My story to being a professional game dev. I made a very strict plan on how I was going to succeed, and I refused to deviate on factors I could control. I was very tired for 3 years to make this dream happen. I actually went to college for game design. Looking back, I would change it to software engineering because I am a technical designer now. Anyways, I worked full time and went to school for 3 years to get my B.S with no summer breaks. I worked from 7am-4pm. Then school work from 4:30pm - 2am. Weekends were 12 hour days of school work. I graduated as valedictorian. If I didn't have school work, I would work on a project for my portfolio. I obtained my first game dev job as a VR game designer 1 year before I graduated. The number one thing that got me that job was a really good portfolio with interesting projects. That is more important than my college experience by far I think. MAKE A GREAT PORTFOLIO WITH GREAT PROJECTS!!! This was really hard. I had a wife and a child (only one kid at the time), and I sacrificed 3 years of our life together to get this dream. It was much harder on an emotional level than physical. But, it paid off. I now never have to work a second job again, and my wife can stay home with our now 3 children, which is what she always wanted. These days, I work a very strict 40 hours a week for my job, but I spend about 20-25 hours a week on side projects still. Side note: I was 24 when I started college. So I was a little late, but not by much.
Very well said. It took me a couple of years to become a full-time game dev. I started with making the most simple games I could think of - then seeing it through to the end of production. I launch a couple mobile games, and put together a clean website portfolio that explained the skills I learned from each of my projects. Then I applied for a whole bunch of jobs, and finally landed one. And boy let me tell you - you learn SO MUCH quicker when you are working in Unity 8 hours a day. My skill progression has skyrocketed and I feel like a professional now.
My gamedev journey (so far): Straight out of college, i knew i wanted to do game dev. But i had no experience whatsoever, so no one would have me. What i decided to do then is probably the best decision i ever made. I took a year out of my life to learn the ins and outs of unity, i bought many different courses, did some of my own projects, so by the end of the year i have built up quite a portfolio. I then decided to start applying, but in my area there are very few studios, two AAA studios and one indie studio. I sent them my CV and some of the projects that i worked on, with very detailed descriptions of what i did in them in case they didnt have time to review the code. All of them replied almost instantly, and said they would like to start the selection process. Some are more rigorous than others, but right now I'm very far in the process, and am quite confident. So if you have the luxury of time, use it to get as good as possible, and start applying. I'm still not hired, so i would have to update this post soon, but even now i feel very rewarded for my efforts, as well as feel satisfied with the skills that i have aquired along the way
Sounds about right. Portfolio is great. I used Google sites to host my portfolio. So it's a website but easy AF to set up and free. Literally just make a file in Google drive lol
I have been working for 3 months at my first real 'game-dev' job as a programmer, and the path I took to get there was almost 1:1 with the guidance you gave in this video. School projects got me a job making medical 'interactive' experiences as an intern that turned into a full time job for 1.5 years. After that time I went back to finish my degree in Computer Science, participated in game jams, and finished some functionally polished vertical slices. At this point I had about 3 years of making 'games' under my belt, a handful of projects I was proud of, and even started a TH-cam channel where I pushed myself to learn new skills such as editing and script writing while working on a game project. I felt the time was right to start my career in the game industry (and money from my old job was running low...). So I prepared my GitHub with code bases I was proud of and I made a website that hosts links to personal games I had worked on. At last, four months ago I started applying for jobs at Indie game studios and it took me 3 weeks before I was working full time. In my interview I was told that I stood out massively because I had demonstrated I was self driven and creative. They explicitly called out my projects they liked and said my attempt at a TH-cam channel showed I was capable of pushing myself to learn new skill sets. I may not have massively succeeded at any point in the past 3 years but I have finally started to realize my childhood dream of becoming a bonified game developer. The advice in this video is spot on. I shared my story because it gives some context to the time and effort it can take just to get started. I wish everyone the same luck and success! Note: I have the benefit of living near a big city with lots of small studios and I have a CS degree which I do owe some of this success to. I also think that 3 weeks was a rather short job hunting experience so I chalk that up to lucky timing.
