How hard is it to get a job in the games industry?
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- čas přidán 4. 08. 2022
- This quick video will look at how hard it is to get a job within the games industry. It focuses on research from the UK industry but has similarities with many other countries.
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I was a QA tester for over 10 years with hopes of becoming a permanent employee, but learned quickly that most AAA game developers really don't care about their lower level employees. I even joined the military and served during OIF 2 in order to earn money to obtain higher education, but ultimately at NOA, Square-Enix and Activision, it's was all about who you know, not what you know or how well you know it. Politics, favoritism and racism all showed their negative faces, both in my own experience and the experiences of my co-workers. I got tired of trying to jump through hoops when I just wanna make games, so I recently became an Indie dev, and I couldn't be happier!
^ This
been there done that, totally agree bro.
Yeah, I'm not even bothering with the big studios. Hopefully I can find a smaller/indie studio to join.
Glad to hear you kept going, I noticed the same thing through my experience I actually seek out work with small studios as a 3d/2d artist far more rewarding creatively & your efforts appreciated. better to be part of a small band than be an over used instrument in a orchestra.
As someone who has freelanced in the games industry for the past 12 years I can tell you it's easy if you work indie. If you want to work AAA there is a skill plateau you need to cover, but it's not too tough.
What if I’m looking for a good pay and flexibility?
@@m3rt0v1c Good pay at initial stage is quite a big expectation :)
@@LifeHacker8 right :), in other words, I dont want to end up so desperate that I might accept working for “pea nuts”. Or Im afraid I might get exploited. Orrr, I might just end up jobless…
I read so many negative views on games industry I’m starting to get concerned as a uni student.
Hope you can give me some advice
I've heard it can be brutal. People who love games get into the industry but are so overworked they have no time to play games. I don't know how accurate that is though when working for a AAA publisher.
@@m3rt0v1c I am also a uni student (3rd year). Recently started internship as a Game Artist in a Gaming Company. If you got the right skills you will surely end up getting something that you expected. In my opinion i find the industry very casual, but as i said i also just started, so many unexpected hurdles on the way. you will not end up jobless if you the passion for it :)
Honestly, in this industry its primarily about your abilities and how well you can apply them to achieve your employers vision. If you're looking for work, first understand there are no free lunches in this field, then take a long and hard look at your skills, do you match the kind of work or style of the studio you're applying to and are you actually as good as you think you are? If no, then practice more and apply yourself to learning and becoming better. Only then look at putting yourself out there. If you haven't fixed the first issue (your skill or lack of) those job rejections are going to start piling up and make you feel like trash with no idea why you're not getting hired. Cool thing is you can get better so always be learning. Good luck out there!
I would take it a step or two further to say that getting a job at all in the entertainment-industry outside of general-labor jobs that don't require any artistic-skill is quickly encroaching on being a waste of time, unfortunately. It's like this in the animation industry, music industry, TV industry, and movie industry.
It's really all about WHO you know, rather than WHAT you know. Out of the last 5 jobs I've had 4 of them were from people that I knew who worked there. The best way to get in is to cultivate relationships with people working at the place where you want to be employed. The only reason these days why companies post jobs is because they are legally-required to. They are NOT however legally-required to hire you.
If you want to be a game developer these days, the best way is to just learn how to do it, and then make games yourself. This path is obviously *extremely-difficult* and will cost you a lot of time, effort, and money before you make back a single penny, but ultimately as an artist this is the most rewarding-path to traverse. You have full control over your artistic-vision. No corporate-bureaucracy or political-nonsense forcing unfinished products onto the marketplace. That's why indie-games these days seem to have more polish than so-called AAA games. More passion, more attention to detail, more artistic-freedom, and the TIME necessary to work out all the bugs.
The guy who made the notoriously terrible game 'hunt down the freeman' got a job at activision so if he can do it I doubt other people can't
I hate to do it, but I think I have to agree with you. Although this advice seems to go for a LOT of industries; It's about who you know, rather than what you know... Which really means that University/College should be used to get introduced to people in the industry and making connections, rather than just studying. Not to say studying is worthless and that you should just be nagging people with emails all day to force connections, but getting your name out there early has paid me back in quite a few ways.
This is 100 percent false. It’s not “who you know” it’s entirely based on ability. I was trying to get into the industry for a while but realized I lacked the skills necessary to do the job. You know what I did? I went back to school to do a Masters in Game Art which got me up to speed, and then you know what happened? I got the jobs I applied for. I knew no one in the industry prior to applying. So the moral of the story is, if you can’t get a job, it’s because you lack the skill required to do that job. Not trying to rant at you, that’s just my story.
@@Legend64Project I think who you know can get you into the industry quicker if you can have someone to put a good word in for you but if you've got the skills then you'll probably get hired
@@Legend64Project If it was entirely based on ability, why are there so many poorly-developed games, TV shows, movies, and music?
