Hot Tip — You Need to Know Someone to Get a Gig in Video Games Quickly
It’s all about the network.
I went back to school to get into video games when I turned 31 while working as a web development project manager — I decided to be a video game artist. I was late to the party — the majority of my classmates were at least ten years younger than me. I created an excellent demo reel after completing my associate’s degree at a local art college (yes, you can see it here). I was ready to go out and get that game dev job!
After applying online, I wasn’t getting much traction, and I thought I had the best demo reel in the world. I did keep my day job and was active on forums for artists like Polycount. Being the sensible type, I kept my day job and continued to do art tests from all the well-known video game companies. Some of them made it into that “excellent” demo reel.
One night I was on the Polycount forum, and I realized that all these game artists were friends — being a n00b, I didn’t have any friends in the game industry.
But then I remembered a past conversation with one of my previous bosses. He knew I was into video games since I had a few discussions with him about what I was playing since his sons were getting to the age they were also getting into gaming. In one of our conversations, he mentioned that he had a friend since he had known since college, and they were still good friends, but this person was the owner of a video game company. His buddy would send him the latest games for Christmas, but since he wasn’t a gamer and his kids weren’t into video games at the time, he just stored them away until they were old enough.
I hadn’t spoken to my ex-boss in years, but I left his company on good terms, and he was a nice guy — so I called him up and asked him about his gamedev friend. After talking to him at length, I finally had the name and company his friend had founded, and he called him to give an introduction about me. I was invited to his game development studio, and I was given the tour, met the staff, got to talk directly to the art director, gave him my reel, and had a great time.
A couple of weeks later, I got a call from the art director — he had reviewed my reel and had a lot of work to do to get it to make it in the game industry. I started working on it, and unexpectedly, a couple of weeks later, the company president (who was the college buddy of my ex-boss) gave me a call. He acknowledged that I wasn’t going to a future new artist hire, but with my project management background, would I be open to being a Content Manager/Asset Wrangler for their latest video game title?
And that’s how I started my 14-year career in video games — I didn’t get into the industry due to my resume or past work experience — it was who I knew from my network that finally opened the door for me. It was unexpected, and after being in the industry, I saw how close this network is — and can give some tips for people wanting to break in.
Six Degrees of Separation
The fastest way to get a job in games is to know someone already in the industry, from my example. The higher up you go in the game industry food chain, the greater chance you will make that leap into a game studio. In my case, I had technically “knew” a game industry person who was not in my immediate circle of influence. People have massive networks if they look through their lives and delve into their contacts that they have made throughout the years. Think of all the people you have known throughout your schooling, as friends, as mentors, in past jobs, and don’t be afraid to hit up relatives. All the friends, acquaintances, and colleagues that these people know form a networking web that you can leverage to find those who work for game companies.
You may also know someone (like myself) who no longer works in games but can refer you to someone who does to get your foot in the door. There are plenty of game developers who have left the industry but keep up with the friends they left behind.
LinkedIn is another powerful networking tool that didn’t exist when I wanted to get into the game industry. Utilizing LinkedIn to look through your connections will speed up your search, and it’s right at your fingertips. If you pay for the upgrade to LinkedIn Premium, you can search who is actively looking at your posts or profile to leverage that relationship. LinkedIn relationships may take more time since you may not have a direct personal connection with the person. The person may not want to put their reputation on the line to support you unless they know you better or have researched you with their contacts. It will take some time — but if you can build up a rapport with people, you have a pretty good chance of finding that video game job opening. LinkedIn also has game recruiters who are actively looking to staff up their companies — following these recruiters will help you see what people they are looking to hire. Occasionally, a position will open up that doesn’t require previous game development experience. Also, look up several video game development and recruiting groups on LinkedIn too.
References are Everything
I worked with many game dev vets who had many years of experience and worked with hundreds of game developers throughout the titles they developed. Their networks were far-reaching since their ex-coworkers may have left the studio and built other games for new studios. When we were hiring, I would have regular discussions about resumes I received with these people, and they would jump on their phone and call people who could provide references for the person we were considering. If the person they called didn’t know the individual, they would usually know someone who could give a review.
References within the game community were important since people usually wanted to work with devs they had a pleasant experience working with during those long hours. Inversely, if a candidate wasn’t someone they wanted to work with, there were usually a few stories to back up why that individual may not be a good fit for the company. These references extended outside the game industry for people who tried to break in — the connections would pave the way for interviews at the game company for entry-level positions in QA, design, art production, and engineering.
Internships or QA Positions are a Possibility
Entry-level positions offered at a game studio usually are internships or quality assurance (QA). Marketing or social media people were added to the company early to help with the workload, and QA is always needed to keep filing bugs on the game. Design, engineering, and art internships are usually experience-based internships, so they may be more difficult for people outside the industry to attain. However, if an individual builds mods, games, or does artwork in their spare time (and is good at it), then an internship is more comfortable to fill if they can show a body of work. People passionate about getting into the game industry have usually worked on projects for years to get noticed and get good at the craft.
Marketing and social media internships are great ways to get in the door since great employees can enter the game industry from any profession. But, most people who apply for these positions have run game development-centric social media and blog sites. Being a fan of a video game genre or studio may lead someone to put up a website with award-winning content that a prospective employer would notice. Anything that would show that the future employee benefits the studio would help them get that dream job.
Get to know devs on the game forums.
Previously I mentioned that I had been on the Polycount website to talk to various game development artists. Making virtual friends is a great way to know about inside opportunities and learn what these companies seek in employees. Just use Google to pull up some game development sites and blogs for a particular discipline and join the community. If the site has a large fanbase, some game developers on that site are active and can advise or get into the industry. When forming a relationship with these people, the key is not to be a jerk, critical, or a know-it-all. These developers can become great advocates for you if you choose to use them as a resource. Be nice!
Go to Conferences, Work at Them and Meet People
Want to meet as many game developers as possible in a week? Attend a game developer conference! Thousands of game developers worldwide go to the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. They usually accept volunteers to work at these conferences (it’s up to you to get there). You can meet game developers at these conferences or the restaurants and bars around the venue. I don’t know of many developers who would turn down a drink or two for their story of how they got into the industry or speak about their talk if they gave one. Always carry business cards and hand them out to anyone you talk to — you never know who will call you.
Also, there are several regional game development conferences, such as the East Coast Game Conference in Raleigh, NC. These aren’t as populated as the conference in San Francisco, but game developers up and down the east coast travel to this conference. Most regions have something similar — these are a little more intimate since there are fewer game devs, but it’s an excellent opportunity to see them in a small environment. Possibly it is a good training ground for the larger conference in San Fransisco.
Multiple Branching Paths
In conclusion — there are multiple avenues to your first job in the game industry, but sending out blind resumes isn’t the preferred way to get to the desired result. Building a network of game professionals is the easiest way to get into the game industry — the references should be enough to get your resume out of the HR files and onto a hiring manager’s desk. Hopefully, your list of contacts will grow, and when you start in the game industry, you’ll already have a list of friends in several game companies.
I can’t thank you enough for reading. Please leave your comments and thoughts. For more articles from my prefrontal cortex — please follow me on Medium.
