Garrett Fuller returns with his column this week revolving around opportunities for careers within the gaming industry both from the inside and out.

This week I am at Austin Game Developer Conference. Today's column will be short, but I wanted to write something for anyone who is interested in entering the video game industry as a career. As the down economy has impacted everything in our world over the last year, there are still pockets of growth to be found. After my first day here at AGDC I have seen some amazing stories of growth in video games. Sure, some of them are on a small scale, but those who have the drive to get out there and make games, even if it is from the basement of their house, have a chance to excel in this business. As technology and software expand further into our everyday lives, games are becoming a more common form of entertainment. This creates an environment that presents endless opportunity.

The mobile game market is booming and phone games are continuing to grow. The great part about programming games on this level is that they are not as complex as full scale games. If you have the desire to do something in this industry, mobile games are a great place to jump into right now. Smaller companies are being formed for just this purpose and it is great to see the drive they have to get their games out there.

Read AGDC: A Study in Opportunity

Might want to add the indie section of XBox Live that allows anyone to go download their XNA software for free, make a game, pay a subscription fee, and upload it for people to buy. 70% of the sales money goes right back to the creator. It is also a great way to get into the industry. If you do 2D games it is a fairly simple process, there haven't been too many 3D games released through that service yet due to the complexity and that they don't give you a 3D engine really (they give you all the tools and functions put in, but making it all work efficiently is the key).

Just thought I'd add that.

Originally posted by Garrett Fuller

 

It really bugs me sometimes when the older generation look down and say things like, "Oh my son works in video games, I have no idea what he does." Perhaps because we're not doctors or lawyers, they deem what we do as silly and playful rather than hard work.

 

LOL!  I couldn't help reading this, and remembering in 1982 when I was working as a Chief Software Engineer at DEC on early interactive graphics/multimedia authoring systems.  That was pretty cool in and of itself.  Digital Equipment Corporation were the folks who made the computers the original Star Wars CGI was rendered on. 

One weekend, visiting my folks in Vermont, I enthused about how I had gotten on this thing called the Internet, and was getting into email and newsgroups and sharing ideas with folks thousands of miles away -- and my parents looked at me like I was from Mars.

Later in the weekend, I overheard my mom telling someone at church, "Well, she seems to like what she's doing, but I wish she'd think about going back to college..."

Gaming is bigger than movies as an entertainment market now, and that's a HUGE sector.  No one working in gaming should feel bad for being misunderstood in their purpose or passion (in or out of the gaming industry which has its own esteem issues).  Give it 20 years, and you'll have a career and people will go, "Oh, man, you were doing *that* back *then?*"

Yrs,

Shava

 I hope you're right :)

Any way of working up the ladder via QA or intern positions (as little/no dev) ?

Good article, any further insight is appreciated...

I am a Systems Engineer for an elearning company (been here 9 years now).  I have always been fascinated with the gaming industry and wonder, WHat are the first steps of getting my self in the door of the gaming industry.  I would like to do everything that there is. Hardware/Software side.

If you're more into 2D games then pick up some cheap trials for builders like rpgmaker whatever version...

If you're shooting more for 3d then go download some engines and play around from torque to realmcrafter to unity c4d v3d or even multiverse are free or have trials that you can play with and most provide tools etc to toy around with in your basement on a windows or linux box...

If you're interested in hardware and software as well as getting into programming itself then i'd go the Multiverse route since its completely free until you statr charging money...go build out a linux server, load the mv server on it, go start building a new world...anyone can now a days...thats the beauty of the new tech these days its easier to get into...but hard to master... :D

as stated in the article, its not easy it takes drive and determination you have to be in it 150%...if you wanna see your vision of a game come to fruition...books, schooling all counts too but its not the be all to getting in ...i think its desire...

If you *do* have drive/determination -- but no significant cash -- think about picking up Blender.  Especially check out the "Education and Help" section -- there are lots of great resources to learn game engine, 3D rendering tools, and free software for all of it (GPL licensed, as I remember).

You're looking at 3 months or more of steady work for the average software-tool adept person to pick up the whole schema of the thing and be productive, but at the end of it, if you can produce a demo or three for your portfolio, it's like having a demo tape for a band -- it will get you contracts/gigs maybe jobs.

Also, Gamasutra has a job board -- check it out, look at the skills people are calling for, and work on getting those skills.

And finally, just as a general thing -- even if you want to work in back end code or graphic design -- work on your spelling/grammar/usage for your formal and informal communications.  Even if your portfolio is brilliant, a company like, say, EA is going to send your cover letter/resume through an internal of contract human services droid who will dump you for a typo.

Get a grammar/spelling grognard to review your stuff before you hit send (or seal the envelope -- but with most game companies, you'll be sending stuff online, and the urge to hit send without getting someone else to check it can seem overwhelming).

I've worked as a professional editor/proofreader, and I don't try to proof my own stuff.  It's hard to see your own mistakes.  Find a friend/teacher/someone to check your stuff.

