I'm at a crossroads. I have a cushy 9-5 that pays well in a creative space. I have been offered a dream job at a very big, and well known, AAA company to be a designer in an area of design I find fascinating (I come from a programming background with a MS in computer science). The studio has a very bad QOL reputation and the morning drive would be much longer. On the other hand if I stay in my current job I can keep chugging away at my indie games with hopes of turning hobby to profession. In the past I have worked as a professional game programmer, so this wouldn't be my first foray into the industry. I am married, so my QOL (quality of life) worries are mainly for my wife.

I know you guys on GDNet have loads of knowledge in this area. Is working design at a AAA company worth 12 hour work days 6 days a week (hours according to people who work there)? Does anyone regret taking their dream job and have it end up being sweatshop labor? On the other side, has anyone worked for a company with a bad reputation but actually is glad they did?

Can you do some research of the said AAA company? I know that crunch time and poor QoL is a widespread problem in the industry, but I also know that it's not in every company. There's many factors to consider here.

Will your pay be higher? If you get paid, let's say $120K for an 8-hour-day job, that's roughtly $57/hour. If you move over to this company that has a possiblity of working 12 hours/day 6 days/week: that's the equivalent of getting paid $213K. Does it match? Maybe more/less?

How often will there be crunch time?

Are they working on a very interesting project?

Do you have any voice in the direction of the product?

What about the people? Will you get along with them?

Can you do some research of the said AAA company? I know that crunch time and poor QoL is a widespread problem in the industry, but I also know that it's not in every company. There's many factors to consider here.

Will your pay be higher? If you get paid, let's say $120K for an 8-hour-day job, that's roughtly $57/hour. If you move over to this company that has a possiblity of working 12 hours/day 6 days/week: that's the equivalent of getting paid $213K. Does it match? Maybe more/less?

How often will there be crunch time?

Are they working on a very interesting project?

Do you have any voice in the direction of the product?

What about the people? Will you get along with them?

This company is very well documented to have very bad working conditions. From glassdoor, to interview with employees to articles are popular industry websites. I can't really say more without throwing them under the bus.

The pay will be less but the potential bonus would make it very lucrative.

According to some people they crunched for a year on their last title. I imagine the crunch would be 6 months and could be more.

I know the project they are working on and it's an extremely popular franchise that will likely win awards.

I think I would have a decent voice on my particular section of design.

The people I talked to are great, but all of the reviews, postmortums and interviews with employees point to production/management as a HUGE problem. I have not spoken to anyone on that side.

Crunch for a year? I think you can not even call that crunching anymore.

Depends on what you mean by Quality of Life. I use to work for a company who had a bitch of a boss who everyone lower (and possibly higher) hated as she demanded so much and was super strict, funny enough I got on really well with her from the start and despite leaving the company we are still good friends, it was the only job I had where I was (sincerely) sad to leave. However I have been in jobs where I could relax and do whatever I wanted but the work was sooooo boring, easy or glacial paced that it was painful to continue. I think you have to actually look at what the issues people are complaining about are and if YOU can work with them.

I am going to assume by your pic that you have a family, so 6 days a week could potentially result in an "It is either me or your job" discussion around holidays. It is also important to understand, which is often overlooked when listening to employer critics, that some people actually enjoy crunching or more so spending long hours working.

Again on where you are in the world, be aware of the laws.

The law is pretty strict on who is exempt from overtime and who is not. While programmers are often exempt in the US ("Computer Professionals" exception) in nearly all states the other game development disciplines (modelers, animators, and yes, even designers) are not exempt from overtime even when they are on an annual salary.

Most companies have a fairly reasonable QoL, but some studios were abusive. The groups who were bad mostly have cleaned up their act ever since multiple rounds of lawsuits about 12 years ago.

About a decade ago I was placed on a team where everyone was "very strongly encouraged" to work 50+ hours during crunch time. He said things like "I won't fire you if you can't do it on a specific night, but we really need all the extra hours". I made a quick visit to HR just to verify who was non-exempt. Turns out everyone except management on the team was non-exempt. HR invited the manager down for a chat. The next morning the manager apologized to the entire team, told those who had already been working extra hours to report the hours to HR for overtime payment. He then changed his tune about overtime and began slashing features.

Even if you are on an annual salary, if the company asks you to work more than standard hours the law says you qualify for additional payment. And even if your employer asks you to sign a work agreement that declares you exempt from overtime does not mean that part of the contract is legal. Many states have overruled it; the law and not the contract establishes the class of worker.

A professional worker will occasionally recognize "I need to work late tonight to finish this". That is normal. However, if the edict comes from above "you will work extra hours" the employers generally must pay you for those extra hours.