Leion
Video Gaming
What is it like to work in the video gaming industry??? #game-programming #microsoft #quality-assurance #alienware #sony
5 answers
Ed Magnin
Ed’s Answer
It's the best job in the world! That's not to say there isn't hard work, or that you might have some boss you don't like. But that can be fixed, by moving to another company. In the early days, I worked for each game company for about 2 years each and then moved to another company. About 20 years ago we started our own company and bid on projects for other publishers. When the iPhone came along we started doing our own games -- no publishers to tell us what to do. That is the most satisfying situation. Not everyone can get there but if you think you know the kind of games people want you be the one to try it someday. At the beginning try working at a company and as they say "make your mistakes on other people's money". Then hopefully you'll make less when it's your money.
Mikio Bohler
Mikio’s Answer
Exciting. I have a few friends in the industry. They are tech geeks who enjoy their jobs like no other: view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAJhCw2QNlI. Read: https://www.thebalance.com/are-you-interested-in-a-career-in-video-gaming-1986670.
Karine LEFRANCQ
Karine’s Answer
I have a different point of view sorry ... of course it can be challenging and a nice atmosphere but please note that hours are long and salary is not that good, in terms of recognition do not except getting the credit of having creating THE GAME ! your company will, longs hours and forget family time ... again this is just my personal knowledge ! I would recommend you to shadow or meet an employee in one of the companies you are interested in to understand better the pros and the cons :-) good luck !
Julie Lindsey
Julie’s Answer
Jay Hurst
Jay’s Answer
Most people have a vision that working in the video game industry is all fun and focused on playing games all day. I agree with other responses that it can definitely be an existing and enjoyable industry, but it is not purely focused on playing the game. Most aspects of the industry focus on very specific aspects of the game. QA testing will mean that you will likely play the same sections of a game over and over to try snd find bugs and to make sure the game behaves as it should. Design can fall into many areas (physics, enemy AI, textures, game flow, etc...). Writing can also be a huge part in order to tell a compelling and engaging story.
As mentioned, the hours can be long and stressful, especially as the delivery date of the game approaches. This crunch time can mean working 18+ hours a day in order to get the game ready for launch.
But, at the end of the cycle, you will have a product that is released to the community, and can be a great hit.
Best of luck