Is it too late or too risky to transition to a gaming company?
I'm currently working on booking.com in Amsterdam: I'm enjoying it and I have a very good wlb. 90k tc. 8 yoe (only 1 here, the rest on my home country). I'm 33 years old, married with no kids. I love gaming, and I would really love to leave something to the world regarding this... Being that something made entirely by myself or with a group. One option is to just do a little bit every day after work. It's super slow, and there are days that I'm just super tired to keep coding. The other option, and one that really seems sexy to me, is to drop my "regular software" developer job and look something in the Netherlands related to gaming... (living the dream!). Although I heard that the industry is quire unstable and probably nowadays... The thing is, I'm already 33... Maybe it's kind of late to switch careers? Thanks for your help!
Booking.com
Gaming is tough! You can switch. I wish you well, but the business is brutal. You have to absolutely love it. I do, so it’s hard to leave it. I just want you to think about that before you take off.
You can always go back to a regular software job if gaming doesn’t work out for you. Not an impossible risk to pursue your passions
As pointed previously and take it form someone that lived the dream, gaming is not that great, probably you will be less stressed and have a life in other industry, if I were you maybe I start my own indie gig on the side to learn the business and use your spare time, just saying.
I've been in games for 7 years. You really have to love it. My goal is to work at riot games, but that's because i love the game and want other players to be happy when they play it. The pay isn't as good as other companies. If you don't love playing games while troubleshooting then it might jot be for you. But hey! You might just enjoy it! You never know.
You are still young enough. There is a lot of ageism for games, depending on the discipline, but 33 is at the cusp. 40+ is much harder.