I had a big smile on my face reading your comment! I'm really happy for you. Your story will be an inspiration to those who are on the rungs below. Well done. I hope you achieve the creative heights of your dreams.
Great story! Do you mind sharing the portfolio website that got you hired? That would be really helpful since I'm trying to follow the same path by making a good portfolio before starting to apply
@@JulienNix fineapplestudio is the page name, followed by a com. TH-cam doesn't allow me to share links. The game and code base my boss called out is called "Entangled". Remember this page isn't all that got me hired, my resume was full of non game dev repos and 1.5 years working on 'interactive educational experiences' that I can not publicly share.
I graduated with a B.S. in Game Development in May. I have a portfolio of projects I made throughout my time in school. I participated in game jams, school projects, and personal projects. I've been applying to big and small studios alike, some of which have requirments that match exactly with my skillset, but I haven't gotten any interviews yet.
i wish you good luck! this is the path i am on too, though i need a year or two more before i graduate. the next game jam is this weekend, and i am very excited for it!
@@Dailyfiver I got a position with an indie startup about a month later so 11/22 and worked with them for about a year. Right now I don't have anything solid and have been freelancing for a friend while I work on some of my own projects
Great points! Here's my story of getting a dev job with zero professional experience: I had just graduated with a BS in software engineering and wanted to break into the indie dev scene. Started replying to job postings while joining game jams in the meantime. I didn't get any responses until I had a few game jams completed that I could add to my resume. I specifically wanted to have a career making multiplayer games, so all my games had online multiplayer, which caught an employer's eye. Had a really great call with the employer, got along well with the employees, and got the job! This was almost two years ago and I've assisted in the company's hiring process for other engineers. Even the small indie companies receive a ton of replies for open positions, but very few stand out. And when you come across somebody who shows they are constantly pushing forward their knowledge and skills: it sticks out and people will notice. So do what you can to stand out: write a cover letter explaining why you are right for this specific company, maybe tweak the resume for the position, and showcase unique projects with clean code. Luck is a factor too, and sometimes things just don't work out. But keep pushing forward and good things will come.
looking at all the comments going like "yea I have a BS in engineering degree" as an non english native and not knowing what BS is, my mind is just reading that as "yea I graduated from a bullshit engineering diploma, kinda cool"
In all these comments all I see are folks in game dev and jobs only related to game dev. I'm curious about the ones who work at fortune 500 companies as software engineers by day, and the secret game dev by evening until early mornings. I've seen many claim they're web developers full time, in other videos. That's another option I think you could mention as well. Not everyone's near a game dev studio and working for a little studio that can go under or pays poorly may not be lucrative for those with families. It's really all about the hustle. Great video and nice to see you're active again.
I was one of the mentioned commenters of the last video, the one mentioning 200+ applicants on job offers. The reason I had such a specific number is I'm using LinkedIn (as well as Indeed and Glassdoor) to find jobs and LinkedIn provides applicant counts. Perhaps these are poor places to look for game dev jobs, but I'm not sure what else to use. I've gone directly to game developer sites and applied there too, but with no luck yet. I appreciate you making this follow-up video. I've been pretty discouraged as of late. I definitely realize I need to adjust my mindset, but it's hard for me to work on such uninspired projects as I've been working on for my last two jobs. I want to work on games with gunfire, explosions, and chaos for PC and Console, not AR and healthcare product exploration apps for iOS.
Ah I see! that makes sense. The only alternative I could think of was that you had an insider, or sat outside the building counting applicants :) Thanks for clarifying! I feel you about being discouraged and wanting a dev job with some meat. Just keep pushing man, it's a matter of time. Just keep improving / tuning your pitch.
I only just got my first industry job a few months ago so I'm very much aware of how miserable the search is, especially if you don't know where to look. Honestly, general job sites, LinkedIn, Indeed, etc. were useless for me, I never got a response on any of the applications I sent through them. I had the most luck with using Work With Indies, especially if the application involved writing an email instead of filling out a form, but you can also try Hitmarker or even just picking a city on game dev map and seeing what studios listed are hiring. But even though I was getting more responses from those sites, I didn't end up actually landing a job until I went to GDC and met the team I'd end up working with. It's a bit of an investment, but just being able to talk to other developers, professional and aspiring, really helped me find the drive to dig in and really put myself into looking for work. And there are a lot of opportunities for networking so you never know when you'll find someone looking for work. There was actually someone in my hostel who wanted programmers and I met them before the conference even started.
