Welcome to the Gaming Blog of Bondy; we’ll take a look at some of the key players when it comes to getting a job in the gaming industry. It is a very competitive industry since its popularity has been growing for some years now, and it’s no longer a niche marketplace.
So what jobs are related to gaming? Games are complex projects that require the participation of many teams. It’s not just development (coding) and designing, there’s a lot of positions that come up constantly, like level design, 3D modelling, PR, marketing, writing, acting, and many more. For clarity, we’ll focus mainly on the game development and game designing jobs.
What jobs are in demand in the video game industry?
The most demanded jobs in the video game industry are game developers or game programmers, and game designers which are the ones we’ll be covering in this article. We’ll discuss more disciplines in a near future but for now this will help you get started.
Jobs in the Game Industry: Game Developing Jobs
This is also known as game programming or game dev jobs and it involves coding entire games to bring them to life. It is a creative, collaborative and complex work that can be done as a team or individually. In big game companies, it involves the collaboration of several teams, along months or even years to refine and make a game ready for the consumer.
So what does a game developer do? They write the code that makes up a video game. They work closely with the other teams in the company (such as the game designers, UX designers, test teams, etc), and need to have a great problem-solving mind.
Do you need a formal education to get a job as a Game Developer?
Since the game development work requires hard skills and knowledge on low-level programming languages, some form of higher education is recommended. If you are still in school and haven’t made a choice on a career path yet, you can check out either computer science or an engineering degree.
On the other hand, if you’ve already finished school, you can take online courses to begin learning the necessary skills to write code for games.
The most critical skill to develop is constant learning, being prepared to be challenged, and learning continuously. So if you think you are interested in getting a job in the video game industry, start learning and start doing.
Do you need experience to get a game development job?
You may not need any previous experience to get your first game development job since many companies constantly have training programs or junior positions open. You must have, however, a good portfolio.
Any game recruiters and sourcers, when looking for the right candidate for the job, look at your LinkedIn profile and try to find a portfolio with previous projects. If you want a good chance to be found, keep it as up-to-date as possible.
You can start to build it for yourself or upload educational projects, It’s mostly to show the skills you have acquired during its development, so everything counts!
Jobs in the Game Industry: Game Designing Jobs
Again, as we said before, a video game is a complex project, so it wouldn’t be possible if not for the game designers participating. (To clarify, in this article, when we mention game design it is not to be confused with game art, that’s another job altogether).
But what does a game designer do? They are tasked with creating the environment, game mechanics, and all the elements that make up a video game. It’s mostly a conceptual job that requires much technical knowledge without necessarily being hands-on in coding. They take part in the creative process and need to be up-to-date with the latest trends.
Do you need a formal education to get a job as a Game Designer?
While rarely the tech industry requires a higher education degree, the game designer job may be one of such exceptions. Since the job description of a game designer is wide and requires a very unspecific set of skills, it is recommended to take a more formal path towards it. There’s an extensive range of online courses, with very different educational curricula, and it can feel overwhelming to choose.
So if you are choosing a career and feel inclined to participate in the life-cycle of a video game, it would be wise to find a university that provides the most tools available to set you up for success.
Now, if you have been in the industry for quite some time, you may already have acquired most of the necessary skills to get a job in game design.
How to get a game designing job?
By now, you have probably figured out that when it comes to getting a job in the video game industry, the two most essential foundation layers are to have technical skills and to display them in your portfolio.
So what can you do now? Start updating your portfolio and become a part of the community by joining Discord Servers, subreddits, Slack channels, and Telegram chats; really, nothing is off limits.
Not only will you be up to date with current events in the game designing industry, but being a part of a community will help you become more secure in your skill set. If you are stuck on a problem, you can take it there, and colleagues will help you solve them in no time.
You can also start to get noticed this way, and it can reach more people; this way, recruiters and talent specialists can find you easily.
Some final thoughts
While this article does not cover all the jobs in the video game industry, it’s thought of as a guide to help you get started if you want to get into this world but have no idea how to start. Keep in mind that, as we said, video games are massive projects requiring many teams of people working very well together, like a clock mechanism.
Don’t forget that while you may choose a line of work that requires you to look at a screen all day, the teams are formed with people; so, in addition to the skills mentioned earlier, it would be good to develop a set of soft skills like empathy, good communication and the ability to work as a part of a team. Never underestimate this last set of skills since they may be a big deal of help to you.
