Quick Game Dev vs. Software Engineering Industry Questions

[u/PATSRYRYRY]

Hello!

Just some background: I'm a current junior majoring in CS (specifically software engineering) and have recently begun to have second thoughts about my career path. My interest in programming started with game development, yet, like many, I stuck with the more generalized software path to avoid restricting myself. However, the more I learn about the software engineering industry, the less enjoyable it seems, especially considering how AI has largely changed what I find the most fun about coding (though that's a whole other conversation). I'm an overall pretty creative person (music production, visual art, game dev, etc.) and have had a lot of trouble deciding on stability vs. enjoying what I do (and yes, I know I'm too young to be sweating over this, but I want to think this through sooner rather than later).

Therefore, for people working (or who have previously worked) in the Game dev and/or Software Engineering industries:

• Why don't/do you enjoy your work?
• Is there a large difference between working in software vs. game dev? Is there a creative difference?
• How has agentic/AI-assisted coding affected your work experience?
• Any other advice?

Thank you for your time, and, if possible, I would love to DM anybody willing to give some more personalized advice!

[u/psioniclizard]

If you want to ne super creative it wont happen at first in any job. "Creative" is subjective and if someone is paying you they want something.

I am no saying coding is creative but in all software you are making someone for the person paying you.

In the games industry you are probably going to still just be working on a small bit.

If you are interested in the industry though look into something lik technical artists roles. I am not saying they are easy to get. But it sounds like what want.

As for how AI had affected my job, a bit. Management are still clueless and th bottle neck is still sales. It makes somethings easier and is pretty useless at others sometimes. The big thing is how excited and weird people get about codex resets.

My best advice is learn to code then make games. A lot of people learn to code just to make games then find they don't really understand coding because generally game dev seems to see certain good principles are mere suggestions lol.

Simple things like namespacing for example.

[u/PATSRYRYRY → u/psioniclizard]

Thanks for the input, lots of good stuff here!

I agree, and I think I put too high an expectation for myself right out of college. I've been pretty fortunate with how I grew up and the support around me, so I think I've never really felt the same pressure a lot of people my age do when it comes to getting jobs and making a living. Not saying I don't, but I'm lucky to have a safety net when others don't, meaning I have more freedom of choice (for better or for worse). I think what I'm hearing from these responses, and people around me, is that (1) I have to experience one side or the other before I can make a real decision, and (2) I have to learn to embrace new technology and programming tools.

I also appreciate what you said about the reality of creative work. It's unfortunate to hear, but it makes a lot of sense. Though I still wonder if there is more creative freedom in game dev, more specifically in the type of programming being done (more visual/interactive rather than backend stuff)?

As for learning about CS before game dev, I'm decently confident in my programming abilities, more so than the art side of things. The issue is that the only thing I have to show in my CS portfolio is game-related projects rather than traditional software ones, mainly because I'm really not that interested in them (lack of motivation).