When Elon Musk was just the funny rocket guy, everyone considered him a genius. He was involved in things so complex and far removed from daily life that very few people had the ability to tell if he was full of shit or not.

Then he started being more outspoken on...other topics. You know, stuff people actually somewhat understood, like politics. He also made some other really poor choices, like buying Twitter and accidentally turning it into a platform for generating child pornography. With that, the curtain got pulled back, and the illusion got shattered. Turns out, being a good entrepreneur alone doesn't make you a genius!

Into game development...

Game development is one of those fields, much like rocket science, that's just complicated enough for the average person to not be able to tell if someone is full of shit or not. If you think that comparison is ridiculous, it's not mine. Even legendary game programmer John Carmack says so, to the folks at NASA no less!

This inherent complexity of game development makes it very easy for people to trick others into thinking they're experts. You can very easily build a following just by spouting vague, feel-good platitudes or extremely basic advice that sounds profound to an audience of aspiring developers who simply don't know any better. To sound like an authority, all you need is confident delivery plus a few buzzwords. This is especially the case in the age of short-form media, like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, or even X the Everything App, where creators can't go into much detail even if they wanted to, making it harder to tell who's full of shit and who's not.

That said, long-form content isn't free from this problem either. There are many YouTube channels run by people who have never shipped a commercial title in their lives, or at least not one that anyone's actually played. They produce slick, high-production videos on game development, speaking with the unearned authority of a veteran gamedev, while stating what's already obvious. Not even all of them do that properly, though. I've seen a channel with hundreds of thousands of subscribers confusing the terms "game engine" with "IDE", telling people that they can just use one or the other to make games as if they are mutually exclusive. It's that bad.

Even when they have shipped commercial titles, it's still hard to fully trust them when so much of what they do is funnel people into these paid "courses" and "mentorship" programs. To be honest, I cannot tell you straight up how much of a scam these things are. I've never signed up for one (obviously), and I've never met anyone who has, either. So let's just say I'm very skeptical of them.

Now, you might be wondering, "Mors, if there are so many people out there being so full of shit, why don't you and other developers call them out?". Well, most of the time, it's just not worth it. These figures aren't usually spreading outright dangerous misinformation. They're just serving up nothingburger advice that's generally as harmless as it is hollow. Calling them out publicly feels petty, like shitting on someone who's at least trying to be a positive voice. It's a lot of drama for little gain, and frankly, we've all got shit to make.

Plus, they end up getting roped into some kind of controversy sooner or later anyway. I mean, if you're building your career on misrepresenting your expertise, you're probably not the nicest guy around in the first place. And while the audience might not know the difference between good and bad code, they can definitely spot an asshole.

"Aren't you claiming to be an expert too?"

That's a fair question. It's kind of ironic for me to complain about people pretending to be experts, while also writing posts (sometimes) giving gamedev advice that isn't very deep all things considered.

I don't think I'm some kind of gamedev expert, though. Frankly, I'm not even sure whether I'm a particularly good game developer! I mean, yeah, people seem to like my work, and I'm privileged enough to be able to survive in this industry, but I also shipped a game last year that, admittedly, didn't really sell well!

So then...why do I write all this? What's the point of this blog?

Because I'm opinionated as shit, and I have a lot of thoughts rattling around in that puny brain of mine. This blog is less about me teaching you how to be a great developer, or me touting how great I am, and more about me processing my own experiences and observations about the industry, and hopefully being helpful to others along the way. Like, my goal here isn't for you to think "Wow, Mors is a genius! I want him to take all my money, and I must have sex with him right at this moment!", it's for you to think "Huh, that's an interesting perspective. I learned something there!".

It's my way of making sense of it all, and feeling like I'm doing something useful while I'm at it.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to have a following. Of course I do! I want to keep making the games I want to make, and for that, I need to make a living. Plus, it always feels great to see a bunch of people enjoy the games I've made, and discuss them with others. It makes me feel like my existence is worth something.

The easy path for me to get a larger following would be to make a TikTok account and present myself as a flawless expert with all the answers. I don't think that's a foundation you can build a career on, though. At least, not an honest one.

...

Okay, before you point it out, yes, it is indeed very ironic of me to cite John "We need to build more AI datacenters" Carmack as an authority, while also talking about how all authority should be questioned. But...well...let's just say I'm more inclined to believe him on this one. And it's definitely not because it makes my own field look more sophisticated than it actually is. Yep.