Do Any of You Want to Work in the Games Industry?

[matimeo]

Well that's a relief lol. I'm interested in concept art but I know that's one of the most in-demand niches.

I'm guessing it would help to be able to produce in-game assets? I'm trying to be pragmatic, but most concept art positions I've seen listed want at least some modeling experience.

Click to shrink...

Shipped tons of games never seen s concept artist required to model. As someone said above there are plenty of modelers.

Most concept artists are heads down , once preproduction is done they tend to help out marketing (touching up screen shots, paint overs) , help UI with icon concepts , help environment design with things like signage design,etc.

Knowing about other aspects of development will make you a much stronger teammate and help you in bridging conversations and helping out in more areas but you need to be a really great concept artist before you worry about that

 

[MP!]

I do, and have worked in the industry... it's not so bad... it really depends on the studio you work for.

 

[Minthara]

I really wasn't expecting anyone to respond to me and honestly I'm pleasantly surprised. I do appreciate the input guys, and you did kind of just raise my spirits in a way. I can't lie, the 72 hours a week sound unsustainable for me as I've never wanted to be one of those fathers who are never home due to putting work above my daughter, but at least I know that with my education and background I can potentially still get into the industry. I have a question, do you think my being a veteran helps my chances of getting accepted in any meaningful way or is it just my education and civilian work background that will be examined? Mainly just idle curiosity, I don't suppose it really matters much. Another question, do development studios often have programs to pay for further employee education such as post grad degrees and what not? I ask because my G.I. bill is essentially dried up and I've really wanted to get my M.B.A but it is simply not economically feasible in any capacity without either the department of defense or some employer footing some of the bill, and I refuse to fall into the student loan bs trap that so many people fall into. Thanks for the suggestions and replies guys seriously, I'm now reexamining whether I should give the industry a shot or not and I haven't been able to say that for years, so if nothing else it's a nice thought. Wait....you don't think I'm too old to get into the industry right? I'm 31 in June, and I don't know if this is mostly an industry for young guys getting in the door and if they'd see me as too old or not. I know that probably sounds ridiculous but I just figured I'd mention it. Thanks again fellas.

Click to shrink...

You are never too old to get into the industry! For reference, I'm in my early 30s as well. I've had coworkers range from the age of 18 to 60+, although older people tend to be more rare.

The 72 hours a week was during crunch for a big project for a major client. While doing over 40 hours was entirely optional due to local labour laws, doing all that extra work does have an effect on people above you as well as your peers, since they tend to see you as "paying your dues".

I'm not American, so I cannot really comment on whether or not being a veteran helps your chances, but it would mostly depend on what you are applying for.

I think the most realistic thing to say is that you should not expect to start at a management position at any video game company coming fresh out of school. A lot of them of the management positions are based upon technical know how you gather at lower positions, such as what JIRA is, what Testtrack is, etc. You'll likely get a better job outside of the video game industry, especially to begin with.

What I did for myself was set a goal when I first started at my company that every 6-8 months I'd aim for a raise or a new position. If I did not get that, I'd start looking outside the industry.

There were times where I was close to leaving, and even a time when I got a job offer outside the industry, which I used to leverage better pay from my video game industry employer. The Business Administration background gives you many options that many people working at in many types of video game departments wont have because of the flexibility and applicability of a degree like that. It becomes more about knowing when to apply leverage, how and where, since if you tried to apply leverage as a normal QA tester it probably would not work.

Is it worth getting into? That's ultimately a factor of where you live and where you are in life multiplied by your passion for video games. If I had a family and kids when I got into the industry, I may have been less patient sticking around for minimum wage and "paying my dues".

 

[BayonettasBuddy]

Worked in video game community management for 5 years and honestly, the thought of leaving the industry is scary. I love what I do and it makes me better at it.

It does ruin a bit of the magic of games, but you're less ignorant on certain things too.

Edit:

- Pay is bad to begin with, but find the right studio, work hard and be proactive and you'll make good money. I'm earning a really healthy wage where I can pay rent/go on holidays/save without issues.
- Extra Hours suck, but being outta art/coding I only have a few weeks of burn per year. More when things go up the shoot because of a bad content release or something. I guess this happens with regular jobs too?
- I've never seen any harassment or anything that bad in any workplace.

