Oh, your background is very… indie

In my last application cycle I had one interviewer love me… only to have his boss say, “Oh… your background is very… indie,” implying this was less valid. I got rejected. 😑

So before I go on one of my fire and brimstone rants, I want to be clear that nobody should take rejections personally. Companies get inundated with applications and can often only hire less than 1% of peeps. It’s normal and okay to get rejected, and all you can do is learn from each one. I’d even love to hear your own rejection stories below.

Okay, now the fire and brimstone part. 🔥🔥🔥

EXCUSE ME WHAT!? Get down from your friggen’ high horse for a second. Not to be rude (but to be a little rude) this dude was an upper lead at a relatively middling VR company. Not a AAA. Not some huge famous company. Which shouldn’t matter anyway, but YOU’RE indie. What the shiz!?!?

Game dev is game dev is game dev. And all different flavors of game dev have their different strengths and weaknesses. AAAs teach you to be incredible at your small area of contribution. Some of the best designers, artists and engineers are from AAA.

But indies teach you to wear multiple hats, to be scrappy as all hell, and to manage your time and team with exacting care. They experiment more heavily, and take greater risks than their AAA counterparts. Neither is better, it’s just different experience.

So seriously. STOP assuming people from AAA companies are just better. Because I work so heavily in the indie space I have met some of the most incredibly talented folks in this space. And you know what? Virtually none of them are elitist gatekeepers.

There’s no hierarchy. It’s not AAA > AA > indie. It’s whoever makes awesome games.

Okay. End of rant. GOSH. 😤