@@kktt1111 I really need to network more, that's for sure. I've been wanting to go to GDC as well as Unity events for years and haven't gotten myself to go. I'll have to give those other job search methods a try as well.
Regardless if you're working at a game dev job or your own projects at home, as long as you're spending your waking hrs creating stuff and putting it out there to be critiqued, you will get better to point where you become undeniable. As for finding success, I believe there's no luck involved. It's just: is you hat in the ring and do you love the craft more than the rewards?
All very good points. I've been working in tech since the 90's and I've been a (non-game) developer since the early 2000's. (On the side I've been programming since the mid 80's.) At this point, I can make a 6 figure income in various market sectors outside of game dev. My impression is that most game dev jobs don't pay that well? And, in many of them, they often end up wanting you to work a lot of extra hours, and they don't necessarily treat you all that well? There is a lot of competition for those jobs, and they know that, so, they sort of have you where they want you, to some extent. Certainly not all of them are like that, but it seems like a common theme that I hear about. There have been some times when I have dipped my toe in the pool of professional game dev and/or collaborative game dev here and there, and the experience didn't really make me want to dive in. The thing is, when I start working on a game, I care about the design decisions, and if the money isn't coming from me, I'm not necessarily going to be the one who gets to make them. At least certainly not unilaterally! So I often found myself putting effort toward goals that I was just sort of sour about. I was like "Augh! I hate this. I can't believe they want it this way!" It's really hard to make myself work in that circumstance. In my non-game-dev day job, I actually get satisfaction from doing what someone else wants me to. My users find what I'm doing to be helpful and useful for them. They thank me and cheer me on, and they're willing to wait if it takes a while. And it's all a very positive thing for me. And I don't care about the specifics of what they want all that much myself. If the particular design they want is not the way I would do it, eh, /shrug, it doesn't really matter all that much to me. So it's easy to just do what my employers want on their projects during the day, and then go home and do what I want on my projects on my own. Each person is different. Every person has to figure out how they can find meaning and satisfaction in life. Another advantage to a non-game-dev day job is that there really aren't any non-competition issues at all. Long ago, it used to be that many employers wanted you to sign something saying that anything you invent on your own belongs to them while you're in their employ (there was even a Dilbert cartoon about it), so I read my employment contracts very carefully! But I haven't seen a contract like that in a very long time now.
Around my area we game developers tend to earn by 5-10% more than other traditional software engineers and having pretty regular job hours.(Mobile) Did you really choose your job by taking wages as a "only" parameter ? If so that's signing to a bad thing i think. Even if in America, once you're in senior levels, game developer salaries are starting to looks nearly equal to traditional devs. Outside of AAA there are lot of high paid jobs related game dev: VR, AR, Simulation(Medical, Military etc), Gamification apps even if film sector and the pay and hours is good either. If i started to think to change my career i can always be a full stack web developer instantly in 2-3 months thanks to my strong background and other software companies around us are tearing each other to get us. But i know nothing about America, maybe the game industry and employee laws sucks there.
The best advice I can give as someone who was looking for their first job only five or six months ago is to put yourself in positions where you can get lucky. I found my job at GDC, not while I was actively looking for jobs to apply for but because the panel I was at opened the floor to any studios that were hiring. I met another person that was hiring just hanging around the hostel before the conference. Obviously you should still actively looking for studios that are hiring, but also making connections with other developers and being around people who are hiring can help immensely because you never know when you'll run into someone who could use your skill set. But you can put yourself in opportunities where they're more likely to meet you. Best of luck to all the aspiring devs out there!