 

[kaf]

I really wasn't expecting anyone to respond to me and honestly I'm pleasantly surprised. I do appreciate the input guys, and you did kind of just raise my spirits in a way. I can't lie, the 72 hours a week sound unsustainable for me as I've never wanted to be one of those fathers who are never home due to putting work above my daughter, but at least I know that with my education and background I can potentially still get into the industry. I have a question, do you think my being a veteran helps my chances of getting accepted in any meaningful way or is it just my education and civilian work background that will be examined? Mainly just idle curiosity, I don't suppose it really matters much. Another question, do development studios often have programs to pay for further employee education such as post grad degrees and what not? I ask because my G.I. bill is essentially dried up and I've really wanted to get my M.B.A but it is simply not economically feasible in any capacity without either the department of defense or some employer footing some of the bill, and I refuse to fall into the student loan bs trap that so many people fall into. Thanks for the suggestions and replies guys seriously, I'm now reexamining whether I should give the industry a shot or not and I haven't been able to say that for years, so if nothing else it's a nice thought. Wait....you don't think I'm too old to get into the industry right? I'm 31 in June, and I don't know if this is mostly an industry for young guys getting in the door and if they'd see me as too old or not. I know that probably sounds ridiculous but I just figured I'd mention it. Thanks again fellas.

Click to shrink...

It depends on the studio - but a lot of indie studios that do contract work for hire (your traditional independant studio / publisher model) may have those crunches. The larger studios like EA , Activision may also have those but those are pretty infrequent and are typically mitigated (since paying overtime for that can add up pretty heavily). If you're worried about this, look at LinkedIn and check out the employee retention. In my current studio, the average tenure is at least 5-10 years and I work with somebody who's been here for over 20.

The studio I am, is part of a 'big publisher' so yes there are actually education programs - dependent on approval from HR / manager. I actually started doing a BFA with this many years ago, and while the market changed and the studio was closed - I did take advantage of this and it also applies to non-degree programs. Ironically I am back under the same umbrella/publisher again and am thinking about doing an MBA next year. I know the last time I took advantage of their program, I was told I was the only a few handful of people studio wide that showed any interest - it seems like it gets offered but never taken advantage of.

As for age, I started when I was 17~ and I was the youngest in the company back then, I'm currently a 32 and there are people far older than me at my current studio (grey haired, yadda yadda and have families). Mileage may vary but age is usually never an issue - and it shouldn't be. It's crazy when I look and I used to be the youngest in the studio.

 

[VinylCassette64]

I've had this desire for a while and while there are other mediums/jobs I hold a strong interest in (film/animation; music to a lesser extent); the games design is arguably the closest field I could probably jump into concerning regards to my degree/coursework (computer science). I don't know if I'll ever officially make the jump into the industry, or if I'll just end up shifting into something else. If I do get in, I do feel it will most likely be as a designer, which is the main field I'm interested in; although I've dabbled in drawing/animation and I've taken a handful of programming courses.

I've heard a handful of crummy stories that have happened in the industry in regards to game production/development; but I feel that also applies to the other aforementioned industries I hold an interest in. Though without any significant job experience (since I'm focusing on taking classes), I don't think I can really make any judgement calls either way.

 

[kaf]

Well that's a relief lol. I'm interested in concept art but I know that's one of the most in-demand niches.

I'm guessing it would help to be able to produce in-game assets? I'm trying to be pragmatic, but most concept art positions I've seen listed want at least some modeling experience.

Click to shrink...

It depends on the studio, but there is a hot trend in blocking out scenes and complex objects in 3D and then painting over - as it speeds up the process. In a mobile studio sometimes concept artists help out with production art (2D, maybe some texturing). It can be pretty competitive to get into this field, and a lot of jobs can be contract / temp though.

 

[chrisypoo]

You are never too old to get into the industry! For reference, I'm in my early 30s as well. I've had coworkers range from the age of 18 to 60+, although older people tend to be more rare.

The 72 hours a week was during crunch for a big project for a major client. While doing over 40 hours was entirely optional due to local labour laws, doing all that extra work does have an effect on people above you as well as your peers, since they tend to see you as "paying your dues".

I'm not American, so I cannot really comment on whether or not being a veteran helps your chances, but it would mostly depend on what you are applying for.

