Day job

It's been a crazy week. Most of it due to some chaos in my day job.

Some background: I work as a software engineer for a large high-tech company. That's my day job. I go there every morning, and come back every evening. And then I start working on the game.

In the last couple of months things seem to go wrong at the place I work. So much so, I'm actively thinking about looking for a new job. And that fact, got me thinking. Why the hell do I need a day job? Am I not an indie game developer? Isn't that my job?

Well, the short answer is: no, it's not. The slightly longer answer is: no, not yet.

Here's the sum of the dream: we make an indie game. It makes enough money to make it worth it to quit my day-job and make more indie games. Those games make enough money to make my studio bigger. Hire more workers. Make bigger games. Better games. Make more money.

That's the dream, at least. The goal.

So, if my goal is to work as an indie game developer, or as a studio CEO, why do I keep my day job?

The simple answer is, of course: it pays the bills. I have my own place (and it's a sweeeet place). I have my own car. My dog is well fed. My girlfriend gets nice presents (when I feel like it). The electricity is always on. I have hot water. The fridge is full of tasty things. And so on...

But, is that the only reason?

No. My day job pays for this pc. It enabled me to buy a domain for my company. I pay for software. I pay for hardware. And I can sleep quietly at night.

Simply put: my day job pays for my night job. More specifically: my day job pays for my dream. My day job enables me to dream.

I don't know how long I'll need to hold on to my day job, but until my night job makes enough money - I'll have to keep my day job. Hopefully - it won't be for that long.

-Shay