Rogelio Olguin’s Post

View profile for Rogelio Olguin, graphic

Lead Artist Nvidia / aka "El Capitan", "The Wolf", or "RO" / Art Direction / Digital Specialist (Posts and opinions are not reflective of Nvidia these are my thoughts only)

I am days away from my 2-year anniversary at Nvidia. I ended up signing on my birthday which is on the 16th. I have so far enjoyed my stay at Nvidia. It has been in many ways a drastic change from 25+ years in gaming. In many ways I needed this for me personally. Being away from gaming has given me a clearer view on issues happening within the industry. I do miss working on games though I won't lie. Nvidia has treated me well and the time I have been here has in some ways been a respite from the crunch culture in gaming. If you do not know me personally, I am pretty overweight, and the issues started happening where I needed some meds for hypertension. Overall, otherwise in good health. But, with that said, for the last 2 years and really this past year I have been on a better diet and increased activity phase in which I have lost around 50+ pounds. My aim is to continue and keep moving forward on that end. While this weight gain was not due to the gaming industry it was self-harm basically. Game industry certainly does not help with the crunch culture being imposed. I have explained it to some artists who want to go to top studios the possible sacrifices in time you can incur. From relationship problems with loved ones to real health concerns that can cut deep into mental health. While I consider in general, I have been lucky to have had generally really good studio support when things got tough and I have zero blame on studios and the managers who did what is needed to make these insane products happen, a consideration must be taken on the toll we take and let others impose on us. While I understand that what we do is extremely complex and takes extremely savvy devs, to work those extended hours as an industry we need to strive for change and being ok to talk about issues more so. I know some might find my posts on the industry negative or even question why I am so open. The reason is that I love the gaming industry and it pains me seeing what it has become. With compounding issues happening I think many of the cultural issues that were being fixed might decline again, and we will again accept more crunch and more general lack of humanity towards others, to satisfy the shareholders need of products being pumped out to make a buck. I will admit that seeing where the industry is now, I am unsure when ill decide to come back. So, I have come to the conclusion that I am now part of the artists or developers who decided to drop being in the industry all together. The reasons for me leaving are not dramatic... I went into Nvidia out of curiosity for what it could offer. But now seeing where the industry is I am just unsure how safe it is. I keep getting job possibles from all aspects and even some I would have been highly interested a couple years back with even Art Direction possibilities at good companies. The industry is in a hard place right now. I hope one day to come back tho. #crunch #gaming #gamedev

Sterling R.

Technical Animator & Game Industry Top Voice 🎮 15 years launching games across mobile, console & PC 🎮 Rapid Prototyping, Unreal Blueprints, Maya Rigging, Animating, & more! 🎮 Book Author & Creator of GameDevSG

2mo

There are plenty of places that push back on crunch. More and more every year. Crunch doesn’t work, it’s fact. A lot of places interviewed with recently had a “no crunch policy”, but beware because some will say it, but not understand how to actually stand by that. I have personally been very lucky to have crunched very little to this point. Maybe a couple weeks every couple years? Anyways, I think you’ll find things are a bit different now than they were even a few years ago. Well, except the stability part. That’s more trash than ever. Maybe give it another couple years.

Preston Thorne

Head of QA, OfferUp | ex Amazon / Epic Games / Micron Tech

2mo

Seems to be quite a few of us recently who got out of gaming after so many years in (17 for me), have now seen just how much better work balance and many other aspects can be, and are trying to let everyone else know it’s OK to get out. And in many ways, even better to get out. Glad it’s been as positive a change for has as it has been for me.

Thomas Fraser

3D Artist - Worlds / Environments / Assets - Games & Animation

2mo

Hey Rogelio, the tutorials you've made really helped me in a lot of aspects of my art, and helped me grow as an artist. I've also enjoyed several of the games and environments you worked on, which all gave me the knowledge of how good art needs to be for a professional level. While I wouldn't say I'm near the artist you are (yet!), when working on something, I ask myself if it would be up to your standards based on the tutorials and games you've worked on. After reading this post, I just want to say I'm happy you're finding yourself in a better place, and thanks for your contribution to helping others in the game industry.

Justin Adams

Art director and Illustrator

2mo

Been a long time Ro but it’s good to hear you’re feeling better and are able to see things from new vantage points. I’d say considering how Ai is moving less and less artists will have the stresses and strains on them simply because Ai will take some of it off their backs. Unfortunately (fortunately?) Ai May replace many of these artists completely. I say fortunately because I know for a fact you’re not alone in the physical and mental health problems related to working in the game industry. And in fact what you mention is small potatoes compared to some of the stories I’ve heard.

Santiago Gutierrez

Lead/Principal Environment and Layout Artist formerly at Naughty Dog.....Open to Work

2mo

That is great Ro. Now consistency and you will get there. Really happy for you bud.

Alexei Ryan

Global Gaming Recruiter | ex-Angry Birds, ex-Halo | Award-Winning Entertainer

2mo

This is moving. Thanks for sharing, Ro.

Alexander Boluzhenkov

Art Director, TeamLead, Producer

2mo

First of all, thank you four your story and time that you put into gamedev community here. I started my game dev career at 2007, and main lesson that I learned is - there is nothing more important than your health and your family. If you could build you goals "around them" - it will be the best scenario, Todays gamedev looks not so warm and healthy, but I believe that we can change that,

Cathryn Mataga

Video Game Programmer at Aristocrat

2mo

I get this totally. It is challenging to keep the weight off doing these jobs. For me, it's a lifelong struggle. The job is massively sedentary, basically I'm 'in the chair' all day, and it doesn't take a lot of food to put on weight in this situation.

Jordan Harvey

CEO & Founder at Remote Control

2mo

Thanks for sharing your story. There are so many studios and agencies in and around games/animation/vfx that have zero consideration for their employees health. This seems like an opportunity to open a game studio that operates in respect of that. Glad you're doing well!

So good to hear you are taking care of yourself!

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