It may seem trivial, but HR people are.  And honestly, I take off points, because if I see a cover letter full of misspellings, I think, "Man, this person didn't care enough to use spellcheck -- what kind of work will he/she turn out?"  I like to hire people who are professionals and fussy about the excellence of their work in all aspects.  It makes for an environment where everyone pulls his/her load.

Games are complex projects that require multiple talents, very much like movie production.  You need people who, even if they don't *do* everything, understand/empathize/plan around/respect the other talents that need to go into a team and a finished project.  So being a well socialized, well rounded human being is like gold.  Regardless of the size of your team, you will end up with politics, trade-offs, compromises -- and some amazing synergetic contributions to the other folks in your team -- if you can handle the whole spectrum of human involvement and creative (and destructive!) interactions involved.

Oh, yeah, and neither a borrower, nor a lender, be.  yadda yadda ;)

Yrs,

Shava

Wow, this article is very encouraging. I'm a 24 year old recent college graduate (2 years ago) and this article (and the forum responses to it) seems to at least provide enough encouragement and insight into the gaming industry/design/what-have-you to make me want to add it to my Favorites in case I do need it in the future. Haha, but yeah I do aspire to be able to Game Design/Game Develop and I am currently learning how to program (since my B.A. was in Psychology) so I can ultimately understand how game design works from the inside-out. However, I'm not planning to get another B.A. because I mainly just want to get out there, work and make money while doing something fun.

My questions are:
How would you go about getting in without having something significant to show for like a Computer Science degree etc.?

If I'm writing tons of game ideas down on paper and constantly developing game ideas over the course of a few years. What can I do with them once I get into the gaming industry? Where would you find an opportunity to at least offer up your ideas (and get some kind of credit for it)? -- I only ask this since I seem to just write down ideas as they come and I have been averaging 3-4 pages handwritten in a notebook per day (eventually retyped in a word document) and I would hate to see them go to waste and would like to see one day the overall game concept I have in mind for an MMO to become reality, ideally with me being involved in it somewhat, in any role.

The effect of the "bad" economy and my gaming life= %0, the poor are still poor, and I am poor. That is why there are F2P games lol.

Originally posted by Jairoe03  

My questions are:
How would you go about getting in without having something significant to show for like a Computer Science degree etc.?

If I'm writing tons of game ideas down on paper and constantly developing game ideas over the course of a few years. What can I do with them once I get into the gaming industry? Where would you find an opportunity to at least offer up your ideas (and get some kind of credit for it)? -- I only ask this since I seem to just write down ideas as they come and I have been averaging 3-4 pages handwritten in a notebook per day (eventually retyped in a word document) and I would hate to see them go to waste and would like to see one day the overall game concept I have in mind for an MMO to become reality, ideally with me being involved in it somewhat, in any role.

There are a couple routes to go, depending on your disposition and finances.  One is to find a team of people and create an indy game in your spare time.  If it's a well-conceived board game, that's still good.  It could be a flash game, or a series of flash games.  It doesn't have to be an MMO.

Another way is to go the "mailroom clerk" route, and start working for a company in tech support or community support.  The caveat here is that it's grinding thankless work, a lot of the time, and depending on the company you work for can be burnout work -- and if you don't shine you might not go any further.  But it does put you in daily contact with people who are in the roles you'd like to be in later, and exposure and availability of tools (but remember, you usually can't use company facilities to develop your own projects!  But you might be able to learn...).  You might find a mentor, or a group of similarly passionate people to work on a project on the side (see paragraph above).

You could start learning and blogging, interviewing folks in the gaming community.  How about a column for MMORPG.com on the psychology of gaming?  This site is always looking for writers.

You could interview folks like Nick Yee, and folks who work on Bethesda's very immersive games, or 2K or Bioware, all of whom seem to have a special finger on the pulse of gamer psychology.  (Or me, but I'm in a little different angle on the industry -- I actually came into it from anthropology, although I've working in some aspect of computing most of my career, and I'm running a company that uses virtual world engines for therapies and entertainment.)

Having a portfolio of game ideas, unfortunately, is almost useless.  I don't mean to be harsh, but a lot of people can brainstorm game ideas.  People want to know if you can write, develop, create graphics, test, deliver and/or support games.  A game idea, unfortunately, can't be protected by copyright -- been shown in court, although we seem to regularly see suits rehashing this.  You can, however, protect a *product*.  If you want to protect your ideas, they have to be produced.

As a result, the better your idea, the *less* inclined you might be to share it, unless you can produce something from it.

I have never seen a game that didn't morph significantly from concept to implementation through test.  An idea on paper is like one grain of rice.  It's not a meal to anyone, but in a few seasons, it could feed multitudes.

