How not to quit your job
In the game developer’s environment it is not surprising to run into ego, the problem comes in when that ego gets in the way of making a great game. Enter Harvey Smith, the lead developer for Midways Blacksite Area 51 who quite publicly quit his position. The problem, he slammed the company on the way out the door. Just some helpful advice here, there is no sense ever in torching your bridges when you leave a company.
Game development is such a small community that you will be working for these folks again, you will see them again, and they will always remember how you left your last job, your ego issues, personal quirks, and how well you code. Fail anyone of those, well, depending on who wants to hire you, they have to make the decision of “are the personality or professional issues worth brining them on board”. Increasingly, employers are starting to say no.
This is not what you want to say, especially when it ends up in Wired.
The first time Harvey Smith came to Montreal he had just finished his work as lead designer on the acclaimed classic, Deus Ex. On this trip, his last game was Blacksite: Area 51, a game published by Midway which one critic called “a major disappointment.” “This project was so fucked up,” said Smith, by way of explanation. Source: Wired
Wired has amplifying information here.
In the longer run though, the real issue is not with a bad or good game, or how the critics panned or loved it. It is all about how many copies it sells, and when the lead developer goes along and undermines sales by blaming himself for the lack of “fun”, most developers are going to remember that one.
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