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[Shifty1897]

Why? IT is a solid field to find a career in. Have you worked in IT before?

25% of US IT job have disappeared in the last six years, most to outsourcing. Now there's 100+ applicants for every job on LinkedIn I see. Most recruiters now who ask me to consider a new job tell me the max salary for the position is less than what I currently make.

 

[FloatingIslands]

As a software developer living in Argentina I'd advice against it based on local statistics. The software industry down here employs about 155k including designers, community managers, testers, etc, etc. And out of those about 1500, or 1% are related to the gaming industry. IIRC there are about 100 game companies here, so you are greatly limiting yourself by targeting such a niche segment. Going indie? Yes, it's a possibility but what is the percentage of an indie getting a big hit like World of Goo, Flappy Bird, Slay the Spire or Balatro? Finally, the development side has quite a lot of drawbacks (misogynist environment, low salaries, tight schedules that do not allow for good programming practices, lacks time for retrospective and you usually end up with bad code that cannot be refactored because you shipped and got to be preparing the next project.

By the way, at 16 it's already kind of old for taking that decision, I kind of feel that for gaming they already mention they want to make games all the way back at 10, and if they had been programming by that age then it would be a different matter. If they just start at 16 it means they might not have the passion for long coding nights and low salaries in them.

I agree with you except the part of 16 being too old.
I'm also from Argentina. At 16 I realized I wanted to make games and I didn't know anything about programming.
Now I've an Engineer's degree in Informatics and I work in Austria.

It's true that the videogames industry pays lower than other industries but you can always work for better markets if the local one is not that great

 

[Rush2112]

I’ll tell him to shut the hell up while dad is drinking and not ask stupid questions.

 

[longrainwater]

My experience:

Any industry that’s a “dream job”, you’re going to work harder for less money.

If that’s worth it for you, then go for it.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Set up a green screen studio and see if they have a Youtube personality and following.
Developers today seem to live and die based on public opinion of their online world more than quality of the game.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I put not support for the same reasons listed but would encourage the exploration of the field and the associated work. Lots of times the glow of certain things falls off entirely once they see how the sausage is actually made.

 

[ReyBrujo]

Now I've an Engineer's degree in Informatics and I work in Austria.

Cool! Yep, I meant as in, go to CoderHouse or some other private institute, learn a language and a framework and try to get in the industry. Getting a degree is totally fine and ensures you will be able to work in any industry and not just Unity and C#.

 

[nikos]

I don't have kids but my parents always supported anything I wanted to do so I'd do the same for mine.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

Get a trade. AI is taking over all this shit in a few years.

 

[swing_harder]

As someone with a 24-year old daughter, I say let them do what the f*ck they want to do. I have worked in the pharmaceutical/engineering industry my entire career and tried to "encourage" my daughter to follow in my footsteps. She was accepted into a highly competitive engineering school in my area and this daddy was grinning from ear to ear. I soon realized that she was miserable and felt trapped pursuing a career path that I had strongly encouraged her to follow. Long story short, she changed her major to Business Marketing and she is now very successful and thriving in an industry that she is passionate about. If I could do it over again, I would just be supportive and encourage my daughter to pursue something that makes her happy. As I get older and lose more and more people in my life, I have come to realize that life is too damn short to care what others think. Follow your dreams and be happy!

 

[viveks86]

Get a trade. AI is taking over all this shit in a few years.

All of game development?! Hell no. Man, people are really overestimating what AI is going to do.

 

[Puscifer]

Tell them to learn a trade like electrician or gas engineer.

Why? Job security and less toxic industry and won't be surrounded by the biggest delinquents on mother earth.

I can tell you that's wrong, toxicity comes in many forms

 

[jason10mm]

As someone with a 24-year old daughter,.... Long story short, she changed her major to Business Marketing and she is now very successful and thriving in an industry that she is passionate about. If I could do it over again, I would just be supportive and encourage my daughter to pursue something that makes her happy. As I get older and lose more and more people in my life, I have come to realize that life is too damn short to care what others think. Follow your dreams and be happy!

I agree with this....to a point. A kid veering towards Only Fans, or (somewhat hypocritically for me as I do like to patronize such places) a 'breastaurant' like Hooters would NOT make me that proud as a dad, even if my kid was enthusastic about it.