I think the most realistic thing to say is that you should not expect to start at a management position at any video game company coming fresh out of school. A lot of them of the management positions are based upon technical know how you gather at lower positions, such as what JIRA is, what Testtrack is, etc. You'll likely get a better job outside of the video game industry, especially to begin with.

What I did for myself was set a goal when I first started at my company that every 6-8 months I'd aim for a raise or a new position. If I did not get that, I'd start looking outside the industry.

There were times where I was close to leaving, and even a time when I got a job offer outside the industry, which I used to leverage better pay from my video game industry employer. The Business Administration background gives you many options that many people working at in many types of video game departments wont have because of the flexibility and applicability of a degree like that. It becomes more about knowing when to apply leverage, how and where, since if you tried to apply leverage as a normal QA tester it probably would not work.

Is it worth getting into? That's ultimately a factor of where you live and where you are in life multiplied by your passion for video games. If I had a family and kids when I got into the industry, I may have been less patient sticking around for minimum wage and "paying my dues".

Click to shrink...

This is all great information man thank you. I'm still weighing various options and keeping my options open. I currently work in leasing and rental management, and I know I don't want to keep doing this forever, but I did honestly like being a bookkeeper and HR professional at my former jobs, but I quit my bookkeeping job to finally finish up my education so now that I'm a couple months from finishing my degree I'm not sure what to do with it. It's one of those situations where I was already six years qualified in business administration and general HR functions before even starting on my Business education after wrapping up my Exercise Science A.S., and I'm unsure of whether I should just go into a new industry altogether and start again from the ground up over me being "passionate" about games as I'm just not sure that'd be the responsible thing to do. I also think that my wife would, unfortunately, be incredibly supportive of me if I were to get a job in the industry even as a bottom rung employee simply because she knows how much I've always adored the industry, but in a way I think she'd end up wishing that I hadn't gone that route if I take a massive pay cut to do it and I don't think I could force my family to lower their standards of living to accommodate my working in the game industry simply because I'm passionate about it without feeling some horrible guilt. Such is why I keep thinking that maybe I should just apply to the HR department of some of the larger development houses or publishers in the greater Seattle area just to feel somewhat closer to the industry than I do now while keeping a certain standard of living and upwards momentum going instead of starting all over again. I don't know, there are many options to consider, but I will go over them all at length with the wife now that I actually know a bit more about my options thanks to you fellas. Thanks again, and here's to your success in the future :).

 

[Cybersai]

Did you hear what Konami did to Kojima? They chained him to his desk and placed him in a separate locked room from all the other developers during the last few weeks of finishing up Metal Gear Solid V. If someone as big as Kojima was treated that way, how do you think people low on the totem pole are treated?

 

[Theodran]

I did, and then I started working in it. I've been working in the games industry for a while now, and have worked on series you all have heard of. My job, although not easy, is not the hellish nightmare I have heard of in the past.

I like reading speculations and rumors here. That is all I will say.

 

[John Frost]

I have done it for 3 years.

I'm good.

 

[Dmax3901]

I'm in the space between purely recreational gamer and game reviewer, in that I get sent the occasional review copy but it's not my full time job. Would love to make it my career but it's tricky to push that side of things while also paying the bills.

 

[Wulfric]

Did you hear what Konami did to Kojima? They chained him to his desk and placed him in a separate locked room from all the other developers during the last few weeks of finishing up Metal Gear Solid V. If someone as big as Kojima was treated that way, how do you think people low on the totem pole are treated?

Click to shrink...

I don't think most of us are based in Japan...

 

[Owarifin]

Maybe, once there's some sort of union in place.

 

[Speely]

I would love to be part of/work with an indie dev team, but not a big pub. I am just a musician and PnP rpg design person, though, so I likely never will unless it's part of some commissioned soundtrack/sound design work.

I do like the idea of actually building a portfolio of sorts (slowly building a home recording studio now) and looking for some sound design/soundtrack work. Would be cool to be in charge of what a game sounds like (I LOVE creating sounds, and obv I love music.) I've no clue what kind of demand there even is for that, though, since my life is one of being bonded to 9 to 5 labor and I've let all my dreams drift away like so many farts in the wind.

