What would you expect to be paid to write a video game script? $100,000? Maybe youâd get that a few years ago, but the rate is now more between $10,000 to $20,000, writes The New York Observer.
Itâs one of the more interesting did-you-knows cropping up in a collection of anecdotes about solid writers who are leaving more establishment gigs â news, novels â to try their hand at a chaotic field thatâs still establishing a whoâs who and professional structure. Games writing is largely a freelance, gig-by-gig career, like youâd expect for Hollywood, the difference is it pays a ton less.
The expectations are also a lot lower, to put it charitably. âI always say that the games industry makes Hollywood look like avant-garde poetry publishers,â writer Tom Bissell said. âIn the lit biz, Iâm, to quote Ron Burgundy, Iâm kind of a big deal. But in video games, no one cares.â
NâGai Croal, the former Newsweek games writer who founded the games consulting firm Hit Detection, figures prominently in the piece as well. âIf you want a Frank Darabont, for instance, you need to pay Frank Darabontâs quote or you donât get him,â he says, comparing Hollywood and games. âBut the flip side is, if you canât afford it, than maybe heâs not the best one suited and maybe you want someone who knows games better, maybe isnât as big a name, but can deliver you 60 percent to 70 percent of what Darabont brings to the table in terms of dialogue and structure.â
Other fun facts: NâGai drinks strawberry mojitos, apparently. Thatâs not exactly hard-luck shot-and-a-beer poison, so weâll assume his new gig can pay the rent. But strawberry, NâGai? Tsk.
Scrawl of Duty: Novelists and Journos Defect to Video Game Industry [The New York Observer]
