Occupational Burnout in Games: Causes, Impact, and Solutions
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2023
- This series of GDC 2023 microtalks will offer attendees a foundational understanding of what burnout is and its causal factors before discussing the long-term impact via personal experiences. Recognizing that systemic solutions must be implemented to tackle the issue, this series will offer individuals resources and implementable steps to bolster their resilience against burnout.
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As someone who has been unable to work for the last 4 months, and is currently trying to "power through" and get back t work without the help I need, this video has the potential to be truly life-changing. I have been trying all the wrong things and I had no idea. I'm going to look for some proper help now that I know what I actually need.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
A talk this important - it's a shame to see it only has 12K views and 25 comments. This one's truly a gem, thank you for this!
Great talk, "Pizza parties don't cut it", these corpos will never listen. I quit my IT job after 9 years to be a self-employed 3D artist, best decision I ever made.
Where did you start out when you started 3D? Fiverr?
Unfortunately bro 3d industry also has massive burnouts too
@@kevinditawole3802 he makes furry avatars for VRChats. That is not very lucrative occupation 🤡 just google his nickname
As soon as the Blizzard designer started crying before he even started his story, I started crying with. I've been on medical leave because of severe anxiety and severe burnout for a little over 2 months now. I still cannot sleep, I can't lose weight, have no energy, don't want to see my friends face to face. I have a constant headache, numb limbs and fingers and sporadic anxiety attacks that last for hours or days.
I knew I was burning out and pushed through it for 2 years, no vacation and just taking random days. Before my medical leave I was crying at my desk 2-3 hours/day with severe imposter syndrome and paranoia that I was hated, or my work was garbage and I was contributing nothing to the company. I would cuss out my boss, rant on my peers, but as soon as I was off for the day I was perfectly fine until bedtime when the thought of having to wake up and do all of it over again the next day caused an impending sense of doom that inhibited me from sleeping and just compounding the issues. I hate my directors, I hate my studio, I hate my publisher, I hate my project and I'm working for the place I've wanted to work for over a decade on the exact project that was a dream for me.
I thought I was going crazy until my therapist suggested it is burnout. But I thought there was no way it could just be burnout. That's a simple thing, take a week off and you're fine right? Just maybe a bit butt-hurt over scheduling, but a minor issue. That's when I looked up the symptoms and the severity. At the point I started self harming and had suicidal thoughts, I FINALLY decided to take short term medical leave and am trying to get a psychiatrist to obtain some medication to help on my return to work. But I still don't even know if I want to return to game development. I just don't know what else I can do to start over a new career at age 38.
This needs to be talked about more, and be given it's rightful emphasis as a severe, debilitating condition. So I thank you for doing this.
It's reasonable to get burnt out. Especially when you realize that 40 hour work week was decided in 1940. With how technology has improved, we have more than enough resources to make it so most people barely have to work, if at all. We could have most tedious work be fully automated, and people could have time to be creative and live without stressing to death.
@@monteroa7I don't want to get too detailed, lest someone figure out who I am, but it is less about the hours that is killing me, and more the process. Lack of creative freedom on both a personal level and a studio level (publisher micromanagement), monotonous work, lack of ownership on tasks, constant going in circles leading to repeat cuts if previously approved final polished work.
My many years of experience are going ignored and the project seems to be going south and there's nothing I can do to help it seems. I started to crunch at the end, because I do love my immediate peers and didn't want to let them down. That broke the last bit of my creative soul and then I let them down by having to take this leave.
Great talk!!! It's the first time I've heard things to relate to. Thank you so much!!!
Watching this after lying in bed staring at the ceiling for four hours after a stressful work day. Thank you
As someone who suffered burn out 5 years ago while surving in the military, this talk is very important to me. It assures me that I'm not alone. I resonate with everyone elses stories so strongly. Thank you for this talk, the candor with which everyone spoke and raising awareness of this truly horrific issue. I'm still affected by burn out now, but it helps 'knowing the enemy' and how to escape.
I just got done with college and university all in game-design and animation after 9 years grinding. I haven’t even made it into the industry or have a comprehensive portfolio but I’m already kinda fed up. I’m so exhausted and my full time job takes up all my time. I’m burnt out on this stuff already because it was turned into a rewardless tedious frustrating chore for years on end just to get a middle finger at everywhere I applied. Burnt out before I even started.
A great talk about something crucial and important in the industry. The mental health of it all.
So needed talk. Congratulations for speaking about such personal and difficult topics
This talk made me cry, thanks for sharing!
Glad to see such a focus on the systemic problems of burnout with the workplace being responsible for the burnout and not being an individual problem for everyone to fix by themselves. Can hear the trauma of these folks and it's so sad, that one's self worth can be tied to work productivity. Hope crunch and burnout in these industries becomes a thing of the past.
Such an important talk for any occupation.
The talks need to be watched way more than 14K times. Here's my contribution to steering YT algorithm to push this more
Super exciting lecture and also very important 👍 I have to remember the sentence "No game / company / project is worth your health" 😅
pulled up to this video cause miniguy linked it to me thanks cuh
I thought this was about players burnout in games lol but this was cool and interesting too
There a problem with project managers just handing out assignments? Instead of taking all the work being done by the team, and showing the team's progress.
I find that creative work is not an all in once process. Your not standing on an assembly line waiting for the next part on a conveyor belt. That part will need the same exact treatment as the one before it. The mindset of staring at a blank page eagerly awaiting a thought to pop into your head. It does not happen that way. If you write it down and occasionally review it. You will be able to add more, or refine what you already wrote down.
It can take years to even develop the foundation of ideas for a unique game. It can take months or even years to refine it. It can take months or even years before you can bring it to the market. After you have put in all that work without pay, or acknowledgement. It pays off all at once. The problem is that journey getting there is long and arduous.
That describes me
My favourite moment was: BTW, this is your reminder to uncling your jaw. Guess what I did at that moment...
this video is criminally underviewed. It should be mandatory viewing for anyone who is in charge of employees as well.
Very important video, but frustrating discord bloops included in the audio
The first talk was the one with useful insights. Skip the rest
This was a great talk. I hope this gets a lot of support so that this breaks GDC's habit of uploading a bunch of woke talks
Please, visit Ukraine and you will fill what the real depression is.
This is true, living with the war condition brings brings an excessive amount of stress. But please do not underestimate the condition of other people. All suffering is relative, and you don't know what's going on in their minds and how it affects their condition. (I Ukrainian who has been to the war zone, I have many relatives who are now at the front line, and I know a little about it)