How To Get Into Game Development: 10 Proven Ways to Break Into the Game Industry

[Shortie]

Does the video game industry seem like a black box, with no way to break inside? All you need is a foot in the door, but how do you get it to open in the first place?

You can get into game development. All you need is a solid strategy.

But it’s time to stop searching for “the right way,” because there’s no one “right way.” Instead, there are many ways to get your first job at a game studio. To discover the best strategies, it takes an understanding of how the current batch of professional game developers started out.

Here are 10 strategies you can use to break into your first job at a video game studio, along with examples of pro developers that have done it. It worked for them, and it can work for you.

1. Post your work on discussion boards​

If you’re an aspiring game developer, you might spend a lot of time lurking around discussion boards and soaking up as much knowledge as you can. But you know who else reads those discussion boards? Professional game developers do.

That’s why it’s a perfect way to get your work seen by game studios, which can help you build industry connections and could even lead to a job offer.

Caleb Parrish is a Game Art Director, but he didn’t start out that way – he was an unemployed artist trying to land his first game job, and spent his time posting his work on discussion forums. Caleb explained, “Early on, I would post a lot of the work I was doing on forums like CGchat.com (now GameArtisans.org) or Polycount.org. Eventually I got good enough that someone noticed and offered me a job.”

Stop lurking, and start posting. Engage with the other participants on the boards, many of which are professional game developers looking to hire somebody new. You might just end up with your first job in games.

2. Start a gaming blog​

If you’re gunning for a job writing about games or running a gaming community, the best way to get started might be to just… start.

Jason Van Beveren was working a typical corporate job when he realized that what he really wanted was a job in games. “I started writing an online gaming blog. I had hopes that I’d catch someone’s eye. I also wanted to know if I was any good at it. It only took a month before I was noticed by Parris Lilly, who asked me to run a gaming website he was co-managing.”

Just a few years later, Jason is now Head of Player Experience at a game studio. Where could you be in a few years, if you get started now?

3. Build your own indie games​

I’m constantly asked the question, “How can I get experience making games, when game studios won’t even hire me unless I have experience?” Well the answer is simple: Make a game, and then – voila! – now you have some experience.

Dan Posluns programmed little games for his Apple IIc and his TI-85 calculator, and kept making indie games until he was noticed by an established game studio. He told us, “I actually spent some time working on websites before being pursued and ultimately recruited by a game company. They had noticed my homebrew Gameboy Advance work online, and got in touch to offer me a job interview.”

There are more, better, free game dev tools available now than ever before. Dan created his first indie games on a calculator! With everything that’s available for you to download and start creating video games today, you’re officially out of excuses.

4. Get an entry-level job as a Game Tester​

Of all the jobs in the game industry, the job of Game Tester is the easiest to get. Why? Partly because most testing jobs don’t require a college degree or other specialized training, so anybody can apply. But also because many game testers eventually move into other jobs on the game team, so there’s always room for new testers to fill in the vacancies.

Merric Shank started out as a game tester: “A few years and a few companies later, I was still in QA. But I made sure that my boss knew I was interested in learning more about production and that I was eager for more responsibility. After a while, I was given the opportunity to help out on a game – and after a successful trial run I was promoted to Associate Producer.”

Kelly Toyama, now a Senior Game Designer, also started out as a game tester – but he didn’t let that job title stop him from contributing to design on his game team, and that caught the eye of his bosses. He says, “I started in QA but design has always been my passion. Game design is a funny thing: Just because you have the title doesn’t mean you can do it, and not having the title shouldn’t stop you.”

See also Why This CEO Thinks You Are the Future of Video Games
The game industry is full of programmers, artists, designers and others that started out as entry-level video game testers. The thing is, once you have your foot in the door, it’s easy to learn more about game development and how a game studio works from the inside out. You make connections, you learn, and you grow. From there, the opportunities are yours to take ’em or leave ’em.

5. Get an internship at a video game studio​

If you have a skill that can be used in game development such as programming, art, or sound design, you might be able to get a job at a game studio even if you’ve never built an actual game. Not every studio has an “official” game developer internship program, but most are open to the idea of a part-time, temporary, inexpensive (or free) worker that could help them finish their game.

Jaclyn Shumate got her start as a game audio intern. She says, “I was curious about audio engineering so I signed up for some classes… and I fell in love with it. I looked around for internships at game company startups, which seemed like the most interesting avenue to explore for me, and was fortunate enough to find one. That was eight years ago. I’ve been happily employed in many different roles in game audio ever since.”

You want a job in games, and game studios want inexpensive workers. Get in touch with a game studio near your home and find out if they have an internship – it might just be a perfect match.

Read More: https://www.gameindustrycareerguide.com/how-to-break-into-video-game-industry/​

 

[Nick]

Interesting post. Thanks for sharing!

 

[ZandraJoi]

This actually makes it seem doable to the average person. I like the steps that one can take & how to go about it. I'm sure there are support groups out there that would love to help newcomers out.
Have any of you tried getting into game development? What ways have worked for?

 

[kschang]

Given the availability of Unreal Engine or Unity or even HTML5/JS6 to the average programmer the barrier to entry is quite a bit lower than it ever was, esp. when ChatGPT can teach you how to code the simpler games.

The problem, IMHO, is that most people who wanted into the game industry thought it's a glorious job. It's not. It's a TON of overtime, crunch or not. And if they made it to the top as producer, now you get smashed from both ends... management wants the game out and fit the marketing schedule. Dev is "it'll be done when it's done!" and producer end up juggling priorities, and often end up slashing features or QA to meet deadlines.

The reality is much grimmer.

 

[Nick]

Given the availability of Unreal Engine or Unity or even HTML5/JS6 to the average programmer the barrier to entry is quite a bit lower than it ever was, esp. when ChatGPT can teach you how to code the simpler games.

The problem, IMHO, is that most people who wanted into the game industry thought it's a glorious job. It's not. It's a TON of overtime, crunch or not. And if they made it to the top as producer, now you get smashed from both ends... management wants the game out and fit the marketing schedule. Dev is "it'll be done when it's done!" and producer end up juggling priorities, and often end up slashing features or QA to meet deadlines.

The reality is much grimmer.

The stories of crunch and hardship have been well-documented nowadays, even major companies (in-fact, especially major companies) require your life to more-or-less be at the office to reach deadlines. Hopefully in time, we will see that improve some.

 

[kschang]

Once upon a time (read: decades ago) I was a QA tester. In fact, my name is in Mobygames somewhere. It's not fully accurate, but not all of my work can be documented so neatly. Things only have gotten more complicated since.