking about creating more Co-op companies, there are co-op groceries, there are co-op plantations and of course there are co-op game studios. But we need more and less individuality. I'm not saying that you are wrong, I am just saying that it could be different, it's not just the market philosophy, companies can be organised differently, they already exist, we only need to change the idea that we need to fight alone.

[@TrentKaniuga]

So... if you started a company, and took on ALL of that financial risk... you'd pay your employees the same as yourself? Hm. I think you should try it! LMK how it goes.

[@steveenmolina2574]

@@TrentKaniuga It seems that you took a lot of time to reply for a second time, in that time you could google "cooperatives studios in video games" or something like that. You could take a look for example the amazing video of GDC "Enbrancing the Co-Op Studio Model in Indie Games" or the article in Games Industry "An introduction to game worker cooperatives"

[@evilted]

8:32 look at overwatch me look at the rotting corpse of overwatch 2

[@oscarchavezart]

It's the reality. End of the day, game studios are a business. End of the day, if their investors say otherwise, labor is let go. End of the day, the day ends and it starts again like an arcade game, every day is a token God puts for you in the machine to keep rockin' the heavens and getting that "Mission Complete."

[@franciscomatos26]

trent is ike opium, you love it but its not good for your health, dont forget this guy is an art teacher with tutorials for sale, becareful what kind of optimism you get from him. i havent watch his video yet but just saying be careful with all of the art teachers optimis, they want you to keep buying their tutorials and dont give up in the industry, anyways im sure the video is great, i love trent, but just remember, not all advice is gold, especially from people who has income attached to it.

[@williammclean6594]

He's a working professional I think he knows what he's talking about. He even did a video with proof that people working in the game industry. They're banning AI so he's not going to lie to you about there being no work in the art industry. There might be less work in the future. If automation takes over a lot of industries though

[@TrentKaniuga]

My art tutorials are %10 of my income. My money comes from game development and investments. If you want to quit and be fearful. Just quit dude. Don’t drag down those who are chasing their best life.

[@franciscomatos26]

@@williammclean6594 Your joking right? if you really think AI is not affecting the concept art industry your living in a cloud, cant blame you tho, most of these professionals try to keep everyone positive, of course there are still CA positions but the bar is higher then ever.

[@franciscomatos26]

@@TrentKaniuga trent i love you and your videos, but ill leave my opinion there, it is what it is, and no im not quitting, im having the most fun i ever had doing my OWN creations and learnign how to market it, but im no longer trying to become a white collar worker for AAA games. its hard as hell now and makes no sense to bury your heand in the sand and keep doing the same which is what your discipline is about. Just giving more clarity and perspective, more points of views should not hurt anyone

[@williammclean6594]

@@franciscomatos26 I know it will affect it but right now because it steals other people's art you're not allowed to use it. Most studios banned it until they figure out the legal stuff. You're not even allowed to post up your game on Steam if it has AI in it. And personally I think once game studios are allowed to use AI after the legal stuff not just with art but I think AI will replace a lot of people. I don't a lot of people will work in the future. I think most things will be automated people will work only a couple hours a week. It will be like the movie Wally where machines just do everything for us. I don't necessarily want that future and i hope I'm wrong but it looks like we're heading in that direction.

[@petera.watters4459]

In some cases you are "out in the dust". When you're broke, can't afford rent, are in too much debt, its street living time.

[@TrentKaniuga]

So don't go into debt.

[@ff7h]

​@@TrentKaniugaagree. save in the good times to get through the bad times without accumulating more debt.

[@mikeschuster212]

@@TrentKaniuga Never have a medical emergency or a costly accident you could never prepare for, got it

[@DigitalinDaniel]

Your "boxset 2024" looks like the boxset for 2023?

[@TrentKaniuga]

Ah! It was not supposed to be live yet! I'm preparing the new box set and it wasnt supposed to be published just yet. Thanks for letting me know.

[@zander8347]

I involuntary left the industry last year. i'm much happier now. Art is a great hobby ,but this industry has become so popular and desired it give studios almost unlimited powers over employees.I'd suggest people who want to get into the indurstry now to think about it

[@SWOTHDRA]

The industry got woke and is now going broke......a great reset is needed. I only support games and devs who dont pander or push agenda's. Smaller passionate studios deserve my money, these bif ESG / DEI vanguard, blackrock comoanies wont get 1 pwnny from me ever again. I skipped spiderman for that exact reason

[@TrentKaniuga]

Well I appreciate your support for my comics and games. I been cancelled since before that was a term they used.

[@dallincockrell3504]

First!!!!

[@tanuguitar1]

that is good, they were deadweight to those companies. people need to stop quiet quitting.

[@iyi-ifeadegbulugbe2035]

Bro what?🧍‍♂

[@leandrobenitez292]

You wanna save gaming? there are 3 tumors to chemo 1) The marketing parasites: they eat more than half the budget but aren't nearly as effective at their job as even the less known random youtuber 2) Woke ideologues and their token hires: useless and counter productive for way to many reasons to list in this comment 3) All the "online only / games as a service" shills: gamers never minded paying for "expansions", but we don't get those anymore, just bits and pieces of the main game, axed a few days before launch to sell for separate as day 1 DLC

[@TrentKaniuga]

Interesting theory. 90% of games don’t make money though. So studios need to find ways to make them profitable. The price of a game has hardly increased from the 80s, despite inflation, and cost of making games has skyrocketed due to inflation, and cost of labor. How do you propose the developers ensure that they are not in the 90% of games that lose money?

[@leandrobenitez292]

@@TrentKaniuga you don't need to spend a giant budget if you cut down on useless excess expenditures and clear anticonsummer practices clearly people don't have problems with "service" games that have regular updates such Helldivers or WoW back in the day, but now a days "Games as a service" is just code for DRM "you'll own nothing and be happy" style

[@GGEZWPlol]

all i can say is riot should invest in ASIA for talents cost of living in Asia is super cheap lol standard middle class salary is 1k usd a month