I was just reading Trivun's thread, and I got the idea to ask if anyone can give some advice about work experience in the games industry. Is it even possible in Lower Sixth/Year 13? If so, how would I go about getting it?
Games Work Experience
- Thread starter anNIALLator
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Getting into the game industry is usually a long, arduous process. First, you almost always have to have a contact already in the industry. Secondly, you need to be cheap and work for pennies a day, or highly experienced. Thirdly, you have to be able to work under severe stress, and be able to do lots, and lots of overtime.
Working in the game industry is hard on every level; but a hell of alot more rewarding than making a new Malibu Stacy doll every year.
EDIT: Oh yeah, reporting on games is an easy way to get into the industry. Give or take, depends on how you define easy, and what you're reporting on. While writing reviews can be a great way to meet developers, and talk to people about games all day, the reviewing industry is difficult to get into in it's own way.
Working in the game industry is hard on every level; but a hell of alot more rewarding than making a new Malibu Stacy doll every year.
EDIT: Oh yeah, reporting on games is an easy way to get into the industry. Give or take, depends on how you define easy, and what you're reporting on. While writing reviews can be a great way to meet developers, and talk to people about games all day, the reviewing industry is difficult to get into in it's own way.
Someone with a lot of requests doesn't mean that they have a lot of placements.TheGreenManalishi said:
Try looking in gaming magazines; quite a few will have advertisements recruiting new staff sitting in the back half. I've got Edge magazine in front of me and I see adverts from Codemasters, Rockstar, and Crytek among others, and they have a jobs section on their [a href:"http://www.edge-online.com/jobs"]website[/a]. If they have space for new recruits, then they're likely to have space for work experience too.
Personally, I took great inspiration from this article [http://www.erasmatazz.com/library/Game%20Design/The_Education_of_a_Game_Designer.html]. It's written by an early industry insider who wrote the book on game design, and formed some of the first major gaming conferences, and the article explains just what you're setting yourself up for.
If you read no other article on games work experience, read that one.
If you read no other article on games work experience, read that one.
If you're looking for something to put on your resume to make you more marketable when you try to break into the industry, internships, etc. aren't the way to go.
As someone who's attended International Game Developers Associations panels on getting into the industry and talked to a number of developers in person, I can tell you they are looking for one (or both) of two things: education and content.
A two- or four-year degree in an appropriate discipline (Computer Science, Graphic Design, etc.) shows that you have a head for what you'll be working with, and also shows that you can be taught what you need to work in the industry.
Unfortunately, a lot of big developers (Epic, specifically) will NOT take entry-level people. Period. With the layoffs in Texas and other places, these companies have the pick of the litter at the moment, and they're not going to take some green coder who only knows Java. Luckily, there are a lot more small studios out there then you can imagine, and they are quite happy to throw rookies at a wall and see what sticks.
By content, I mean something that you can point to in an interview and say, "I made that." If you want to be a coder, work up a simple game with a clever mechanic. A level designer? Design something for Oblivion/UTIII (UnrealEd is the most sought after development tool at the moment, and UTIII is sadly low-priced). You see where I'm going with this.
At the point you're at now, from my limited understanding of UK's educational system, your best bet would be to dabble with third-party tools like UnrealEd and try to get some content going. If you know a programming language already, fantastic. You're ahead of the game (or me, when I was your age).
As for getting into journalism, I'm currently on that path, and this post is long enough. Let me know if you think I've been insightful enough to hear out.
As someone who's attended International Game Developers Associations panels on getting into the industry and talked to a number of developers in person, I can tell you they are looking for one (or both) of two things: education and content.
A two- or four-year degree in an appropriate discipline (Computer Science, Graphic Design, etc.) shows that you have a head for what you'll be working with, and also shows that you can be taught what you need to work in the industry.
Unfortunately, a lot of big developers (Epic, specifically) will NOT take entry-level people. Period. With the layoffs in Texas and other places, these companies have the pick of the litter at the moment, and they're not going to take some green coder who only knows Java. Luckily, there are a lot more small studios out there then you can imagine, and they are quite happy to throw rookies at a wall and see what sticks.
By content, I mean something that you can point to in an interview and say, "I made that." If you want to be a coder, work up a simple game with a clever mechanic. A level designer? Design something for Oblivion/UTIII (UnrealEd is the most sought after development tool at the moment, and UTIII is sadly low-priced). You see where I'm going with this.
At the point you're at now, from my limited understanding of UK's educational system, your best bet would be to dabble with third-party tools like UnrealEd and try to get some content going. If you know a programming language already, fantastic. You're ahead of the game (or me, when I was your age).
As for getting into journalism, I'm currently on that path, and this post is long enough. Let me know if you think I've been insightful enough to hear out.
Okay, anNIALLator asked about journalism:
To save you my life story, I had a contact at Epic Games who was willing to introduce me to a few people at an IGDA panel on game journalism, and I had the chance to speak with a few people there, namely Julianne Greer (EIC for The Escapist) and Benj Edwards (http://www.vintagecomputing.com/).
While I came looking for a job, Greer told me that there simply isn't a market for steady journalism jobs right now, and that the way to go was freelance. Freelance writers operate their own sites, and try to submit stories, proposals, and news to sites like The Escapist and Kotaku. Over time, they develop relations with the editors at those publications, and have a lot more influence whenever they want to publish (and of course get paid for doing so).
It's tough to make a living like that, though, so you either need a real job or a website that can sustain you, as was the case with Benj Edwards. His website (linked above) does well enough that he can work on editorials at his leisure.
I'm fresh out of college, and I'm still hunting for a real job. Luckily, I managed to find a good deal on webhosting, so I was able to get a website up and running for about $30. I don't want to link it here because it'll seem like I'm trolling for hits, but it's linked in my profile.
That's what they told me. What I've learned so far is that you have to create a voice for yourself, and, to some extent, specialize on what you write about. I try to focus on narrative and storyline in games. Once you've found your voice and you've got a body of work to draw upon, it's all about who you know from there.
Once you know people, it doesn't seem too big of a step for them to throw an email your way next time they DO have a permanent position open up.
To save you my life story, I had a contact at Epic Games who was willing to introduce me to a few people at an IGDA panel on game journalism, and I had the chance to speak with a few people there, namely Julianne Greer (EIC for The Escapist) and Benj Edwards (http://www.vintagecomputing.com/).
While I came looking for a job, Greer told me that there simply isn't a market for steady journalism jobs right now, and that the way to go was freelance. Freelance writers operate their own sites, and try to submit stories, proposals, and news to sites like The Escapist and Kotaku. Over time, they develop relations with the editors at those publications, and have a lot more influence whenever they want to publish (and of course get paid for doing so).
It's tough to make a living like that, though, so you either need a real job or a website that can sustain you, as was the case with Benj Edwards. His website (linked above) does well enough that he can work on editorials at his leisure.
I'm fresh out of college, and I'm still hunting for a real job. Luckily, I managed to find a good deal on webhosting, so I was able to get a website up and running for about $30. I don't want to link it here because it'll seem like I'm trolling for hits, but it's linked in my profile.
That's what they told me. What I've learned so far is that you have to create a voice for yourself, and, to some extent, specialize on what you write about. I try to focus on narrative and storyline in games. Once you've found your voice and you've got a body of work to draw upon, it's all about who you know from there.
Once you know people, it doesn't seem too big of a step for them to throw an email your way next time they DO have a permanent position open up.