*crickets*
I see what you were trying to do (and failed by the way) but such things don't work on me. Of course you have to have some measure of talent or ability do get ANY job. You can just be a jabroni and expect someone to hire you. There are people with Bachelor's Degrees and even Masters Degree who are unemployed. A TREMENDOUS amount. Every year a new, fresh batch or students graduate with all the skills YOU CLAIM automatic assure you a job.......yet they are unemployed and you have someone here in this video who worked in the game industry telling you how hard it is.
There is a preponderance of evidence that exists to show that talent does not equal employment. Talent is needed FOR employment, but it does not equal employment.
If 10 people apply for the same job, the posting has mandatory qualifications (i.e. Bachelor's Degree in said-field, a certain-number of years experience, a portfolio showing specific works done, etc,) everyone has the same qualifications that applied for the job, but one of the candidates knows the lead director of the project or studio, who do you _think_ is getting the job? C'mon now. You aren't that dilapidated. I refuse to believe that.
AAA studios do not care about quality anymore. All they care about is if the game doesn't outright break, send it out and we'll just patch it later. Instead of taking the time to fully flesh-out a game, we will put an unfinished-product out there and then take elements that were supposed to be in the game already and sell it as DLC in effect charging the consumer for what they should have already gotten for $60 in the first place. Also, now because of things like XBOX Game-Pass, companies REALLY don't have to care because if someone is just paying a fee for a service to play your game amongst many others, why put all that effort into making a top-tier AAA game? This is common-knowledge stuff dude.
Back to the point. The last job I got was a random-hire. I'm not going to be so arrogant and proclaim that because of MY SKILLS that I ACQUIRED I was hired for the job and therefore it is 100% false that you mostly get jobs based on who you know........even though as I stated the other four jobs I got *were* based on "who I knew." Miss me with that dude. Really.
The reality is that if you are not a)extremely lucky, b)have outstanding talent or c)got a link into game industry via friends and etc, you will have to grind and hop onto small low-experienced companies with lower than average salaries in order to grind more to receive required experience, knowledge and connections. So basically if you're not gifted with those, you will have to grind to grind later, lmao. I myself had a very hard time getting into industry, I won't recommend anyone risking if it's not your passion and you're not willing to grind the hell out of it.
This video brings up some points I'd like to share. My experience in Triple-A studios & Indie is on the technical side, working closely with Art, Audio, VFX, etc daily.
Firstly, I'm from Canada. I went to school for Game Design. 1/3rd of my class has had some form of professional career be that QV testing, contractual or full-time permanent. I'd say this statistic is accurate for other graduating years as I also keep in contact with them.
Some quick general tips from me.
1. Make relationships with people in the industry - reputation is so important.
2. Have your portfolio reviewed by industry professionals (Have people review your stuff as much as possible, get it out there)
3. During an interview, besides having some experience with what you're applying for. Express how you think and always explain the WHY.
4. Do what successful people are doing in the career that you're trying to get into. (This goes for anything in life)
5. Focus. Bring things to completion. That doesn't mean working 5 years on something until it's your ideal "perfect". Prove you can complete something. Start small and expand from there.
Bonus Tip: Love everybody. Be a genuinely friendly and accepting person. Nobody wants a jerk on their team, regardless of experience.
Cheers.
In Japan at least there are so many people fighting for same spot. So basically if you're not doing a good job there will be someone to fill you right away after the company fire you. Because of that some work for low pay.
I was studying to get it but then switched to Business-IT and made the gaming thing a hobby that I do in my free time. Now I have access to a wide range of jobs plus since 2020 IT salaries been over the roof. So happy days.
This does depends on the country. So a least in Japan that is what it is. Because of that's it's better to pick IT over Gaming industry.
That tends to the case for "passion" jobs. Because so many people want to work in Video games if you don't like the salary there are plenty of other people willing to work that salary.
My last job was QA at a company that used to make games, ended up going into general software that still related to game engines.
Went into the job expecting it to be a stepping stone and a way to get my foot into the door into being a 3D artist, since you always hear about people in the 90's and 00's that would work their way up from being QA and the like. After shadowing environment artists and working on an environment in the hour per week I was given to do it. (with me using Blender because the higher ups refused to buy an extra 3DS Max license for someone in QA) I eventually asked up the chain if it would lead anywhere (worded much nicer than that), ended up being told that they don't have any plans at all to open any roles in the UK for it since it's cheaper for them to just outsource it elsewhere.
Was great to be told by the artist I was shadowing as well as other people on the art team how it was looking really good. The art director did say it's exactly where he would expect it to be with the time I've been working on it - so nice to know that I was meeting the expectations that were on me, but paying me to do it full time was just out of the the question for them.
