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Getting into the Game Development Industry
Jfrench
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
I'm fresh out of college (as of last week) with a Liberal Arts degree and Creative Writing Minor, and I'm trying to find a way into writing for a game developer. I've looked into some companies in the past and sent in a few resumes, but none of them were very impressive. As of now, I have some decent writing experience (a couple of short story publications and an award from a literary magazine) and a few suitable writing samples, but I don't really know what to do with them.
I've compiled a list of about 100-150 developers via wikipedia/my own gaming experiences, and so far I'm just checking websites and seeing if anything fits, but, as expected, most of the companies want a great deal of experience for Senior positions. So I guess what I'm looking for is information about start-up or Indie gaming companies, the sort of places that'd be looking for free or low-cost writing, so I can build some experience.
If anyone can suggest a database of developers like this, or anything off the top of their head, I'd appreciate it.
Mostly looking to work in fantasy/sci-fi, but I'm open to pretty much anything.
I've compiled a list of about 100-150 developers via wikipedia/my own gaming experiences, and so far I'm just checking websites and seeing if anything fits, but, as expected, most of the companies want a great deal of experience for Senior positions. So I guess what I'm looking for is information about start-up or Indie gaming companies, the sort of places that'd be looking for free or low-cost writing, so I can build some experience.
If anyone can suggest a database of developers like this, or anything off the top of their head, I'd appreciate it.
Mostly looking to work in fantasy/sci-fi, but I'm open to pretty much anything.
Jfrench on
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If that doesn't put you off, I will say this. It is EXCEEDINGLY unlikely that you will be hired because of writing unless you are already an established, famous fantasy or sci fi author. The people who write in the games industry are game designers - the people that actually make the levels and design the combat situations etc. So if you do want to end up as a writer in the industry, either get famous as an author or start designing games. Make mods in Unreal. Make indie games. Etc. Etc.
Sorry, but an entry level writing position for the games industry just does not exist. Maybe it should considering the caliber of writing and maybe there will be in the far future. But right now, you are shit out of luck.
When you get in with a team, try to gather as much knowledge of game development as possible. Some basic scripting skill will make you infinitely more valuable to prospective employers.
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Turkey, thanks for the suggestion. I think I've been approaching this incorrectly. I ought to start looking at those companies first and save the big ones for a few years down the road.
As a dude with a similar skillset and about five years of networking on you, trust me when I say that Bioware is the only company remotely likely to hire you without previous shipped titles or successful novels.
Get a day job, and polish that module until it glows. Follow their instructions. Don't get your hopes up, because there are thousands of people out there with the same qualifications as you and I. Only difference is if they can write the way they need you to be able to write.
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/143384/getting-an-edjumacation
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/96975/redirect/p1
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/97766/redirect/p1
I think all three of them also let you see and edit the "source" files for some projects. Look for popular projects that have them available and use them as reference while working on your own stuff.
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So, get a job in QA, network and expect to only have this be your career if it is the utmost priority of your entire life, and you're willing to sacrifice most of the other things that people look for in a life (comfortable money, choice in lifestyle and location, standard family life).
Yes. Adventure Game Studio is also good for people who want to do story-heavy games without much programming experience.
Basically what Jfrench needs to do is make a few freeware games, and build a name that way, which will give him a portfolio to show real companies. Getting a writing job at Bioware is like winning the lottery, not something to aim for. It could happen, but it's pie in the sky.
Either way, unless he is willing to work in game QA he should definitely be looking for a day job while he builds his portfolio.
Game designing is about as glorious as toilet scrubbing now-a-days.
It was his dream job when he was 22 and out of college.
He's 32 now.
Lives with his parents.
Has no savings or 401K because living the dream pays dogshit.
Has been unemployed for about two years.
Dreams crushed.
Take that for what little it's worth.
For what its worth, I'm an artist in the game industry at a not very small company. I've worked at a game company 20 years old and startups. I worked at a company I hated, went to one I thought was mediocre and am now at a company I think is great. For the most part, I really enjoy my job. There's not many other jobs out there I would WANT to do. I think the 'game industry is crap and there's no possibility for fulfillment or money' bandwagon perhaps went a little far.
Yes, it depends on the company. At the company I left a couple of years ago, one of the QA staff was recognized as willing to stay late to do game design work in a pinch, when the others would prefer to go home. She was promoted to an assistant producer role just before I left, so it can pay off. This was a small company where everyone knew everyone else though. You have to pick the right company, and I would recommend small ones where roles are more flexible.
I was just sharing an anecdote about a dude I know who done retarded his life chasing the dream of designing vidja games.
I'm sure not every job in the industry will grind you down into a broken manchild, but I imagine a lot of ambitious kids gleefully hurl themselves into the woodchipper and wind up that way.
I'd be glad to contribute to such a thread.
Check out my new blog: http://50wordstories.ca
Also check out my old game design blog: http://stealmygamedesigns.blogspot.com
Alongside this consider get into indie development to make your own platforms for writing ala Roberta Williams. With some of your contacts you might be able to find a little bit stronger of a story driven opportunity. Think "The Stanley Parable" these are supremely story driven and no designer will hand you the reigns to that unless you have a very strong background and that's still just a mod.
Also that video is dumb and if you have a problem with making a dust algorithm or painting a hubcap and don't see the individual challenges small tasks like that may present you are just really unsuited. There's nothing more glorious about rendering a holy avenger sword versus painting a urinal texture, just the same as writing a murder scene versus a bit of text about someone's shoes could both be interesting.
edit: Oh and for the mods and contributing to projects. try to the best of your ability to attach yourself to something that will be get finished or at least some sort of working copy you could see your stuff in for portfolio reasons. You will have to use your discretion on what is sensible and what is a bunch of nutters working on something which will never get to version 0.01.
Working in localization if you can get into another language is another way to look into the written side of things. Plenty of foreign MMOs which have giant globs of text to translate, and there's at least some creative merit to rewriting quest lines in a native tongue. That might be a decent experience builder, of course the skillset would have to be there.
With training and practice, yeah I think I could get a different job within the game industry. I do environment concept but I'm equally comfortable doing character concept (and have done in the past) and illustration/marketing stuff (again, I have done this as well). With some personal training I have all the confidence I would be able to do character or environment modeling if I really wanted to (I don't). With more experience Ill be able to get a senior and maybe eventually a lead concept position. And my eventual goal is to be the hovering art director somewhere.
Friends of mine were environment artists and are now producers, tech artists, and even programmers.
Moving up from QA is harder now than it used to be. In-house QA isn't as big a deal these days, you almost have to know somebody to get those jobs, and even then all it gets you is a foot in the door. You still need the skills to compete with other people applying for a particular position. "Rental" QA is far more common (and far less useful IMO, but that's a topic for another thread).
And for what it's worth, I love my job (programmer at a large-ish independent developer). I've worked at a few different places and yeah, some of them suck. Generally the bigger the company, the more it sucks. Unfortunately the big guys are the ones doing most of the hiring so your first job in the industry is almost certain to be shitty. You could probably draw a strong correlation between the shittiness of the job and the number of managers between yourself and the head of the company (president, CEO, whatever).
I think the idea that there is a lack of mobility in the games industry comes from QA. As others of have said, its hardly the easy road to the industry now and there's only so many positions in QA.
If you want to get into art and you are in QA, you still have to have a great portfolio.
If you want to get into design and you are in QA, you still have to have a great portfolio.
If you want to get into programming and you are in QA, you still have to have a great test/portfolio.