Haaii! A different format for the newsletter this month: I answer YOUR questions! I’m about to leave for BitSummit in Kyoto and I have a newsletter streak going and AHH I DIDN’T WANT TO SKIP A MONTH!! I never promised it be monthly because expectation but I did it to myself anyways, sigh💀 . ANYWAYS, this month I’m answering three questions submitted by…people on the internet!! Thank you for reading!!

What does a good gig look like?
How common is it to have an accountant?
Does contract design work or consulting even exist in this climate?

What is a Good Gig??👍🏽👎🏽

This is a BIG question because it contains multitudes. Let’s attempt to break it down:

Job Description:

A job description should be made with thought and care. That means that the information is concise: description of role, list of requirements, and hopefully a brief overview of the company . Ideally their site has more information on the founders, perhaps even current employees. That gives you an opportunity to dig around (cough ask your network about these people). If there’s too much of ‘we are a FaMiLy’then i got my guard up. You are my potential employer and you give me money in exchange of my professional skills. That is not the description of family, so please don’t lie to me (I don’t get paid to clean my parents inboxes!!)

Ideally the salary/compensation would also be posted BUT I don’t think it should be mandatory. I understand that, depending on the team size,country and funding opportunities, showing a salary may lead to unnecessary online discourse that doesn’t take into account the situation. At least that was the argument I heard in favor of not showing to the wide internet and it kinda made sense to me. Online discourses are taxing and usually kinda pointless. I digress: My point is, once you’re at the interview stage (or even an initial inquisitional email) you’ll get the info.

A great example of concise and clean job descriptions are those posted on Work With Indies! Go check it out: https://www.workwithindies.com/

Contracts:

Do not EVER agree to anything, even a tentative deadline without a contract. Learn from my past mistake because I ‘agreed’ on something once and it unecessarily derailed my week for a gig that never came to be! Don’t mess around your schedule unless there is a written and legally binding paperwork. Make sure the workload is realistic within the timeframe given. If you aren’t sure, ask people from your field who are more senior than you (also ask nicely!! make sure they have the bandwidth first before bombarding them with requests). Always Respect the NDA of the contract, make sure you don’t specifically name the company or people involved.

People:

First thing I do when there’s a potential gig and I don’t know the team is to ASK AROUND! The game dev world is much smaller than you think (especially amongst contractors). Someone knows someone who knew something about company xyz. I’m a little less strict about it if it’s someones very first project or something student lead. Usually the funds in those situations are so minimal that the risk of exploitative on my end are also minimal! But for any established studio: Ask about the people, the founders, the culture, anything! In the past, certain stories were so horrific that I didn’t even bother going on with the interview that was offered. Other times, there were what I call the the ‘social media savy we give talks about cute healthy studios’ that in turn, SEVERELY underpaid contractors, or straight up didn’t pay certain people! But their online image is so charismatic and they’re part of all the inner circles that one would never know. Until, said studio(s) start burning so many contractors that word gets around. ANYWAYS! My point is: don’t be shy to do some digging

*IYKYK: Dig like the diggy ennemy from Slay the Spire 2*

Should I hire an accountant?📊

The more established and the bigger revenue you have, the more the chances are likely that you DEFINITELY need an accountant. But as a single freelancer who only occasionally hires people…I don’t really need one.. Actually wait that’s not all true: I did hire an accountant my first 2 years because:

Year 1: I quite school but also had some scholarship/competition money and was confused as to what to do
Year 2: It was my first time doing my own taxes (I used turbotax) and I wanted an accountant to view over my file

But ever since, I got the hang of doing my taxes using online softwares. So unless you have a complicated situation, a bunch of employees or suddenly made a massive amount of money in a short period of time (royalties) I would encourage you to try doing your own taxes! Plus it will teach you so much more about money, investments and general financial knowledge, hurray!

Does contract work/consulting even exist in this climate?🤯

Let’s be real: It is damn f*cken difficult right now. Full transparency: I’m having trouble myself! That doesn’t mean that contract work doesn’t exist, it DOES, it’s a disservice to the people and the field to round it down to a yes/no answer. Now specifically for consulting work: you would need to be a seasoned worker with some accolades and some decently successful games. It’s not supposed to be a beginneer friendly job. As for contract work: Yes it exists, but also yes that funding is much scarcer than previous years. There was a boom and a huge injection of money in 2020 compounded by interest rates being close to 0% and that created an inflated,temporary and unsustainable games industry. We are in the deep end of the wave but I can’t predict when things will get better.

My point is: It’s not just you, everyone is affected in one way or another. My suggestion is boring but: Know your finances/budget, have another job apart from games freelancing that can ACTUALLY sustain you and be patient. These types of up and down waves happen in every industry, and as freelancers we must stay on our toes and adapt. I wish I had a better answer but it’s just as boring a living financially conservative, not buying or upgrading to the new thing (apartment, computer,collectibes etc). Basically you needs vs. wants.

Okay this is going on another tangent but my point is: Yes contract work still exists, absolutely yes. Just differently than before.

The end! Had to keep this one short cuz packing, need currency exchange and almost forgot to make business cards. Was this a fun format?? Let me know (email or dm!!) I’m curious to see what people want to hear about it.

I need to go think about all the sushi I wish to consume ok BAIII!!

Neha🍰
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Answering YOUR questions (Part1)