Josh Sawyer and other game developers on retirement: “I don’t believe it will be an option for me”

The games industry attracts more creators and specialists each year. However, the question is if they will be able to save enough money and retire, or have to work until their last breath? Here are some insights from developers.

Certain Affinity’s lead animator Robert Morrison asked this question on Twitter because retirement is a topic that game developers don’t usually discuss online. Unfortunately, some answers were really unoptimistic.

Retirement is a dream that might never come true even for recognized developers like Josh Sawyer, famous game designer and studio design director at Obsidian. It’s obviously for financial reasons, as he will still have to be paying for a house he wants to buy when he turns 80.

Retirement from the games industry might seem so hard that some professionals ironically hope to make a big hit that could provide them with enough money.

Of course, many developers shared some ironic answers, joking about their future.

However, some developers said that they had a retirement plan. Jane Ng, who worked on Half-Life: Alyx and Firewatch, started an IRA when she got her first job. She also admits to being a “saver since I was a kid.”

Other developers are driven by their own fears. That’s the case with Katy Hargrove, 3D artist and asset modeler at Warner Brothers Animation, who has been saving money since middle school.

Maaike van der Leeden, associate quality designer at EA, admits that she has a retirement fund at work that she pays a percentage every year.

Despite all the problems, some developers try to stay optimistic. For example, Drew Murray from Insomniac Games admits that he gets depressed if he’s not working with people. “Maybe slow down at 70?” he asks.

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