My nephew wants to be a game developer

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

Well, when was the last time you heard of a creative board or card game?

[Jr.DNA_test]

[Doug_K]

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

Well, when was the last time you heard of a creative board or card game?

Are you kidding? There’s been a ton of creative board and card games in the last few years. Watch Tabletop on YouTube for some good examples.

[Voyager]

@Doug_K

Are you kidding? There’s been a ton of creative board and card games in the last few years. Watch Tabletop on YouTube for some good examples.

There always have been, as anyone reading the Games 100 can attest to. Whether they make any money is a different story, though. Though the cost of entry is a lot lower than for a good video game.

[Voyager]

@Jragon

Yes, being a game developer (in the broad sense covering everything from QA tester to “designer”) isn’t on par with being a Hollywood Actress. It’s like saying that you want to “work in movies.” That’s a pretty easy goal – there’s lots of companies and lots of movies and lots of positions that need filling. You could be a tools developer, a cameraman, a microphone holder, a set decorator, an animator and so on.

Not so much, really. There are tons of craft unions which limit access to craft positions in the big studios. With so many productions leaving Hollywood for cheaper places, things are tight. I almost think it is easy to get acting jobs, assuming you have what it takes to do that job, which is not necessarily just looks.
The son of a friend of ours was dating George Romero’s daughter. He got a walk-on in am production in Toronto, hung around the set making friends with the craft people, and got absolutely nowhere in getting a foot in the door.

[The_Hamster_King]

I’ve been in the industry since '95. These days I’m a senior game designer with PlayStation. I describe my job as “game script doctor”. I don’t design games. I figure out how to fix whats broken with other people’s game designs.

The first thing your nephew should ask himself is: Does he like *making *games, or just *playing *them? Because the two activities are *very *different.

For example, when I was in high school I coded my own tank battle game on my home computer for fun. When I was in my 20’s (before I got into the industry) I designed a couple of board games to play with my friends. If you’re going to be a game designer, you need to *really *like designing games. Even now that I’m doing it professionally, I still have personal game projects that I’m working on on the side in my spare time.

If your nephew wants to be a game designer, he should start designing games RIGHT NOW. He should invent a new card game, or design a simple board game and see if he has fun doing it. If he doesn’t, then maybe he shouldn’t be trying to get a job doing that full time.

The most common route to break in as a designer these days is to go to a game dev school like people have mentioned earlier in the thread. That will give him an opportunity to build up a portfolio of student projects that will help him land a job as an entry-level designer. Or allow him to strike out on his own making indie games.

Of course, there are other jobs in the industry beside designer. But their entry paths are pretty obvious. If you want to be a game artist, go to art school. If you want to be a game programmer, get a degree in computer science.

I would not recommend trying to break into the creative side of games by working as a tester. Testing tends to be much more segregated from production now than it was in the old days, and it’s much harder to make the jump from one to the other.

Tom Sloper’s website is a great resource for learning about breaking into the industry.

[Miller]

@mozchron

My little brother is a video game developer. He’s self taught (went back to community college for an AA later).

It pays pretty crappy. He works as an independent contractor, which seems to be the norms on even big name games. He might get paid a few thousand for a project. Apparently, getting paid at all is sometimes an iffy proposition.

No benefits, no insurance, he might clear $15K a year in a good year.

Not what I’d choose to do with my life, but he seems ok wit h it.

15k a year? That ridiculously low. I made twice that in my first QA job, with zero industry experience and no job-relevant skills to speak of. Where does your brother live? There’s no way he’s living in San Francisco or Los Angeles on 15 thou a year, unless he’s sleeping in someone’s closet. And if he’s not in SF or LA, it’s no surprise he’s having trouble finding regular work in the game industry, because SF and LA pretty much are the game industry.

[gardentraveler]

Wow! Sure didn’t expect that much discussion.

I had no idea where to start or what kinds of things he should be thinking about. You all have given me some great starting points to help him explore options. I’ll be back later with some follow-up comments and questions.

In the meantime, thanks for the responses and please continue the conversations.

[YogSothoth]

I worked as a temp for Activision for a short time. A friend cued me in to their website which had a need for quality assurance testers. I applied and was hired.

If your nephew has some companies in mind, or even if he doesn’t, tell him to check out the corporate websites for some of these companies. That should be a good start.

[mozchron]

@Miller

15k a year? That ridiculously low. I made twice that in my first QA job, with zero industry experience and no job-relevant skills to speak of. Where does your brother live? There’s no way he’s living in San Francisco or Los Angeles on 15 thou a year, unless he’s sleeping in someone’s closet. And if he’s not in SF or LA, it’s no surprise he’s having trouble finding regular work in the game industry, because SF and LA pretty much are the game industry.

You’re right. He lives with his mom, and my dad spots him money.