At least I still love my hobby as much as I ever did! :)

 

[chrisypoo]

It depends on the studio - but a lot of indie studios that do contract work for hire (your traditional independant studio / publisher model) may have those crunches. The larger studios like EA , Activision may also have those but those are pretty infrequent and are typically mitigated (since paying overtime for that can add up pretty heavily). If you're worried about this, look at LinkedIn and check out the employee retention. In my current studio, the average tenure is at least 5-10 years and I work with somebody who's been here for over 20.

The studio I am, is part of a 'big publisher' so yes there are actually education programs - dependent on approval from HR / manager. I actually started doing a BFA with this many years ago, and while the market changed and the studio was closed - I did take advantage of this and it also applies to non-degree programs. Ironically I am back under the same umbrella/publisher again and am thinking about doing an MBA next year. I know the last time I took advantage of their program, I was told I was the only a few handful of people studio wide that showed any interest - it seems like it gets offered but never taken advantage of.

As for age, I started when I was 17~ and I was the youngest in the company back then, I'm currently a 32 and there are people far older than me at my current studio (grey haired, yadda yadda and have families). Mileage may vary but age is usually never an issue - and it shouldn't be. It's crazy when I look and I used to be the youngest in the studio.

Click to shrink...

Once again this is more great information to consider, and I thank you for taking your time to inform me. I'll take this into consideration as I weigh the options of whether it'd be more advantageous to pursue a career in the more involved development and Q&A aspects of the industry or simply attempting to nab a decent HR position at one of the larger publishers. To be quite honest, I'm slightly leaning more towards the latter choice as I've much more experience in the HR arena and I think I would still enjoy working in the industry in a somewhat indirect fashion as I kind of just want to feel like I'm at least somewhat involved in game creation, even if it's simply as a financial and administrative support for those actually doing the creating. I know that sounds a bit odd, but it's kind of how I viewed my HR work in the Army as well; I wanted to serve my country by aiding soldiers with financial or administrative issues as I feel like that's where my talents lie, and I enjoyed that work in a support capacity until I was medically discharged. I'm now thinking that perhaps I'd be best served by continuing to pursue work in a field that I'm passionate about as the same administrative support function that I served in the Army, and I'm hoping that gives me the same sense of fulfillment that it did there. Plus I'm of the opinion that these big publishing firms could use more HR employees that have genuine empathy and care for employees rather than simply seeing them as faceless numbers.

 

[Deleted member 671]

.

 

[Deleted member 4034]

Did you hear what Konami did to Kojima? They chained him to his desk and placed him in a separate locked room from all the other developers during the last few weeks of finishing up Metal Gear Solid V. If someone as big as Kojima was treated that way, how do you think people low on the totem pole are treated?

Click to shrink...

Do you think game reviewers, marketers and localizaers in the west are chained up or worse? Or do only devs get that treatment?

 

[bigbluefrontend]

Hell no. Can' enjoy a game you made. You know everything about it.

Click to shrink...

I disagree with that. John Romero loves Doom and Quake, and John Carmack loves Quake 3.

 

[Ludens]

Can you clarify what you mean by "game tester"? There are many different types of jobs that go by that name. For instance, there are companies that allow you to be a game tester from home with no training, but it does not really reflect anything about about formal QA.

If you are asking about formal QA, it can be fun! There are many types of QA game testing though:
Functionality - These are people that look for bugs for the most part, such as falling through world, sound not working, art looking weird, etc. This can be a pretty fun job some days, sometimes you are trapped in one level your entire week that you have to play through over and over again trying to find literally everything on the level that can be broken.
Compliance - These are people that look at the game as the eyes and ears of the console developers (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo) to make sure that the game passes certification and does not have any platform specific bugs. A good example of a compliance bug is a game deleting your PS4 save file if you do something wrong.
Compatibility - These testers are the oens who test PC games on as many different configurations as possible, "looking" for the games minimum and recommended specs. They provide the client with the average frame rate, low frame rate, high frame rate and any specific PC bugs they can encounter, such as if the game does not work with a certain CPU or Graphics card.
Localization QA - These people generally do not translate, but instead they look for errors that are translation related. A good example of this is when text does not fit in the text box its designed for.

There are many, MANY other types of QA. However, because there are so many types, some might be boring to you and some might be really interesting. I personally loved compatibility testing the most because I loved building PCs and I got to do that all day. However, I got promoted and do not regret that one bit.

