What is a day like for someone who works for a video game company

As an artist, I work with my art director and game designers to figure out what needs to go into the game. I'll spend part of the day in meetings discussing different possible ideas. Once we've settled on a few, I'll go back to my desk and find research some images online and start sketching some ideas up. Once i've got a few solid ideas, I'll send them over to my art director and the designer to see what works and what doesn't and modify as necessary. Once the sketch is approved I'll start working up the colors and actually paint up a finished version.

The sketching and painting process can go quickly or take a while if we have different ideas and need to go through many variations. When working on new games and creating new art styles, the process of figuring out the "look" of the game will take several weeks to months depending on the complexity of the visuals and the needs of the game.

This entire process is fun for me. But we do take breaks and blow off steam, grab food, and just relax and play games. At Zynga, the culture is such that we can budget our own time as long as we get our work done and hit our deadlines. For me, that will occasionally include taking a break to play video games or ping pong with my co-workers. If we take longer breaks, then we just work later hours. So yes, we do work hard, but we also still have fun. If we don't have fun playing and making games, it's hard to get other people to enjoy our games as well.

While certainly not a sign of what all video game companies are like, Valve has output an Employee Handbook that gives good insight into how Valve is structured and what it it like to work there on a day to day basis. http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1074301/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.pdf

I know of several smaller indie dev firms, and almost universally the smaller companies embrace flat organizational structures. At the end of the day though, Dalena is absolutely correct; These are businesses and need to be treated as such.

Frequently long and busy, but highly satisfying.

As a Designer, my day was largely focused on whatever piece of the project i was working on. Usually, I would be in Unreal or another editing tool creating levels, scripting behaviors, and troubleshooting other teammates work. Satisfaction came from creating something that was well received by my peers and lauded in the player community.

As a Producer, my day consists largely of helping the other teammates know what needs to be done, be equipped to do the work, and feel like they are both challenged and rewarded. If you are introverted, I recommend seeking a position that is more implementation specialist and less leadership-related. If you are gregarious, you would probably aspire to Lead or Producer positions. These will give you less time at your desk buried in a task and more time face-to-face with others helping them succeed.

I love working at Zynga but you can't lose focus that video games are fun but in reality its still a business.