My first "gamedev" job was for a playable demo of an aspiring Indie with a AAA quality mindset, I spend 2 years working there as sole programmer and because of that I learned a lot of stuff (by reading documentation) but wasn't really challenging myself because there was no one that I would compare to or even ask if I was doing anything the right way so my progress was really slow. Then I got another job in Industry trainings (mostly VR) and got to know a lot of people with different mindsets and ways of coding and then finally I started to progress, maybe it isn't really game related but now I got certain knowledge of the engine and I can make a game by myself in a relatively short time (currently I'm making casual mobile games).
Another great video, i would only argue that you need job in game industry. As programmer you can find a lot of good jobs in other industries early on, and then slowly shift focus to game industry if you want. The amount of stuff you can learn from people programming for 20+ years is staggering, also organization structures, handling meetings, planning work and so on. It may not be directly connected to game dev, but that expirience translates. I started 6 years ago (having around 5 years of game dev experience) working for financial company, switched couple of jobs, and I have progressed rapidly in a way of structuring the code, and organizing projects.
I'd like to thank you for this and the previous video. I probably won't be able to make a videogame in a while but, for some reason these videos kind of suggest me that I might not be too side tracked.
Thanks its only been 6 months since I stepped into game dev. It can be hard to balance school and game dev. Making prototypes for small games.And working on my dream game sometimes.
For me: In college for computer science degree I spent a decent chunk of time making games in my free time WITH others. Always in groups. Game jams and for assignments. What got me my current job is the portfolio of games I made and getting a referral from someone I worked with when I was making games. So CS degree + portfolio + luck + connections got me my game dev job with no prior job experience in software. It's mobile game dev but still. A lot of people I work with a from Digipen a game dev school.
I was learn games development in my university years , I was begging for job in small studio's, so after five years from the first time that I touched unity I found what I want as entry level developer. So guys ,don't lose hope.
My dream was working in video games. But it's hard to get a job as a 3d artist. I was able to get a job that was a startup after 7 years after graduation. Sometimes it's being at the right place and right time. I saw people getting jobs where I knew my art was better, I became bitter. It was more about who you know instead of your talent. Don't give up. Anyway. I worked in many different aspects, VR to AR to simulations. Branch out and see what's out there. If you are a artist go to polycount and compare your art to other people. I'm not a real coder so I have no idea about getting a job as a coder.
Art is all subjective. Your's may be more technically advanced, but not "better". In the digital space especially, art can be made "better" with filters, AI upscaling, ect. With enough time anyone can make something impressive. So none of that necessarily showcases your skill. In game dev specially. You need style to look original, versatility to work in different art styles, be able to make something good quickly and reliably, and have it be technically sound as well (low polly counts, good topology, clean and low res texture mapping). Not to mention you're working in a team, so your work needs to look similar to the other artists. You need to show that you can work with whatever they have, not out do it.
Poly count is meaningless in game art. Game art actually wants a lower poly count with higher quality in any situation to allow for more prefabs. Polycount is also just meaningless in general you can crank the Poly count up in 3d modeling software
And further to your point about Eric barone’s success on stardew valley, he has said he started working on that game for his folio for applying for jobs. He didn’t decide until stardew valley had released so successfully that he wouldn’t need a game dev job.
As far as the 200+ applicants thing goes, Indeed, LinkedIn, and most other job sites list how many people have applied to any position you're viewing. I've never seen a game dev job, at any level, up for over an hour, with less than 50 applications. They'll usually break 200 over the course of a single day.
As a developer that has some experience with hiring people I can say that a lot of applications to jobs have no merit to them. A lot of people apply to positions thinking they can transition without any proper skills for the position. So yeah, having 200 applications for a position at Blizzard or Ubisoft is probably common, but out of those 200 probably less than 20 are reasonable applicants. Even if you want to become a game dev you don't necessarily need game dev experience. The people that actually look make the final decision or at least heavily influence it (the current lead dev at the studio) will almost always say they rather have a person who can code in general and someone will teach them how to work the engine vs someone who knows the engine inside out (Unreal or Unity.. doesn't matter) but can't write more than a basic for loop.
