How To Break into the Game Industry

[SemiHumanTarget]

Not to nitpick here, but shouldn't the opening line read: "For many of us, working on the videogames that we've loved since CHILDHOOD is a dream job"

The way it reads now, it has a totally different, honestly sort of disgusting meaning.

As a clever T-shirt my friend has once said, "Grammar mistakes make me (sic)"

 

[Xersues]

I have friends that made it into the game industry. The difference?

You need to directly know some one or they don't care about you.

Seriously, go meet a recruiter in a bar, do what it takes to have a good time with a lead or a designer. Remember, they're just normal people like you and me. Impress them some how and they'll be happier to talk with you.

EA Tiburon just up the road has a MEAN screening process. Know some of the recruiters;however, and you'll be a more than likely to prove your worth.

Also, it helps to know if you're worth it or not. Because lets be honest, most people just don't have what it takes to add something to the company they're applying to.

Follow this logic:

I listen to rock music therefor I can be a rock band! I play video games therefor I can design them.

Yeah no... Go try it some day.

 

[Dogstile]

Or god forbid, Rockstar, where practical jokes are a once a day minimum, boozing on the job is mandatory, there's a strict underwear only dress code and there's a fight club downstairs.

...

That sounds like a horrible place to get paid to be at to you?

 

[Vrach]

Numbers show it's harder to be a game designer then a CIA agent. Ironically those game designers are probably making games about CIA agents.

There are slightly more game companies than there are government intelligence agencies.

 

[frazmacaz]

Not really getting this 'poor pay' talk. Sure as a junior you don't earn the big bucks but hang around form longer than a couple of years and you'll start to earn a very good wage, so long as you can prove you are worth it. The games industry pays well - very few industries pay juniors of any profession a fortune at the outset.

It's all about expectations - don't expect to get the dream job and the dream pay check for your first gig. Nobody is going to hire a junior to design the opening stages of Half life 3 and pay them half a million dollars a year for the privileged.

Make your peace with the fact that your first job may require you to design a couple of levels in Barbie's Skuba Diving Adventure 8 on the DS for a little bit more that you would be paid to work as an office admin in a bank or an insurance firm.

Work through that and wait for a better opportunity - with the right attitude and some hard work, you can progress to an enviable job and wage within a reasonable time frame.

 

[Formica Archonis]

CIA or game industry. Let's see, which one lets me kill more people.....

 

[IvoryTowerGamer]

They didn't mention the one sure-fire way to get into the industry: start your own studio.

True, it takes a lot of hard work, and your chances of raking in the dough are pretty slim, but wouldn't you rather be working on something you cared about than coding shaders for another bland CoD clone?

I wonder if LBP2 levels would be acceptable as samples.

My guess is that they would be, but I really wouldn't do so unless it was absolutely amazing.

 

[The Red Spy]

Just getting that first interview can be tough, and it's important that all your submissions (incl. resume, cover letter) are as polished as possible. Use your spell-check kids. Tim Johnson, recruiting manager at Epic Games, said that sometimes gimmicks might work, too. "We got a guy who we hired who dropped his resume off wearing a Stormtrooper costume," he said. "Everybody wanted to know when they saw him 'Who is that guy?' That shows passion, it shows creativity and those weird kinds of things have worked."

Here is a link to Stormtrooper's website (real name Chris Bartlett). It's an interesting read.

TK409: Getting a job as a Stormtrooper [http://www.tk409.com/gettingajob.html]