How to get into the Video Game industry! Aka, how to get Experience Before the Job!
Is your dream to work in the video game industry but you don’t know if you CAN make the jump or even HOW to do it? I’m here to tell you how to get experience before the job, how you can learn about the work & get involved in the gaming industry so that you are prepared when you apply for that new exciting game dev job!
Chapter 1: Start with the Basics
1. Have a great portfolio
Although I do have many other tips in this list, I can’t skip over the biggest thing that gets employers interested in you and get you through the studio doors. You need a great portfolio showing off your skills, strengths and show of some different projects to prove that you can do the job they are hiring for!
How you get that great portfolio can be done in different ways. This is what you will learn from this list!
Also check out my other article if you want more details on how to structure your Portfolio, CV and Cover Letter to get a job:
Chapter 2: Learning about Game Development
2. Previous work, projects and experience is valid!
Even if your previous studies or job(s) have not been in video games, those skills and experiences are still useful when you want to transition into a job in video games. You just need to show off your skills and experiences in the best way when applying!
Here are some examples of skills that are useful to bring up:
Are you great at keeping your head cool in stressful situations? Do you have experience dealing with big as well as small projects? Are you used to communicating with different personality types? Are you very creative, and great at coming up with quick & iterative solutions! Do you work good under pressure? Are you a great note-taker and keeping design documentation up to date?
3. Write down your own projects, designs, mockups & prototypes
It does not have to be for a real game or work project for you to get valuable experience and knowledge! So pull up a comfy chair and start writing down some basic rules of some games, create sketches, mockups, and do some brainstorming! You don’t need to reinvent the video game wheel here with completely new gaming concepts. Use what you see in the games you love and combine them into a new idea. It does not have to be perfect or the best idea ever. Just get your head working on ideas and different solutions! Finding bad ways to make a game is also learnings!
- Write down game ideas & rules
- Sketch up Maps, characters, monsters, etc
- Mockups/Wireframes/Basic UI/Paper Prototypes
- Show basic prototypes to other people & get feedback
4. Join a Game Dev Group & Community!
Another way to get some game and teamworking experience before you have the job is to work on a project together with other people! Working with people with different experiences and skills is a great way to learn faster! This can be done in many ways so have a look around online to see if you find some like-minded people!
- You can look at joining a GameJam! A GameJam is a 48 hours challenge (usually over a weekend) where teams get the task to create a (very) small game together.
- Start a group project with your classmates or friends! This can be your own GameJam or a longer learning project. But remember: keep it small & simple! (too big game projects are quickly overwhelming).
- Join a local group of people learning new skills! You are probably not alone in your city to want to learn about new technology or video games.
- There are many game development communities, both online and offline, where you can learn about game development and get involved in game development projects, and get advice. Some popular game development communities include Unity, Unreal Engine, Game Jolt, and Discord, as well as gaming-specific websites like Steam and itch.io.
- Into Games offer a lot of resources, groups, events & talks: https://intogames.org
5. Follow Game Developers & Studios on social media platforms
Such as Twitter and LinkedIn (and whatever social platform is popular int the future). You can learn a lot from them, they usually share interesting links in their feed where you can learn more about game development, and they may also give advice if you ask nicely. Just make sure to be nice when starting a conversation (everyone loves flattering).
Don’t just ask a ton of difficult questions and then not answer back when they respond. Try asking straight questions on things they can give a clear answer to.
But don’t ask people directly for a job (that’s not how companies hire.)
6. Play more games!
The best way to get into gaming is to play games! There are many different types of games available so don’t limit yourself to only one game series or genre. Try out a few different genres to see what you like and figure out why other people like those games. Many of the most popular games now are free! So it’s easy to test them out!
You will get a lot more insights and learnings about how different games are made, what makes them unique, and what features they have that others don’t. Have a look (play) around!
Also, you never know what studio or game you end up working on in the future! So having insight into different games is super helpful!
7. Study game design
There are many (free/cheap) resources available for learning about game design, such as online tutorials, books, and courses. Websites like Udemy, Coursera, and edX offer game design courses, and many universities now offer degrees in game design.
