want to get into the video game industry
but don’t know where to start well with
a little help from smite developer
hi-rez studios
we’re here to give you some tips for
getting your dream job welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re bringing
you the top 10 tips for getting into the
gaming industry number 10
check your ego at the door I know
there’s a few of you out there that are
desperate to see your best idea come to
reality and also dream about getting
perfect 10 review scores and winning
numerous Game of the Year awards on your
first game but believe us that is not a
likely scenario one of the biggest
misconceptions about video games is
thinking that cool concepts alone make a
great game don’t knock on a developer’s
door saying that you’ve got the best
idea you won’t have been the first your
great ideas probably been thought of
before we have too many ideas in the
game industry it’s all about whether you
can execute them well number 9 attend
developers conferences while it’s not a
one-size-fits-all solution for getting
in the door dev conferences can serve as
a good way to get other developers to
know you some conferences may even have
panels or workshops on what certain
companies are looking for however it is
absolutely essential that you actually
have something to prove before you start
rubbing shoulders with some of the
industry’s best and don’t get
discouraged if you don’t leave with a
killer lead they go to the like GDC or
any of these conferences and they kind
of put all of their eggs in the
networking basket like oh I’m gonna meet
the right person and that’s gonna get me
this job it’s like that works yes
sometimes it is the people you know but
a lot of the times you really need to be
able to prove with that networking that
you are the right person for that job
number eight apply as a QA tester often
the most common entry-level role you can
get when starting out is applying for
Quality Assurance rules
Quality Assurance can be a great entry
path into the game industry it’s
basically testing and there’s a lot of
people that want to test video games but
they have to realize that it’s different
from playing video games you’re actually
playing the game in order to break the
game essentially if you’re one of those
people who likes to push the game to
their limits and try to do things you
probably shouldn’t be doing this might
be a good job for you a lot of higher
profile game developers started out in
QA and worked their way up making this a
choice idea forget
your foot in the door you’re basically
producing bug reports so that the
programmers and artists can find what
you detected reliably reproduce it and
then fix it
number seven build an online portfolio
let’s see I’m 1.8 meters tall buckets a
handsome chiseled ABS amazing hair this
should be a no-brainer especially if
you’re an artist but getting a portfolio
or a show real online that’s easy to
access by anyone is really important for
getting any job in the industry it
doesn’t matter if all the content isn’t
game related as employers are often
looking to see if you are skilled and
well experienced enough to handle the
work a well-organized portfolio and
resume is an easy way to convey this
from an art perspective it’s really all
about your portfolio it’s the quality of
the work doesn’t really matter how you
got there whether it was from art school
or self-taught it’s all about a really
awesome portfolio that will just blow
away unemploy or number six internships
and practical experience this is very
good if you’re just starting out or you
need to get the feel of working with a
team internships might not be great for
your morale since you won’t be getting
paid but it certainly helps for all
those job listings that say you need two
to three years of experience yes taking
up internships and getting work
experience seems like something that can
go with any field but it’s just as
relevant here as in any other real world
job while there are war stories of
interns being overworked for no
financial reward ideally you’ll be in
the right place when they start looking
to fill paying positions one thing I
would tell anyone looking to get in the
game industry is that you have to be
insanely just persistent and tenacious
you cannot give up after the first no
you have to just never give up doesn’t
matter how doesn’t matter how many knows
you get number five get into social
media thank you all so much for
supporting us and continuing to support
us watching us on youtube and on twitch
this one is for all you who’d prefer to
get a job as a video game journalist
reviewer or live streamer Facebook
Twitter Tumblr Instagram YouTube twitch
set yourself up with an online presence
for greater recognition you can and
should alternatively write lots of blogs
on gaming and don’t stop because whether
it’s on gaming news reviews or opinions
in the industry the more you write the
better you’ll get at
for more on live-streaming check out our
video on top 10 ways to make money
playing video games there’s simple
things that can make you unique and
different from a streamer but you don’t
just want to be a bland boring
personality that’s mediocre at the game
you’re not gonna get viewers that way
number 4 specialize in your field one of
the biggest mistakes you can make in a
job interview is to say that you’ll do
anything remember you’re not the only
one going for that job it’s usually
about sticking to one field and being
the best at it not just doing everything
sort of averagely
make sure you know what you want to do
when you go into the interview don’t
kind of say that you could do multiple
things or that you’re a
jack-of-all-trades no one’s really
looking for someone to do multiple
things out the gate they want to know
what you can specialize in the main
fields for any development team are
usually art design programming and game
design you’ll basically need to pick one
and focus the best you can though with
game design yeah best to hear it for
yourself game design is tough you
usually have to claw your way in and