Hope that helps and feel free to ask me anything else!

Click to shrink...

Oh man thanks for the detailed reply really appreciate it. In this case im more interested in functionality but compatibility sounds good to.

This maybe a stupid question but what type of study (courses) do you have to take before applying for any of them?

How did you start so i can get an idea how all of this works. Im really interested in being a game tester. Thanks again.

 

[Hzsn724]

I'd like to write RPGs. Character development has fallen off a bit over the years.

 

[Neo0mj]

When I was younger. However the more I read about the field the less appealing it became.

 

[Tunesmith]

Been working within the games industry for nearly 15 years now at various companies and roles from community to support to operations.

Being able to combine my hobby with my work has been a wonderful privilege.

Working outside of games irrationally scares me to some extent, it sounds boring.

 

[Minthara]

Oh man thanks for the detailed reply really appreciate it. In this case im more interested in functionality but compatibility sounds good to.

This maybe a stupid question but what type of study (courses) do you have to take before applying for any of them?

How did you start so i can get an idea how all of this works. Im really interested in being a game tester. Thanks again.

Click to shrink...

To be honest, if you are going for an entry level QA position (which is generally Functional QA) a third party QA house will hire you for minimum wage with very little experience, often only having to pass a small knowledge test. The test often includes questions about how well you know video games, general questions about how you think and maybe a game or two as examples that you need to find bugs in and describe in as much detail as possible. Once in a QA place, you can then move to their compliance or compatibility departments (if they have them).

First party developers such as Ubisoft, Square-Enix, WB, etc. will often look for people with X number of years of Functional QA testing at one of these third party QA houses when hiring for their own internal QA. Rarely they will have positions open at the entry level like third party QA studios, but the application process will be similar.

What "helps" (slightly) is having database knowledge, such as JIRA. Knowing how to write a clear, concise bug report also goes a long way. An at-home testing program will also give you a bit of experience in testing products in alpha/beta states. All this stuff helps your resume, but generally won't help you escape the entry tests. Knowing someone at the company that can vouch for you also helps!

 

[violent]

Absolutely not. I enjoy my gaming. No need to ruin that by turning it into work.

 

[Zafir]

I'm not sure I want my hobby turning into a job. I mean I have thought about it as a programmer working in a different field but I dunno, It's never really interested me that much. The horror stories don't help but I'm sure there are good studios to work for.

Mind you, even if I wanted to I guess I'd struggle to get a good job in the industry without experience anyway. It seems very competitive, especially since there probably as many in the UK. (although there is more than one might think)

 

[beetlebum]

I'd love to write the soundtrack for a game, so I guess my answer is yes... but only on a freelance basis, and for smaller indie projects.

I have no interest in actually making a living out of it, because 1) it would probably ruin the hobby for me, 2) working conditions don't seem that great, 3) I already have a career that I enjoy with reasonable pay and weekly hours.

 

[Deleted member 32822]

Hell to the no.

1. I don't want my hobby to become my job
2. I always hear about how horrible the working conditions are, and how every other person is secretly a closeted white supremacist

 

[Scythesurge]

After the last five years in my current industry, I think I would like to work in the games industry. Like some of the replies in this thread, I didn't want my hobby to become my job. At this point however, I am very interested in putting my passion for games into my daily work.

 

[Erik Twice]

No, I would rather have it as a side thing.

 

[FrontierGamer]

Yes I'd really like
But only under some conditions.

I, as a developer, would dissociate myself from the characteristics and criteria of today's development and listening.
I would try to change the rules of the "market" as they go today, trying to try to carry out projects that, while maintaining a good quality, deviate a lot from what people want, crave, or want.
(by doing a question on what's best or what's worse)
Furthermore, I would have the final game evaluated without numbers (and without metacritic or openicritic), to see how the public would react to the actual evaluation without scale.
(of a triple A title)

 

[Forsaken82]

Working in the game industry is pretty much terrible for the majority of people unless you're in management or in marketing.

Click to shrink...

Not true at all. It all depends on the company you work for and the culture set up within, and that can be said about any company in any industry.

 

[eloxx]

Working on games has always been a dream of mine. It is however not that easy where I live (Switzerland). I would have to move to another country.

I have worked in software engineering all my life, just not games. So that is the closest I will get I guess.

