MMORPG.com Columnist Victor Wachter writes this look at how to break in to the video game industry, from moving to a game job rich environment to moving your way up the professional ladder.

The question I get asked the most when I meet gamers is, "how do I get a job in games?" I usually talk a little bit about different ways I have seen people break in, but I can go into the most detail about my own experiences, starting out as an entry level Customer Service Representative.

I entered games early in 2002, going to work for Sony Online Entertainment in Tech Support the week that the Shadows of Luclin expansion launched. And anyone who lived through that expansion can imagine that doing tech support for it was a baptism by fire. It was the expansion that retired Windows 95 support and the graphics update required a lot of players to upgrade their memory and graphics cards, and it still didn't run smoothly for a good chunk of them. I learned a ton about the industry during this time and have had the chance to grow my own career and watch others grow theirs. So, what follows are some of my observations and experiences about people growing up in a game company from the entry level.

Read Managing Your Entry Level Game Career.

This was an interesting read for a person looking to one day jump into the industry. Similar to your story I have no ambition to become a designer, but rather work in community relations or project management fields. Mainly because my degree is in public relations, that and I don't know the first thing about programing.

Thanks for the insiders view, any other information would be greatly appreciated.

-Kackilos

'Boot camp' nails it. Everything you listed, in the nature that you listed, could be stemmed from anything pertaining to military experience. Not that these life lessons can't be learnt elsewhere. And the most important part: it isn't permanent. *Everything* is temporary.

A good read, and spot on, not just from a gaming career perspective, but a general career perspective.

You need to be working on Plantside 2, and making sure they do it right. Not writing articles.

And what step is MMORPG?

a very interesting read.  While it wont be my path (AIE/UNI (programming) - Aus games industry- America/Canada/Europe) it certainly is good to know there are other alternatives.

Go to college

Yea, the route for those who actually want to make the games is...

University -> QA -> Dev Peon -> Dev -> Senior Dev -> Lead Dev

Substitute Dev for Artisit, Designer or Programmer depending on your university degree :)

Originally posted by bobfish

Yea, the route for those who actually want to make the games is...

University -> QA -> Dev Peon -> Dev -> Senior Dev -> Lead Dev

Substitute Dev for Artisit, Designer or Programmer depending on your university degree :)

Exactly right.  Also, Producers fit into that equation.

The fact of the matter is you work in a ladder; people above you and hopefully people below you.  If you have a degree, you look like a golden ticket to your seniors and bosses that have an opening to fill and do not want to go through the hassle of searching and training people new to the industry.

thanx for this artical im looking to get a job in games and this has really helped

I work in the software industry, but not the game development industry.  I found the derogatory references to QA a bit enlightening, it explains alot of what is wrong with the gaming industry.

In my world, QA is actually a very respected profession, with people who've been working in the field for many years and are experts at catch bugs and working with devleopment to fix them.

Many of our testers can use automated scripting and performance testing tools (do MMORPG' companies even konw what these are?) and several are certified professionals in their fields.

That MMORPG companies treat QA as an entry level postion that the best people do their damdest to step out of goes a long way to explaining the general lack of quality that these games have compared to software from other industries.

Thank you very much for this article. I am a first year freshman in college studying Computer Science right now and I plan on being a programmer for video games one day, hopefully MMO's. I have played EQ since Kunark (took a 5 year break and recently came back) and I really want to work for SoE aswell. I will follow your guideline to get into the industry.

Thanks again!