4 answers
Sam
Student
Schaumburg, Illinois
9
Questions
Asked
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Is there any career programs that relate to retail or video game designing
I want to try more than just retail #video-games #career-options
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4 answers
Ryan Nutting
Program Manager
7
Answers
Westminster, Massachusetts
Updated
Ryan’s Answer
Any type of computer science programs would get you well on your way toward a career of game design and development. Would also open up a lot of other career possibilities.
Olivier Courtemanche
Director of Product Management
3
Answers
Los Angeles, California
Updated
Olivier’s Answer
There are many Game Design programs available these days, either in person or online that can help you pursue a career focused on designing features and mechanics for video games. If you have interests beyond gaming, you can look for programs that focus on User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design or even Product Management (which you can get into by studying Business or Engineering), as they are also heavily involved in designing video games; however those skills are more transferable to other industries if you’re still exploring options.
Research the different types of design (product design, UX design, game design) to understand where you may want to pursue a career.
Research the top programs in the fields you’re interested in.
Connect with professionals who have those careers at companies you’d like to work with to learn more about the role and how to get your foot in the door.
Olivier recommends the following next steps:
Viviane Kosty
Sr. Concept Art / Concept Outsource Manager
4
Answers
Alpharetta, Georgia
Updated
Viviane’s Answer
Regarding game retail, this depends on where you want to be on the supply chain.
If your goal is to work within a video company, the marketing team may be of interest to you. They work with promotions, partnerships, advertisement.. etc. Depends on the company, the description may be a bit different.
Regarding game designing.
There are a lot of video game design programs out there, but the important thing is to identify where you want to be in the video game production chain. For small games, especially indie games, people tend to wear many hats. For bigger companies and larger and more elaborate games, then people are more or less specialized.
Game designers: Often deals with writing narratives and world building. There are game design programs in some universities and colleges, but there are also a lot of game designers who came from all walks of life. The main driving force is imagination, love for games, and their capabilities of creating cool stories and worlds.
Programming: Computer science majors usually
Under game production: 2D, 3D, animation, rigging, fx, etc. There are schools who specialize in this stuff, or there are now also many resources out there on the internet either for free or for a small price by paying notable industry veterans who are selling tutorials and mentorships.
Overall game design wise, there are also a lot of indie game designers who are just people who wants to make a cool game. They may not have formal training in the subject matter.
Figure out if you want to work for a company or yourself?
What department under video game do you want to work under?
Game Design Education Without a Game Design Major? https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131100/game_design_education_without_a_.php
https://www.animationcareerreview.com/articles/top-50-game-design-schools-and-colleges-us-2020-rankings
If your goal is to work within a video company, the marketing team may be of interest to you. They work with promotions, partnerships, advertisement.. etc. Depends on the company, the description may be a bit different.
Regarding game designing.
There are a lot of video game design programs out there, but the important thing is to identify where you want to be in the video game production chain. For small games, especially indie games, people tend to wear many hats. For bigger companies and larger and more elaborate games, then people are more or less specialized.
Game designers: Often deals with writing narratives and world building. There are game design programs in some universities and colleges, but there are also a lot of game designers who came from all walks of life. The main driving force is imagination, love for games, and their capabilities of creating cool stories and worlds.
Programming: Computer science majors usually
Under game production: 2D, 3D, animation, rigging, fx, etc. There are schools who specialize in this stuff, or there are now also many resources out there on the internet either for free or for a small price by paying notable industry veterans who are selling tutorials and mentorships.
Overall game design wise, there are also a lot of indie game designers who are just people who wants to make a cool game. They may not have formal training in the subject matter.
Viviane recommends the following next steps:
Simeon Snow
Risk Assurance
1792
Answers
Houston, Texas
Updated
Simeon’s Answer
Game design is something you can get started on today. There are free resources online to teach yourself coding. I would recommend getting involved in game jams, game making events that happen over the course of a few days and are judged according to their quality and how well they fit the theme of the jam. One of the biggest ones is the one done every year on itch.io by Game Maker's Toolkit. You can check them out on YouTube and see the results of previous year's jams. The entrants are very passionate and will help connect you with more tools and tips. They're pretty active on the messaging platform Discord. You might event try to get on a team working on one of these game jams. You can also use these experiences to build a portfolio of games you've coded and built. I would also recommend looking at Extra Credits on Youtube to find out more about the gaming industry as a whole. Check out their social media links and web presence for more people that you could network with around game design.