Think of it like movies.  You have a list of concepts for movies.  "Boy meets girl, but the girl is really a..."  "A murder is unsolved for 100 years, then the great-great-grandaughter..."  Unless you are a truly famous director, movie producers or studios won't even *listen* when you send them a movie *idea*, because then if they produce something similar you might sue them.  But if you manage to write a script treatment -- not even a full shooting script -- you might get someone to read it, and get a break.

This is why, above, I say portfolio, portfolio, portfolio.  Especially if you don't have a relevant degree.  Create something to show you can produce work that people will enjoy.

Another thing is to figure out where your real talents/passions are.  Are you a writer?  An artist?  A programmer?  A foley artist? A diplomat who can pull together a playerbase and dampen flames and slay trolls?  A social media ace?  Someone who can create a wicked viral flash ad?  Someone who can produce a game trailer for the big shows that will make peoples' hearts race?  Game companies need all those people.  It's a lot of skills.

Saying you want to be engaged in the game industry in *some way*, figure out where your talent and your passion really is.  And remember, anything you have to do for a living, often gets spoiled for you -- so if you're interested in working in gaming only because you like to game, you may find yourself very sad.

Yadda yadda...:)

Shava

I agree w/ above totoally...Ideas are a dime a dozen..pretty much anything you can think of...has also been thought up by someone else....is the producing on the idea that has not happened in many cases...in allot of cases the idea will never get made because if you work for a big name then its too risky to do...or no one else has done it so its unknown how it will be received....ideas are good but like poster above said taking those and getting them produced into little games to start is the way to go if you really want to give it a shot...

The team method is great, there are indy teams looking for help constantly or you can form your own to work on one of your designs...you could try to build a board game to start (not many people have tried to do this, it is extremely hard)...you could try flash or iphone apps etc all of those are great and really coming up....i would not however recommend taking one of your designs andt trying to build an MMORPG out of it right out of the gate...mmo's are monsters unto themselves and (from experience) one of the hardest things you'll have to try to do in your life...there are so many factors in mmo's that really make them more difficult then other games, to make, imho...

All of the other methods for getting in, from mail clerk, customer svc, gm etc are all acceptable methods and schooling I don't think is as important anymore as it used to be even though there are degrees tailored to gaming...we have a guy on our team who's also a pysch major grad from Colorado...the important thing is can you produce, work well with others as in can you mesh as /with a team and produce something at the end that's fun to play....

My advice...start small, work your way up...add to your portfolio...start on the ground floor...join indy teams and your local gaming communities (GDA's) etc...eventually you'll be able to try out some of those ideas in that notebook of yours..some may work out..others may not ...but at least you still shot for stars...

I wasn't really looking for worth as much what the hell do I do with them, lol. It isn't as much brainstorming I do as more of developing an idea into something with more depth etc. into an overall system. So I want to think its a little bit larger scale and these are ideas that do in fact require much thought and time into writing it and putting it on paper. I mainly want to know, how would you get it out there? Is it possible that leads will listen to their "subordinates" on their team when it comes to certain game designs etc.? My niche seems to revolve around a lot of game design and possibly would like to be involved with the implementation (hence programming, for now its a hobby that I'm enjoying but still trying to organize my life while considering how I'm going to get my foot into the game industry). I'm not sure how you become a game designer or what it exactly involves in terms of software and PC games especially for MMO's. The feedback is great, but would like to know whether or not ultimately, would an idea be even given any consideration within an established company or would I be better off spending my time continuing on my game designs and finding different ways to implement them and other rule sets independently?

EDIT: Think the above post helped clear it all up for me. Thanks for the feedback ;)

Originally posted by Jairoe03

I wasn't really looking for worth as much what the hell do I do with them, lol. It isn't as much brainstorming I do as more of developing an idea into something with more depth etc. into an overall system. So I want to think its a little bit larger scale and these are ideas that do in fact require much thought and time into writing it and putting it on paper. I mainly want to know, how would you get it out there? Is it possible that leads will listen to their "subordinates" on their team when it comes to certain game designs etc.? My niche seems to revolve around a lot of game design and possibly would like to be involved with the implementation (hence programming, for now its a hobby that I'm enjoying but still trying to organize my life while considering how I'm going to get my foot into the game industry). I'm not sure how you become a game designer or what it exactly involves in terms of software and PC games especially for MMO's. The feedback is great, but would like to know whether or not ultimately, would an idea be even given any consideration within an established company or would I be better off spending my time continuing on my game designs and finding different ways to implement them and other rule sets independently?

 

EDIT: Think the above post helped clear it all up for me. Thanks for the feedback ;)

So lets say your ideas are more than that and they are documented , costed and have an associated value and even copyrighted(may or may not help). You set up your little company and you go out and sell like you would anything else. The problem is is that unless you are a genious and what you are trying to sell is that one in a million idea, you will have little credibility, so it is a difficult one.

You also risk loosing your IP, if you are very confident that what you have is valuable try to develop your own game .... very risky as a startup but it is really upto yourself.