Game Development Contracting

tim-cain contracting careers game-industry production

Abstract

Problem: What are the trade-offs of working as a contractor versus a full-time employee in game development?

Approach: Tim Cain draws on his own contracting experience — from teenage part-time work at Cybron/Pegasus, to his 14-week contract at Interplay (building the Bard's Tale Construction Set), to his post-2020 consulting work after leaving Obsidian — to lay out the pros and cons.

Findings: Contracting offers project choice, specialization leverage, variety, and lower stress, but comes with self-employment tax/insurance burdens, remote isolation, and less creative control over the final product.

Key insight: Contracting trades control for freedom — you pick your projects and work to your strengths, but you're an advisor, not a decision-maker, and that shift suits some career stages better than others.

Tim's Contracting History

Tim's first professional work was contracting: part-time work at Cybron (originally Pegasus) during summers and college breaks. When he joined Interplay in 1991, it was again as a contractor — a 14-week contract to build the Bard's Tale Construction Set, after which they hired him full-time in January 1992. He remained a full-time employee from 1992 until 2020, when he moved to Seattle intending to stay at Obsidian but discovered they weren't set up for out-of-state employees, so he switched to contracting.

Pros of Contracting

You Pick Your Projects

The biggest advantage. As an employee you're assigned to whatever needs staffing; as a contractor you can evaluate projects and choose ones that interest you. The selection is far broader — Tim notes he didn't work on a console game until 30 years into his career (South Park: The Stick of Truth in 2011). Contracting opens up project types you'd never encounter at a single studio.

You Work to Your Strengths

Clients hire you for the specific thing you're good at. Tim is typically brought in during pre-production to review design documents, evaluate story and setting, work with lead system designers on mechanics (especially whether mechanics support the setting), and sometimes do technical evaluations — engine usage, third-party libraries (FMOD, Wwise), sound and animation middleware. Nobody asks a contractor to do work outside their specialty.

Lower Stress

You're brought in for advice, not final decisions. You can flag problems — "this engine feature is harder than you're planning for" — but the lead programmer, lead designer, and game director make the calls. Advisory roles carry inherently less pressure.

Cons of Contracting

Taxes, Insurance, and Paperwork

In the US, contractors pay self-employment tax and handle their own insurance. This is a significant administrative and financial burden compared to full-time employment.

Remote Isolation

Contractors work almost entirely remote. Tim misses the casual kitchen encounters — running into someone who mentions a feature problem and being able to help on the spot. Video calls don't replicate that serendipity.

Less Creative Control

You're never asked to decide the setting, story, or system mechanics. Your advice may steer things, but you don't have the authority of a game director or department lead. This is the flip side of lower stress.

Practical Advice on Contracts

Avoid Exclusive Contracts

Tim advises against accepting exclusivity clauses (where you can't work for other clients). If a company insists, demand a higher rate — there's no good reason for them to require exclusivity. If you can't manage multiple contracts simultaneously, exclusivity is fine, but still negotiate more money.

Contract Structure

Rates are usually hourly. Contracts may specify minimum hours per month, sometimes maximums, sometimes quarterly arrangements. Structure these to protect yourself.

Generalists Beware

Contracting favors specialists. Clients want to know exactly what you offer. If you're a generalist, you may have more trouble finding contract work than a specialist would.

Who Should Contract?

Tim frames it as a personal decision based on personality, risk tolerance, and career stage. For him, contracting fits well as he ratchets down toward retirement — the freedom and lower stress suit that phase. For someone who wants creative control and day-to-day team involvement, full-time employment is likely better.

Source: Game Development Contracting — Tim Cain's YouTube channel

References