It's a simple supply/demand calculation. "Game dev" is high on the dream-job list -- "internal framework developer for MegaCo" is not. Game engines have made game dev more accessible than ever, the raw talent pool is bigger than its ever been.
It's a lot like being a professional musician. The hours suck, the environment is usually crap, it spills into your home life all the time... and the pay sucks unless you're the 0.1% (or a business person in the field instead of a performer) but lots and lots of people want to do it and will grind away at being a pro musician, because they're passionate about it.
If there's any set of devs that needs a union or is most like other fields where unionization is beneficial, it's game devs.
Indeed. There's even a term for this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compensating_differential
NGL, because this is actually my dream job.
> The best thing was that the player base appreciated every one of us, and constantly thanked us for making things better.
I work in games and this is honestly one of my biggest drivers. I of course love the game as well and want to make it better, but community praise is just next level energy for me.
Over the last few years many of us at our studio have been doxxed, threatened, called on our personal phones, etc. and that can really take the wind out of my sails. But when you get some positive or constructive feedback about trying to make the game better it really helps.
Working in games has the opportunity to be such a collaborative process with coworkers and community and it is awesome when it works well.