There are many angles to get you into the video game business. Maybe you are a writer, an advertiser, programming, art, or into 3D animation. Whatever it may be, there are many different approaches to get into this career track. Going to a college that is labeled to be specifically for video games won’t necessarily help you land that job.
Going to College
Go to college for what you enjoy. A lot of video game companies are not too concerned about what you went into college for, but the fact that you went. Going to a 4 year college for your bachelor’s degree is a lot more impressive than going to a 2 year college. Reason being is that the video game business is growing and as things grow, they change. A 4 year bachelor’s degree will make you overall a well rounded person. You are forced to take general classes you basically have no interest in, but the fact is, you took them. You will have knowledge of other subjects others around you never learned about.
2 Year colleges that emphasize in animation or art is still good however. Some times a degree isn’t required if you really got the skills, but don’t throw out the idea. Going to college is also a good way to see what your peers can do and what your competition may be like. There’s always room for improvement.
Whether you want to be an advertiser, tech support, or an animator, this is the best way to learn a lot about gaming in general. If you’re an advertiser and the last game you played was Mario Brothers for the Super Nintendo, you may have a hard time grasping your audience. If you want to be a novelist, the best thing to do is read other books. If you want to be an advertiser you have to pay careful attention to those around you. And if you want to be in the video game business, you have to play video games. Call it…research.
Build an Outstanding Portfolio
Employers are going to want to see your work. You can have a great resume, but what can you really do? The key to a great portfolio is not quantity, but quality. Don’t show them absolutely every single little thing you ever made since your senior year of high school when you got your interest. Show them your senior project in college, your best of the best. Some people like to build a multimedia portfolio on a disk, or build a website with links to all your works.
Start at the Bottom and Work Your Way Up
Getting a job at a video game store may not necessarily help you in the future to get a job for a game company, but it’s a job, and it’ll keep your knowledge of gaming going. Some video game stores even let you borrow games and bring them home for research. This goes back to, “play video games”. The more you know about the business itself, the easier it is to get in.
Many times the only thing you will be able to get is a job at the mailroom or an internship. Take it. If you can get your foot in the door in any way possible, even if it’s cleaning windows, take it. You will not only have an easier time finding out about job openings for a position you want, but also start to build contacts.
What Programs Should You Learn?
Well if you want to be an animator, the programs you should start to learn is 3D Studio Max or Maya.
Where are the jobs located?
A lot of jobs are located in California. However, if you do your research there are jobs in the video game industry all over the United States. Now if you can speak Japanese and want to work with the big dogs over there like with Square-Enix, then Japan is another large gaming industry.
Companies to check up would include (but not limited to) this:
EA Games
Blizzard Entertainment
Square-Enix
Activision
Sony
Microsoft
LucasArts
One other thing to remember is that sometimes smaller game companies have games bought by bigger companies. There are a lot of names out there. This is another reason to definitely do your research, and play some video games and keep note of all the companies that make them. Do Your Research Along with playing video games and getting a good knowledge of what is all ready out there so that you can offer companies something unique, you have to do other kinds of research. You have to look into the companies before applying. What kind of games do they make? Where are they located? Do they release their games early and they end up falling through, or do they carefully examine and test each game to perfection first? There are so many companies out there in different locations. Do a lot of research in this area.
Become a Beta Tester
You may not get paid for this job, but what better way to learn about the step process of releasing a game then by being part of the testing process? It may not always be “Resume worthy” but you will have been able to see a game in the working process at least once.
The video game business is changing all the time. Some companies are bought out by other companies; new companies are formed from employees of another. One thing to do is to make contacts and be true and good at what you do. It’s not impossible by any means to get into the gaming business. It is still risky, as sometimes they only hire people for short time contracts. Take what you can get for the time being, and some day you will see your name on the credits in the instruction manual.