That was pretty much the nail in the coffin that made me sure of my decision to leave.
Is that the general consensus though or just one off experience? I had thought of this too as my path even going through a QA course and (some time eventually) getting the ISTQB. Have you continued trying to work at other companies and rise or did this experience discourage you to try elsewhere?
In any case though at least having the opportunity to work in a prof. environment and getting experience in the field you want can yield results in the future.
Qa can certainly be a stepping stone to a better job in the game industry but at the same time it is no guarantee that you will advance past qa. I think to often you always hear about the stories of bob started in qa and now he is a lead designer or head artist etc… without ever thinking of all the people who did not make it out of qa, you only hear about the success you never hear about the failure. This is not to discourage people from qa but to rather go into it with a realistic mind set .
Sounds about right! As someone who applied to studios as a concept artists for about 5 years before getting my first job, I can corroborate that is is hard as HELL.
probably because there are lots of concept artists and they will always take the best that applies. Of all the disciplines I come across, concept artist is a fluent number and usually it's those who can turn concept art into 3d game ready art that get the jobs.
This is awesome information thank you sir, makes me want to work harder!
Love your videos Grant! You were my lifeline at the beginning and I still look to your new posts for fun nuggets! Would you consider teaching on grease pencil for blender?
One day I will yes
Great info. Glad I'm only doing it as a hobby. I work as a teacher and despite all the red tape and nonsense involved, at least I don't have to worry about getting a job in this tough field.
Recent game jam I was involved in and the percentage kindof matches. I was the only art person there. There were 4 programmers and one of those was blue-prints only.
Right. I was very into Game Design. I got a degree in Game Arts. I still haven't got a job in the games industry. I'm currently unemployed. My portfolio is perfect. My CV is strong yet I still am not in the industry. What gives?
As of Summer 2022 there is a huge lack of Game Design Entry Level positions probably due to the cost of living crisis facing the UK.
Check my video in the description for some ideas on this
Any updates on your situation?
@@acula_rex I got a part-time job working in retail and although I have changed my portfolio website. I am still trying to break in.
I remember looking into this maybe, 12 years ago. The meta might've changed since then, but as I remember, it was more about; what you can actually do, and a lot less about; what some piece of paper says you in theory can do. Not sure if it's the same way today as it was back then, but my understanding is that raw talent alone is not enough to get you to that point. The job market is often quite brutal, and I think the games industry is even more brutal, if you want to get into the AAA studios. I think sometimes that's the problem, setting the bar too high, there's nothing wrong with starting out small and developing over time. Not to mention, just because it looks "awesome" to work and make AAA games, doesn't necesarilly mean it will be super amazing.
Hi Grant, noob here, would it be possible to make a short tutorial for Pwnisher's Moving meditations community challenge (last submission is 28 aug) how to apply the armature to mixamo character, i found some tutorial but it was not clear enough and i already repeat 20 times but keep hitting the wall. i find that a lot of people are struggling as i am. thank you in advance
I have no degree and only 9 months experience in Blender - how depressing is that? 😅
You don't need a degree. I would take someone with 3 years work experience over someone with 3 years college experience any day. Just keep grinding.
@@tehf00n After my day job I spend every moment with Blender, I'm really passionate about 3d modeling and hopefully one day it will free me
@@Rafi_3D You're in a much better position than someone who waste his/her free time using social media. Don't give up. Eventually you'll get a job if you keep improving your skills. Best wishes
@@lorddiego Thanks my friend 🙂
I wouldn’t say I am in the “game industry” but the company I work for makes educational games. Happy with what I do so far but working on VR can feel kinda limiting as a 3D modeler.
makes me feel a little better about just being a QA tester with a degree in game developement glad i left tesco
Got low-paid job in VR studio while studying in the university. Maybe I'll switch it for something better paid in future, but at least I'm enjoying the work)
never under-value your skills. Lots of companies will exploit the lack of confidence and pay you peanuts whilst expecting AAA workloads (at the same time they pretend they dont and are all liberal and cool). Take what you think you are worth and double it.
@@tehf00n The point is that I'm not even graduated yet. That's more like "should start somewhere" job. But, for the light side: I work about 20 hours per week and overworking is paid also, so, i get at least 400 in dollar equivalent. In my country the lowest salary is around 250, so, It's more than enough to survive without overworking, but not enough for something really valuable.
I'm a not experienced at anything and I can't find any jobs it's so hard because they all keep looking for experienced people but I just graduted ;(
Check the other video for ideas that may help
It has been more than 1 and half years I have applied in many gaming companies,given tests but no use,still rejected.My passion and dream to join a gaming industry but still no hope.
