GeneralJist said:
Sure if your an indie, generalists help, but Indies aren't able to have a stable income

What?!?

I'm somehow a generalist programmer, worked on Databases as well as Gameplay, AI, Network and Graphics programming. Due to my interest in game engines, I have become a low level and tools guy with at least insight into every aspect of game development from a programmers sight and also some knowledge about content creation like 3D and environment art because this is required to understand the needs of those professions and provide the right interfaces into the engine and for tools to be helpful in production.

Yes, I have also worked as an indy developer but today I'm sitting in a AAA game studio and my income has never been unstable since

If you are a generalist then I think indie development will suit your nature and skillset.

You can always enlist a specialist if required, but a broad general knowledge of all aspects will greatly assist you in managing the project from start to finish.

Play to your skills.

GeneralJist said:
So I can do all of those, but It's hard to find one job to do, because they want to know your committed to one career path. The games industry seems this way too. Sure if your an indie, generalists help, but Indies aren't able to have a stable income. And I guess if I wanted stable income,, games is not the right field for that. I've also been thinking of getting a masters degree, but the jobs aren't always there afterword's.

There are a lot of ideas to unpack there.

Get the degree if you want the education and the certificate. Don't get the degree merely because you assume it will make your career more stable, it will not.

All jobs are unstable, all jobs have risks. It doesn't matter what field you are in, no fields guarantee a stable income. Perhaps the closest field out there is healthcare, since outbreaks of healthiness are rare and people are always dying, but even that is not a guarantee for a stable career.

It is true that some companies want focused experts. It is also true that some companies want generalists. And some companies want a mix of people who can cross boundary lines for many reasons; sometimes when there are too many specialists, boundary-crossing people are the most valuable hires.

Games can be a good career choice. They can also be a poor career choice. It depends on the person and the conditions around the person. Not all companies are a good match for a person, and not all people are a match for any particular job.

Ultimately you must play the hand you are dealt in life. If you cannot make your preferred career work, that's unfortunate, but we can't all be astronauts when we grow up. Sometimes we need to fall back to other honorable work that we can tolerate. You are not your career, it's just something you're doing at the time. And sometimes if it doesn't work out, you can come back later when conditions change. I've been in and out of games a few times, switching between business software, web backends, and other work in addition to my game development jobs.

GeneralJist said:
But that is the thing, you made it to AAA, most people don't make it there

Those companies are looking for people all the time, on local events, global events and their websites. Just visit one of those events, talk to the people and get in touch with them is usually enougth to get a chance for being hired. You just have to try.

Sometimes I'd like to live in the US because you have so much great studios there. In my country, the game dev scene is located at exactly 4 spots so you have the choice of moving into one of the four edges of the country to have a chance for working in game dev