According to him, my acquaintance's passion was "systematically beaten out of" him by the very people interviewing him. He had plenty of passion during the job, but the interview process in the game industry is "intentionally" demoralizing. As someone who's had his fair share of interviews, I can sympathize with his position, even if I disagree that's the interviewer's intent. Nevertheless, if it is true that the interviewers are the cause of this destruction of passion, it would seen especially cruel for the interviewer to demand the very thing he's destroying.
There are bad studios that are abusive during employment, but to hear it happened during interviewing seems bizarre.
Interviews are short "Hi, tell me about yourself, show me you can do the job" events. Usually a quick phone screening, then an hour, then a 4 hour in depth. If that's enough to destroy someone's passion then it is a shallow passion indeed.
I can understand a preference for passion when selecting candidates, but to insist on a dog-and-pony-dance of passion while mocking the dance smacks less of professional discretion and more of frat-house hazing antics.
There must be a serious communication barrier. I may not have stated it well, or perhaps somewhere else there is something odd here.
Who do you want to work on your car? Someone who is passionate about cars and engines and motors, or someone who said "I've finished school, I'm an adult, I may as well get a job doing something. The auto shop is hiring, so I'll try that out."?
Who do you want to design your airplane? Someone who is passionate about aerodynamics and material strength and engineering, or someone who picked the career out of a list because they opened a college course catalog and it fell open to aeronautics?
Who do you want to be your surgeon? Somebody who is passionate about healthcare and the specific body parts, fascinated with the study of the organs needing care, and reads all the new articles as soon as they came out, or would you want somebody who picked it entirely for being one of the top paying fields?
Who do you want to be your programmer? Somebody who is passionate about software, studies not just the classic algorithms but stays current on the literature, or would you prefer someone who saw a headline that programmers are paid well and that there is a shortage of skilled programmers, so why not do it?
I'm not saying there are no bad places to work. They exist. But they exist for all careers. Choose not to work for one. If you mistakenly get hired at a sweatshop, change employers.
Perhaps your friend worked at one of those terrible places to work. Perhaps your friend worked at a so-so studio but perhaps was more enamored with the thought of making games than the thought of making software. I have no idea, and I'm not your friend nor do I know is mind.
People who love software and work in games tend to have no difficulty working on software in other industries. In addition to working on games I've worked on software in medicine, broadcast television, road traffic control, travel planning and visas, and mass data storage. I love working with software first and foremost. I am more passionate about games software, but I find myself programming any odd device that people hand me. Earlier today I spent 3 hours reprogramming a home security alarm because I had some time to kill and it was an interesting challenge for me. Having a job where I am doing what I love -- programming -- and getting rewarded both financially and emotionally for the work is amazing.
On this forum we occasionally see it, and in real life I've seen it more times than I like, where someone invests heavily in becoming a game developer because they expect it to be the same as playing games. It isn't. Making games and playing games are radically different, like being a stage actor is radically different from enjoying a night at a performance. From what you describe with your friend, I suspect he more closely falls into this case. I suggest that video game development is much like formula one racecar development; it is not enough just to love the field, you must be passionate in order to succeed. A car engine designer might enjoy designing parts be fine building minivan parts but building the highest performing racer needs passion as well as skill. A software developer might enjoy a career building generic business solutions and billing systems, but building high performing video games needs passion and skill both.