then eventually move across to doing
design number three a college education
these days many colleges offer degrees
in the fundamentals of game design
programming and the expectations you’ll
meet in your career it’s especially
important to get a college degree if you
want to get into programming as most
employers will require you to be
familiar in common programming languages
however people working in the industry
come from a variety of academic
backgrounds not just programming or game
design higher education clearly makes
you a better candidate for a number of
reasons you get better writing better
social skills that are time management
ability more school probably won’t hurt
your chances I’d encourage people to go
to the best school that they can and
really try to get good grades because
that helps you get your foot in the door
it helps your resume stand ahead number
two start making games there’s a video
game I’m making it’s kind of a side
project good for you even if it’s in
your spare time it’s just a hobby for
starting a small studio with your
friends and college classmates if you
want to start making games you better
start doing it now honestly there is no
better teacher to highlight your
strengths and weaknesses than yourself
your first project will probably suck
yes but it’s all part of the learning
experience the Internet is awash with
tools and tutorials that can help you
make your first game many of them
absolute
be free or for a very reasonable sum if
you can include a small game or demo in
your portfolio that’s certainly going to
earn you extra points with employers and
will help demonstrate your dedication
which of course leads to our number one
tip if you’re not willing to sacrifice
your weekends and nights then someone
else is going to and they’re gonna step
on there and make sure that you don’t
get that job number one be dedicated
like really dedicated it’s a really
cutthroat industry out there everyone
wants to make video games you’re
potentially looking at 70 hour work
weeks on average so be sure that you’re
absolutely passionate about making games
also be ready to move to another state
or even another country when going to
your next job with only a few months
notice especially if there’s nothing in
your immediate vicinity you might be in
one part of the country
maybe someone says yes to you but
they’re like a couple states over go
take that job you need that experience
that’s the most important thing if you
aren’t willing to put into work chances
are there’s someone else who will and
perhaps most importantly always be
willing to admit that you screwed up
because if you think your boss is a
tough critic wait till you start hearing
from consumers always work harder than
the person next to you even if it’s
yourself you are never working hard
enough I do 60 70 hour weeks on the
normal do you agree with our list is
there any other advice you’d be willing
to give anyone who wants to start making
video games for more informative top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
you
but don’t know where to start well with
a little help from smite developer
hi-rez studios
we’re here to give you some tips for
getting your dream job welcome to
watchmojo.com and today we’re bringing
you the top 10 tips for getting into the
gaming industry number 10
check your ego at the door I know
there’s a few of you out there that are
desperate to see your best idea come to
reality and also dream about getting
perfect 10 review scores and winning
numerous Game of the Year awards on your
first game but believe us that is not a
likely scenario one of the biggest
misconceptions about video games is
thinking that cool concepts alone make a
great game don’t knock on a developer’s
door saying that you’ve got the best
idea you won’t have been the first your
great ideas probably been thought of
before we have too many ideas in the
game industry it’s all about whether you
can execute them well number 9 attend
developers conferences while it’s not a
one-size-fits-all solution for getting
in the door dev conferences can serve as
a good way to get other developers to
know you some conferences may even have
panels or workshops on what certain
companies are looking for however it is
absolutely essential that you actually
have something to prove before you start
rubbing shoulders with some of the
industry’s best and don’t get
discouraged if you don’t leave with a
killer lead they go to the like GDC or
any of these conferences and they kind
of put all of their eggs in the
networking basket like oh I’m gonna meet
the right person and that’s gonna get me
this job it’s like that works yes
sometimes it is the people you know but
a lot of the times you really need to be
able to prove with that networking that
you are the right person for that job
number eight apply as a QA tester often
the most common entry-level role you can
get when starting out is applying for
Quality Assurance rules
Quality Assurance can be a great entry
path into the game industry it’s
basically testing and there’s a lot of
people that want to test video games but
they have to realize that it’s different
from playing video games you’re actually
playing the game in order to break the
game essentially if you’re one of those
people who likes to push the game to
their limits and try to do things you
probably shouldn’t be doing this might
be a good job for you a lot of higher
profile game developers started out in
QA and worked their way up making this a
choice idea forget
your foot in the door you’re basically
producing bug reports so that the
programmers and artists can find what
you detected reliably reproduce it and
then fix it
number seven build an online portfolio
let’s see I’m 1.8 meters tall buckets a
handsome chiseled ABS amazing hair this
should be a no-brainer especially if
you’re an artist but getting a portfolio
or a show real online that’s easy to
access by anyone is really important for
getting any job in the industry it
doesn’t matter if all the content isn’t
game related as employers are often
looking to see if you are skilled and
