A heartbreaking story of getting into the games industry

One of the defining characteristics of labor issues in the video game industry is that companies tend to treat workers as disposable. If you are a good artist but you don’t want to deal with the crunch, the culture, or the job insecurity, don’t worry — someone else will. And yet, people still long for these jobs. They want to make games. In a new video on YouTube, the channel People Make Games recounts the journey of one of these folks. It’s a true story, which makes its ended especially difficult.

The video is called “Getting into the games industry.” You can watch it by clicking play on the window up top. Over the course of just a handful of minutes, it tells how a creative young man from Kentucky named Derek was able to get his break. I’m avoiding specifics to maintain the video’s gut-punching climax, and you should definitely watch it for yourself.