one day, maybe. Today, I personally lack the savings buffer nor desirable kinds of skills to pull it off properly. Wasn't born with a silver spoon, so I guess I gotta pay my dues.
Even then, my kind of self work is just as unstable as my industry. I may in fact be good at it and still fail.
You're probably just unhappy with what you do and don't realize it. I am on my journey out of exactly what you're describing, and it came down to me realizing that I'd rather make less and solve real problems, instead of being an overpaid Copilot operator.
I'm a bit angry at the current market, but I like the work I do.
And sadly, I'm far from overpaid (you can probably guess my industry in 1-2 guesses now. Not like I keep it secret on this profile to begin with). I really do want to do my own work without being binded to corporate whiplash, but I still have a mortgage and car to pay off. And I need to rebuild my 6 months savings after the current year of layoff.
I'm going to start laying down the foundations on the side next year, but I see at least 5 more years before I can even consider jumping off.
Aw man, gamedev is rough. That's a bad spot to be in today's market. I'm primarily frontend, but now work as solo eng for a sizeable nonprofit. So much better, I'd say 30% of my work is code and the rest is people work. Absolutely fantastic balance.
There's always career direction change. Lots of folks are eager to hire gamedevs, because they work hard and think different. Not sure if that's something you want, but perpetual burnout is never worth it.
Even then, my kind of self work is just as unstable as my industry. I may in fact be good at it and still fail.