well experienced enough to handle the
work a well-organized portfolio and
resume is an easy way to convey this
from an art perspective it’s really all
about your portfolio it’s the quality of
the work doesn’t really matter how you
got there whether it was from art school
or self-taught it’s all about a really
awesome portfolio that will just blow
away unemploy or number six internships
and practical experience this is very
good if you’re just starting out or you
need to get the feel of working with a
team internships might not be great for
your morale since you won’t be getting
paid but it certainly helps for all
those job listings that say you need two
to three years of experience yes taking
up internships and getting work
experience seems like something that can
go with any field but it’s just as
relevant here as in any other real world
job while there are war stories of
interns being overworked for no
financial reward ideally you’ll be in
the right place when they start looking
to fill paying positions one thing I
would tell anyone looking to get in the
game industry is that you have to be
insanely just persistent and tenacious
you cannot give up after the first no
you have to just never give up doesn’t
matter how doesn’t matter how many knows
you get number five get into social
media thank you all so much for
supporting us and continuing to support
us watching us on youtube and on twitch
this one is for all you who’d prefer to
get a job as a video game journalist
reviewer or live streamer Facebook
Twitter Tumblr Instagram YouTube twitch
set yourself up with an online presence
for greater recognition you can and
should alternatively write lots of blogs
on gaming and don’t stop because whether
it’s on gaming news reviews or opinions
in the industry the more you write the
better you’ll get at
for more on live-streaming check out our
video on top 10 ways to make money
playing video games there’s simple
things that can make you unique and
different from a streamer but you don’t
just want to be a bland boring
personality that’s mediocre at the game
you’re not gonna get viewers that way
number 4 specialize in your field one of
the biggest mistakes you can make in a
job interview is to say that you’ll do
anything remember you’re not the only
one going for that job it’s usually
about sticking to one field and being
the best at it not just doing everything
sort of averagely
make sure you know what you want to do
when you go into the interview don’t
kind of say that you could do multiple
things or that you’re a
jack-of-all-trades no one’s really
looking for someone to do multiple
things out the gate they want to know
what you can specialize in the main
fields for any development team are
usually art design programming and game
design you’ll basically need to pick one
and focus the best you can though with
game design yeah best to hear it for
yourself game design is tough you
usually have to claw your way in and
then eventually move across to doing
design number three a college education
these days many colleges offer degrees
in the fundamentals of game design
programming and the expectations you’ll
meet in your career it’s especially
important to get a college degree if you
want to get into programming as most
employers will require you to be
familiar in common programming languages
however people working in the industry
come from a variety of academic
backgrounds not just programming or game
design higher education clearly makes
you a better candidate for a number of
reasons you get better writing better
social skills that are time management
ability more school probably won’t hurt
your chances I’d encourage people to go
to the best school that they can and
really try to get good grades because
that helps you get your foot in the door
it helps your resume stand ahead number
two start making games there’s a video
game I’m making it’s kind of a side
project good for you even if it’s in
your spare time it’s just a hobby for
starting a small studio with your
friends and college classmates if you
want to start making games you better
start doing it now honestly there is no
better teacher to highlight your
strengths and weaknesses than yourself
your first project will probably suck
yes but it’s all part of the learning
experience the Internet is awash with
tools and tutorials that can help you
make your first game many of them
absolute
be free or for a very reasonable sum if
you can include a small game or demo in
your portfolio that’s certainly going to
earn you extra points with employers and
will help demonstrate your dedication
which of course leads to our number one
tip if you’re not willing to sacrifice
your weekends and nights then someone
else is going to and they’re gonna step
on there and make sure that you don’t
get that job number one be dedicated
like really dedicated it’s a really
cutthroat industry out there everyone
wants to make video games you’re
potentially looking at 70 hour work
weeks on average so be sure that you’re
absolutely passionate about making games
also be ready to move to another state
or even another country when going to
your next job with only a few months
notice especially if there’s nothing in
your immediate vicinity you might be in
one part of the country
maybe someone says yes to you but
they’re like a couple states over go
take that job you need that experience
that’s the most important thing if you
aren’t willing to put into work chances
are there’s someone else who will and
perhaps most importantly always be
willing to admit that you screwed up
because if you think your boss is a
tough critic wait till you start hearing
from consumers always work harder than
the person next to you even if it’s
yourself you are never working hard
enough I do 60 70 hour weeks on the
normal do you agree with our list is
there any other advice you’d be willing
to give anyone who wants to start making
video games for more informative top 10s
published every day be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com
you
Please follow and like us: