Archive for March, 2012

What to expect from the games industry, and what it expects of you

Posted in Tales from the grind-stone on March 7th, 2012 by MrCranky

The folks from Edinburgh University Computing Society, who run the student TechMeetup, have asked me to give a brief talk on the games industry to one of their gatherings. As anyone who knows me will attest, I’m happy to waffle about the games industry at length, but I do have a few pet topics. Here are my discussion items for the talk, on which I’ll expand at the talk itself.

  • Hard but rewarding work – need talent and passion.
  • The feeling you get from seeing other people pick up the work you’ve made and get real entertainment from it is fantastic.
  • Making games is a business, but not a hugely lucrative business. If you want to get rich, look elsewhere.
  • Don’t expect a job for life, or gamble everything on one team.
  • Employers vary in quality. Good teams make good games. Business can still kill good teams.
  • Margins are much tighter, hiring people is a risk.
  • Show your talent: make a demo, work on mods. An academic CV is unlikely to be enough.
  • Passion should not equal crunch. Enjoying your work is not a licence for exploitation.

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