Or wanting to be a "youtube influencer". One of my kids has a youtube account and has videos of various types that he has seen others do, stuff like skits with his stuffies/toy, or game clip vids. As a hobby I think that stuff is fine, but neglecting school work as "irrelevant, daaad" ain't gonna fly. Would I let him live in my house as an adult so he could try, for years(?) to get his channel to hit? How much is enabling by the parent for a kid with misplaced ambitions? I try to encourage him when he makes levels for games, as that is a good creative direction, not so much when he is just imitating the word salad of a hyperventilating youtube screecher with a cat face avatar.

 

[chakadave]

Tell them to learn a trade like electrician or gas engineer.

Why? Job security and less toxic industry and won't be surrounded by the biggest delinquents on mother earth.

Better to do this and learn to code, program, mod or develop on the side

 

[ReBurn]

I would discourage a specific focus on game dev. That field is too competitive and relatively unstable. I would encourage a career in information technology, though. And I would encourage learning game dev as a hobby.

 

[lachesis]

If my child wants to go for it - I will advise ups and down. But I will support - as it's his choice to go for it and will help out as best as I can.

 

[viveks86]

At 16 I would tell them the pitfalls of their choice but would support whatever they wanted because they are at the age of doing what they want anyhow.

Around that age my son wanted to be a writer and was going to Indiana University for that and started a Summer job loading trucks for Coke and now at 35 years old he holds one of the highest ranking positions for Coke in the Eastern part of the US making nice bank

Funny enough he started free lance writing a couple of years ago and its amazing how much money is in that if you are good and his short stories sell nicely, so much to the point he is considering quitting Coke and writing full time

Hell yeah! Please get him to explore writing for videogames? We badly need them.

 

[CompleteGlobalSaturation]

*Way* more applicants than jobs. And it can be easily outsourced. Not a solid field at all.

Software engineering not a viable career choice?

I'm truth I am not familiar with 'IT' jobs in general at all.

 

[Come On Tars]

Nope, it is more accessible than ever to be a one man show dev as well. I'd advice getting an education in something stable and be a dev entrepreneur on the side.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Bro you got some IQ test results... or uhh... what are you taking at 16... PSAT? I need some intel before I'm going to let a kid make video games or just banish him to the salt mines.

 

[Dutchy]

Part of being a parent is seeing miles ahead a kid is among a stupid decision and having the courage to tell him so.

True. But I think the freedom to make mistakes is key. It teaches kids problem solving, independence, and how to bounce back when things don't go as planned. It’s a big part of growing up, but as a parent I get that's tough to watch.

 

[MagnesD3]

I would Full support but I would make them do it in a way that covers thier ass. They would know how difficult of a thing it was to accomplish but I would do my best to help build them a road map to if they really are serious about it.

 

[Sooner]

Full support. I am a software engineer, and if my child wants to learn coding and the skills to make games, go for it.

Chances are, they'll eventually be convinced using those skills for game development will result in them being overworked and underpaid. But, they'll also have the skills and education to get a job that isn't, so they will gave all the options available.

 

[Jigsaah]

I would never discourage a child's ambition. There are struggles and risks in every industry. It's best to cultivate his/her passion.

 

[mopspear]

Get a Computer Science degree and do it as a hobby and if it doesn't work out, he's got a backup.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

When I was a kid, I wanted to go into game development. In fact, I've actually made my own game. But I'm glad I did not go into that industry professionally. It's way too toxic, competitive and it will grind you up and spit you out.

I wouldn't detract, but I'd tell them about the realities of the industry, especially big name studios.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

Full support but will heavily warn about all the incoming difficulties.

Live your dreams, do not dream your life.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Live your dreams, do not dream your life.

Dream your dreams, do not live your life.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

tell him to create a game or two on his own first
get a marketable degree (STEM) should he change his mind/industry is shit

i wanted to go into game dev too, but got a whiff of where the industry was going and noped into finance.

 

[HogIsland]

If they have a real passion for game development, there are practically unlimited tools, assets, and learning resources to get started for either free or way cheaper than any accredited program. Nothing is stopping them from making games today.

If they demonstrate that kind of self-motivated passion and skill for game development, I would support them.

 

[Ceadeus]

Sure but I would tell it's an unusual work and gonna need self discipline and motivation to break through and succeed.

 

[Zelduh]

If you're not going to support your child and crush their dreams, don't ask why they don't talk to you when they're an adult and why they put you in the shittiest most abusive nursing home possible

 

[Thanati]

Tell them to learn a trade like electrician or gas engineer.

Why? Job security and less toxic industry and won't be surrounded by the biggest delinquents on mother earth.

This.

 

[cartman414]

There will always be a need for plumbers and electricians.

Not sure there's enough pot in the universe to cope with a future where those are among the only options.

 

[Grildon Tundy]

Kids don't know much about what all options are out there and think they'll enjoy being a game dev because it's what they know. I'd advise software engineering/IT over game dev.

 

[Beechos]

Unless they really love it. The negative things I hear about working as game dev to me outweigh the pros.

Horrible hours/crunch
Pay doesnt seem that great starting avg is only 80k in usa
Alot of it can be contracting work so stability/benefits can be an issue.

 

[Edgelord79]

I say “Sure, sounds good” knowing full well they will probably change their mind about what they want to do in school a few times. If not great.

 

[Crayon]

I'd just tell them to have a backup plan like being a rapper.

 

[Paasei]

Don’t see why not, it’s as much of a job as anything else he could’ve mentioned.

 

[K' Dash]

As a dev myself I tried to convince my 17yo son to pursue something else, he grew up watching me throw code and he thought it was cool, I actually did thought him a bit of python and JS/html but after a couple small projects he burned down.

Now he just started college and chose computer science.

I personally now hate it, it’s been years since I committed code to a work project, I’m in managerial positions now and still would change this for anything but I wont get the same money anywhere else and have two kids, their school, wife and a mortgage to think about, so I guess I’ll die doing this

 

[EDMIX]

In this situation I would fully support my kid in whatever endeavor they want to do

What you have to understand is everybody has their path and journey on where they go in life and sometimes it takes them trying to do something early to figure out they don't even like it or their passion doesn't exist there and for all you know they start end up liking completely different processes, what if the person ends up making some of the music and their little indy game and turns out they love making music more?

Let them have that journey. There is deep growth and development there even if they don't even end up in game development.

Let them get that answer at 16, 17, 18 or wherever they figure out they may not wish to do this for a living.


To be against it? I mean...you are not them, they are different person and I think people get a little to wild with trying to force their ideals on their kids.

It is their choice to make and we know not of how they will do, maybe it was a phase, maybe they make a Twitch and that ends up being their passion, maybe they end up being the next person that makes some massive Minecraft type game, but they won't know this if they don't try.

 

[StereoVsn]

IT? It’s just as bad as game dev.
If it’s something the kid likes, I would advise saving it for a hobby.

And if someone tells you “But there are Lotsa IT jobs.”, run away from them.

A good IT job that’s not going away and at the same time well compensated is network engineering. Guess what AI and Cloud needs to actually push/pull/route data?

Only thing is that it can be pretty obtuse, but now days it’s fairly straightforward to learn with VMs and cheap home labs with used Cisco gear.

 

[Laptop1991]

In the current state of the gaming industry i would advise against it, as they are not making really good games and a lot of the dev;s arn't really dev's,, hopefully with the amount of failures and money wasted, this trend will change at some point, if they are really talented they could make their own AA or indie title i suppose, but money would be an issue i think.

 

[sendit]

All of game development?! Hell no. Man, people are really overestimating what AI is going to do.

The meat and bones (programming) of it, yes. You're under estimating what AI can do.

 

[DonJimbo]

No i would slap him in his face to do something more useful for his life

 

[MacReady13]

My kids couldn’t make it- they’re white so they’re at a massive disadvantage already. So I’d advise against them going into that path.

 

[Sylonious]

I wouldn't discourage them if that is what they wanted to do. Freedom in life means the right choose your own path, not letting others opinions weigh on you too heavily. If the kid has the talent and the aptitude I think they could end up resenting you if you steer them away from their passion.

 

[DannyDanger]

Just get into IT.

 

[Nankatsu]

Look kid, I only play games. It's not like I can advise you on how to make them.

 

[fran.fernandez]

I work as game dev for almost 15+ years.
As well all my coworker. Obviously.
Not bad, many benefits, good pay, only heard about crunch but never experienced it.
Good is that we touch many programming and pipelines so changing job inside IT area is not difficult.

But I will be against becoming indie game developers or director. Do is as a serious job, study lot of algebra, move those vectors and transform matrices.