Getting Into the Games Industry Isn't Easy

simoniker writes "Lots of people want to be game developers — but it's not as simple as it sounds, as the Game Career Guide website explains in a new feature on game schools. Game professor Peter Raad: 'The number of job seekers who are seriously pursuing this field is staggering. It used to be the case that studios had the liberty to take bright, fresh, new employees with no specific game education background and train them in the methods, tools, and style that are required to make games. This is no longer true.'"

Comments

Re:Riiight, redux

[Ryan Amos]

"Experience" does not necessarily mean "paid experience."

There is plenty of work in the tech industry for almost-entry level positions. The catch is that so many kids are good with computers that they grow into already-trained young adults. The projects you were wasting time in high school and college on might end up being more relevant than the high school or college degree (not that having either of these hurts your chances at all. :) If you have no experience whatsoever though, don't expect on-the-job training.

Kids going into gaming have probably worked on a couple games, or at least developed mods for an existing game. In the gaming industry especially, companies want to see that you're really interested in being a game developer, as opposed to just being really interested in playing videogames (most people who think they want to develop fall into the latter category.)

Companies expect you to have a portfolio of your work. If you don't have one, get to work. Make a mod for Half-Life or Quake 1. Write a Donkey Kong clone from scratch. Odds are, if you wouldn't do it for fun, it's probably not for you.

Re:3am TV Meets 3pm /.

[RingDev]

You realise that Human Head and Raven software are both located in Madison, WI right?

-Rick