- My list of Design Book reviews, some specific to video games: https://medium.com/@annawikstrom/list/ux-design-book-reviews-9489a0cf2f77
- Creative Assembly offers a lot of videos on how to make games: https://www.youtube.com/@CreativeAssembly & the one I made https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7SlpT2GFGs&t=3s
- Extra History is also a great Game dev resource on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z06QR-tz1_o
- GDC has many great talks about how to make games: https://www.youtube.com/@Gdconf
8. Read Game Dev publications
There are many publications and websites dedicated to game development, such as Game Developer, Gamesindustry.biz and Edge, that offer news, interviews, tutorials and articles about the game industry.
This is not just adds or PR about games (that will not teach you how to actually make games.) Intead look for sites that offers insights into the process of making games. What tools or programming language do they use? How is their team structure? How do they come up with new ideas? At what stanges do they show their game to players to collect feedback?
Byte Action has a newsletter about game development: https://byteaction.substack.com/
Chapter 3: How to get Experience BEFORE the job!
9. Make your own mini-games
By using some simple game-making tools you can learn how a game is built and structured! You do NOT need to be a pro or know how to code or program a game by yourself. But knowing some of the basics of what makes up a game WILL help you understand game development and shows in your Cover Letter and job interviews that you are passionate enough to learn new things!
- Some good video game creation programs I recommend:
GameMaker, RPG Maker & Game Salad, as some examples. - You can of course also get into Unity or Unreal Engine. They are free and they are used to create most small & big games you are playing (these tools are very large and quite difficult to learn).
10. Project idea: Update existing games!
You don’t need to create a totally new game idea to get some good learnings and practice in! You can get great learnings & experience by looking at already exciting games and analyzing their design to create something new! You can do this by writing down your updates, create sketches, update their menu system and layouts, update some game design rules or make changes to its visuals if you got the skills!
But can this be used to get me a job even if it’s not a “real” project?
Actually yes! Highlighting that you are creating your own game design tasks, you have an eye for improvements and understanding why/how something works in games (and why/when it does not) does show that you can be a good hire for a studio.
You can use this page to find detailed UI images on A LOT of games:
Here are some exercise examples:
- How would you update an old game to look and feel more modern?
- What would you need to add to a Single player game to make it Multiplayer? (This can be Co-op, MMO, PvE or PvP)
- What updates and features would you add to a game to make it better? (Better to you, or better to someone else?
11. Work freelance or Consulting!
How do you get work experience before you land that big job at a studio? Working Freelance or as a Consultant is one great way to do this!
There are many platforms now where you can find companies, organizations or like-minded people that you can help in some way! With the boost in Indie games, there are a lot of smaller games being made that need freelancing people or consultants to help out in different areas to create their game!
Chapter 4: The Final Boss
12. Finding Game Dev Jobs
Ok, so when you have prepared yourself to get a job in video games… where do you find job openings? There are actually several ways to find jobs in video games. Here are some examples:
- LinkedIn Job Posts: I have found many video game job openings and gotten several jobs through postings on LinkedIn (yes also my current one at Creative Assembly).
- Connect with Recruiter on LinkedIn: Their job is to find people for jobs! They can be your best supporter in finding a job that fits you! Connect with as many as you can and start talking!
- Consultant Studios: Apply to smaller studios that do consultancy work for large games companies. I first started at DICE as a consultant UX Designer (so I can totally recommend this). Whilst I didn’t know this would be my way into games, many other consultant companies are well known for working with big studios!
- Subscribe to Games Job Direct: They send out an email every week with new open game dev jobs! Even if it’s not job openings you want, you can learn about studios you have never heard of before and look into them more.
- Studio websites & career pages: If you know of some studios you are interested in, definitely look through their website to see if they are hiring for the role you want! You can also apply to studios directly ofc. Studio websites always have a careers page or at least someone to contact about jobs.
- Several 3rd party websites list job openings in games. I recommend checking out:
Games Jobs Direct: https://www.gamesjobsdirect.com/
Hitmarker (also follow them on LinkedIn): https://hitmarker.net/
When you are ready to make the leap and apply for jobs, this handy list is a great guide to help you through it!
Thank you for reading!
Did you find this helpful? What else would you like to learn more about?
Please add a comment here, or send a DM on LinkedIn or my Twitter.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-wikstrom-uxdesigner/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ichianna
Website: http://annawikstrom.com/
All illustrations are from: https://www.freepik.com/