I'm not even sure where to start for a degree that fits the video game industry. Everything at accredited colleges in my state are for 2D art (drawing, photography, graphic design) or animation. Schools that are entirely dedicated to video games seem shady... Looking at Full Sail for example, there is a 30% graduation rate and you can't transfer credits
Please make video about moonray render engine
As someone living in Germany, i'm quite surprised that Germany is Nr 5, right after the asian countries and usa. I occasionally hear about Indie Games from Germany, also of course Crytek is german, but other than that it doesn't seem that big. Nice to know I was wrong tho
So you’re saying there’s a chance!
if you work hard, learn your discipline, getting work is easy. Unless you suck.
That's the right attitude! :3
@@TamarMebonia yes!
It is kind of surprising to see that South Korea took the 4th place in the global market? I am S.Korean and I've heard there are some named korean games but I didn't expect that much.
Would it be better to move to other country? or do I still have hope in this country? haha😅
Very tricky to say
I failed trying to be a Games Tester at Microsoft, some years ago, test questions I hated as it's mostly questions in Xbox, such as "what features do you use your game console for", it didn't say which games console though, as I use mine for playing games only.
Some questions where...
What type of Games Consoles do you have?
What type of tools do you use to play games on?
One question asked how to locate the serial code on the Xbox Console. (I've never owned an Xbox console, just Nintendo consoles.)
I felt like the way most of the questions where worded and aimed at neurotypical people as I'm Autistic. I can't remember all the questions.
Well why would you be a game tester at Microsoft if you’ve never owned an Xbox??
@@heckedge You sound like a troll.
I am 14, its legal to get a job in my country for a 14 year old. Where do I find em?
Go online and see what you can find🙂
Let us be realistic here, the competition is high because the demand for the job is low and a lot of people want to get in. So, If you want to earn money doing 3D, you need to look for the problems that 3D artists can solve for business while still having that goal because, at the end of the day, it's all about the journey.
Over my diligent 1 year spent with blender, I have definitely settled on one simple thought; This is something I want to pursue in my life. Though, over my experience, I've realized that chasing a dream job alongside millions of people with similar interests will probably not be enough to cut it. In my opinion, so many people go into 3D just because its fun and artistic. Who doesnt want a bit of fun. But due to this, you can expect that finding a job, that you can make a lively hood from, will not be easy by any means. I believe theres a reason that finding a job in other professions, many that deal with math and science, will always be easier to obtain with a college degree. 3D, on the other hand, will not work with a simple cookie cutter college degree mindset. You almost need to think capitalistically in some ways, such as "How can I grow my influence in the 3D market", "Where can I find doors that many other people wont find?". These things, over course, are thoughts I mainly think to myself. Furthermore, due to the high competition in the 3D industry, Ive developed anxiety due to the fact that succeeding in the field is largely dependent on yourself and the people you meet in life, not like some college program or professor that claim they'll guide you through your degree and into a job.
3D art and art in general IMO should be a labor of love...I am doing 2D art as a hobby...I understand that some people can make a living out of it but as Grant shows, the wages probably aren't that high and positions are hyper competitive to get...ultimately if you want big money and a cruisy job there are other IT jobs (web developer, data scientist etc.) that can offer a lot more job security...I just grind it out in my spare time and develop the art that I want....
Yikes I don’t have a degree. Pure independent learning >.
how about us without a Degree, now that's depressing. The statics for us should be way worse.
Actually you would be surprised. The amount of people I know who work in the industry without a degree is higher than those with a degree. Why? Because experience counts for more than a certificate. Those who have spent their time accruing a portfolio have a better chance at getting the job. I don't have a degree and get work really easily. I'm offered at lease one job almost daily based on the fact I have spent my time working and gaining experience in my field.
@@tehf00n Well, that's pleasing to hear, I've only been around the field for two years, mostly because of Grant's channel, and I get gigs time to time for commercials and stuff like that. But usually I see small and mid studios asking for at least 4 to 5 years of experience.. In order to be considered for the job, my main focus should be to build a good portfolio, noted that. It would be a dream for me to work in a game studio. Thanks for sharing.
That’s the thing if even the entry level jobs want experience and you don’t have that experience in the first place , how do you ever get in? Hopefully the place you are applying to will look at your portfolio regardless.
@@tiredguy2753 entry level jobs are all about personal project portfolios usually. Sometimes they don't even bother with that if it's a QA position because a lot of the time you are taught on the job. Also this is where qualifications actually come in handy. If you have no previous experience they might take you on with in-house training if they think you can do the job. It's all dependent on the requirements for the task though. Nobody is going to take on a programmer with no experience, but most people can read a JIRA and follow the dots for QA
@@tehf00n I sincerely hope you are correct.
SON! if you don't have a degree you better make a AAA game from starch and sell it than have a chance to get hire. SO GET TO IT!!!!🥵
Strange statystic, it's not covering freelancers at all, go straight to catering and bartending stuff hmm.
Step 1: Don't