My dream job would be in management/project manager for a gaming company.

 

[Deleted member 37739]

No

Only naive people or truly passionate people want to work in the industry.

And the majority of people I've heard say they want to work in the game industry in person aren't even aware of the working conditions.

Click to shrink...

In development, perhaps, although I've met and worked with plenty of developers that were neither naive nor passionate. In publishing and hardware though, that's a whole different situation. This industry isn't nearly the horror some would have you believe.

 

[NICHIJOUDENSETSU]

I would love to write strong stories, design interesting mechanics and create compelling characters for games, and I'd like to do that more than anything else.

Problem is, you can either do it as an indie outfit and create games that can't live up to the ambition because you don't have the backing required to fully give such projects what they require to reach full fruition — unless you're able to pull ludicrous amounts of funding, but that means convincing those who have been burned by such investments in ambition that you're not like "the rest."

Or, you can work for the places that do have access to such resources, but it comes with the caveat that your creation won't belong to you anymore, and your ambition will be hamstrung by suits mandating changes because it won't appeal to the COD crowd.

This dichotomy is a major reason why I gave up on even desiring it.

 

[DragonKeeper]

Yes, absolutely, I'd like to work on the indie side of things. I went to DigiPen, wrote an unused story for Cat Daddy Games, did the art for an old flash time waster called Beat Me Up Too, but money and circumstances herded me in other directions. It's still something I want to do.

 

[platypotamus]

When I see this thread, I picture a white van slowing down near a playground and a guy in the front seat asking a bunch of kids "Do any of you want to work on some video games?"

Just me?

 

[FroMonk]

It's one of my dreams to one day make a game that someone else would want to play.

But to actually work in the industry? Underpaid, overworked, expected to pull ungodly hours and keep you from your family to dedicate yourself to the project for months or even years in crunch mode?

No thanks.

 

[Deleted member 9486]

Nope.

I never had any interest in working in any of my hobbies. I'm not that passionate about any of them, and working on any of them would just kill my personal enjoyment. I don't even like gaming on a PC at my desk with a mouse and keyboard as that just equals work to me (despite my job having nothing to do with gaming). If I was involved with games, I wouldn't want to spend my free time on them.

I also wanted a career were I could potentially have more positive impacts that just providing art/entertainment. Not that I don't value those greatly, they just aren't a top priority for me personally. Hence the above lack of passion.

 

[Majorgamer10]

I've been told being a video game developer is like being a dishwasher in the computer-science industry. I know people that made a career out of dish washing and were really happy that way...

Maybe after I get tired of making lots of money, I would do it.

 

[Deleted member 11002]

Sure, if i can do it from southern NH while working from home

 

[DarkChronic]

I would love to be the creative story lead (lore, characters, dialogue, story, world, etc.) on a game. I don't code or like to program or anything.

I've definitely gotten scared away after some of the horror stories of working in the industry. So I'll probably just try and write a novel instead, lol

 

[Sid]

Yeah, I want to be the game director of the God of War franchise.

 

[Bagelbeard]

Yeah, I want to be the game director of the God of War franchise.

Click to shrink...

Schuman, is that you? :)

 

[Sid]

Schuman, is that you? :)

Click to shrink...

Lol, the PS Blog guy....no.

 

[okayfrog]

I've imagined what it'd be like to be on some X-Play-like show, and that sounds like fun. Apart from that, nah. I can't imagine myself making games others would enjoy, I can't program, I've got no artistic skills, and I'm a terrible writer. Thought about making a video game rating website, but one was made a couple years back that's suitable so no need for that anymore.

 

[Naner]

I work in the tech industry and I'm fine working 8 hours a day instead of 14 or whatever.

 

[The Archon]

In development, perhaps, although I've met and worked with plenty of developers that were neither naive nor passionate. In publishing and hardware though, that's a whole different situation. This industry isn't nearly the horror some would have you believe.

Click to shrink...

I hope you're right

And I'll take your word on it. But I still think developers get the short end of the stick.

 

[SurrenderDorothy]

Beats working as an aircraft cleaner.
Yes, I'd love to. Don't have the qualifications for it though, hoping I'd nab a VFX apprenticeship.

 

[Metal Slugger]

I would love to own my own retail shop. The actual industry though? Nah.