Is it a good idea to pursue a career in video games?

[Trusted_One]

With all of the horrible business practices and the quality of video games today is it still a good idea to go through college and all those hoops to be say a video game designer or a coder etc. i am just really unsure if i want to continue on my path just for me to end up with EA or Bethesda and be directly involved in loot boxes and horrible games.

I am really early in my journey through life and i would like to hear some opinions to help me decide. I do not want to spend all that time, money and my life just to be stuck in a company that makes video games with no passion and fills them with micro transactions. Are there alternatives to video game design?

thank you for any responses!

[venraptor]

Here is my advice - get a generic computer science education, maybe try and do it about computer graphics - there is a huge shortage of developers who aren't script kiddies in the gamedev right now, and you would be able to put that in your CV to get another job in the field should your Video Game career fail. Thing is, the video game industry is not shitty - AAA industry is shitty, but there are tons of indie devs and good companies that are in dire need of real talent. That, and also Toby Fox and Stardew Valley devs are one man wonders, you can manage a game just by yourself, if you have a vision and you are ready to work for it. IMO getting a specifically gaming-related degree in college is pointless - 3D artists, Sound Designers and level Designers get their jobs using portfolios, and anything else that has to do with making code you don't have to tie to gaming specifically.

[Borghir]

Don't apply to Bethesda or EA then. There's lots of (indie) developers that make games because they love doing it and are happy they earn enough to supports their families.
I think the lootboxes and other forms of online gambling within games will be heavily regulated in a couple of years and thus be a lot less attractive to these awful companies.

[Animusisters]

Take a deep hard look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are the kind of person that wants to earn money with something he enjoys in his past time.

[isturbo1984]

No. don't do it. I know for a fact that the industry kills the love of video games for many, many people. Whether it be games journalism, game development, ect. Not to mention most of these people, ironically, stop being gamers and playing video games altogether in a bizarre twist of fate. That is an industry that asks too much from something anyone would call "passion."