I was pulled in for backend work after 7 years in cloud integration. It was a massive shift and the offer cameras out of the blue for an interview. Easy clinch once I spoke to the technical team and lead programmer. They even hired delivery men who were diving into making c++ game engines (for their inhouse engine at the time). Besides the in field experience I explored Godot and Unity and was working voluntarily on an amateur puzzle multiplayer game
Stardew valley was made by someone clearly dedicated however in a super unhealthy way, dangerous way so it shouldn't be glorified. The 99% comparable other games in that theme or devs who tried to work like that burned out, failed at either drawing interest or marketing and we don't know their names...
Forgive me if this is a dumb question, I feel silly even asking. But how do you know when you are good enough to seek out employment? I attended a game software developement course at university but left before I earnt my degree. A combination of compounding life problems and the global pandemic saw to that. Everything is much better now so I decided to pick up where I left off but it feels like wondering aimlessly through the woods. I have no solid idea of what I should be trying to learn or accomplish outside of the vague advice "work on some projects". I know that it's not as simple as pick up game engine x, learn language y and make games 1, 2, 3, congrats your offically a game gev. It would just be nice to have an idea of where the goal posts are.
I am a business application developer, using C#: I'm learing unity, and always there is a bit (or more) attraction to work as a gamedev. I had the opportunity to create a game in a hobbist team. Maybe I will jump to a gamedev job, when I will have a chance. But I'm also thinking about ... could I do it 40 hours a week, every day following directions of others? Or should I go on my free way, organize my own projects, and team up with a few graphics workmate, and be "free", indie ? This is something I need to know, and find out myself, and decide when this will be a real question .
I would be careful when using the phrase "realistic" simply due to the cause that we over-estimate things far too often. Prioritizing reinforcement of our pipelines and planning is the realism we're looking for. For example, If we want to make a photorealistic game, instead of coming to the conclusion that it's unrealistic simply because it seems so, it's important to make ourselves aware of the options and learn to be resourceful with them to achieve our desired results.
In my experience getting an entry level game dev job is a logical impossibility. Every job, every single one, requires years of previous game dev experience with an existing company. It's a closed loop that's nigh impossible to break through.
200 applicants per dev job is definitely not a gross exaggeration. I think it's even a low average. I know for a fact for example that a position for game writer at a games company you know will first be shortlisted to 50 people, though I am unsure how many originally applied. This will be similar for game developer or game designer. Also you can see on some job sites how many people applied. People in the industry often refer to applications being in the hundreds for positions. An easier entry can be had making games for advertising companies, sure.
Yuuup, I was thinking this exact thing. To be fair though they're mostly places like LinkedIn, Indeed, and anywhere people can "quick apply". It helps to go to less traveled job sites.
Would like to know about your dev log too. Blood and bones Or some gameplay videos or the progress and the art work. I know you have that but I do miss them.
If y.ou can program in 3d, and if you can prove you can do what you put on your resume is important. Practice practice. They don't know who put up that code in github
i have a fear, becoming a pixie (fairy ood parents), i feel a visceral repulsion to any corporate, sales, suit and tie, briefcase,advertising, shit like that, i would rather kill myself that end up like this, but it seems i have no other option.
being a game dev and getting the focus to sit down and making games is hard for someone to ADHD. The problem is not the coding. Its getting the will and mood to move and sit and begin to work on the projects. v.v
I find getting into game dev much less learning code damn near impossible and in fact it's affecting my ability to want to study so I understand the doubt lol
It is very hard to get a dev job programmer, doesn't matter you know how to make games they are very picky in the way you program. The easiest way is making your own game if you can, just make an easy game first and not a complicated one and with that money make a better one
I'd say the reason they're picky is because everybody needs to be coding in the same/similar formats where there are multiple programmers. This stops the whole thing becoming a mess, and makes it easier for any coder on the team to get to work on an existing part of the game (because it should be a familiar format). I had a 9-month full time job as a coder and it was pretty much the first time I had to work with other peoples code all the time and yes, it was challenging/annoying sometimes (annoying because sometimes I felt things were being done in an overly-complicated way) but that's the job and it actually helped me with my reluctance to deal with other peoples code.
It most probably was a troll but the idea he brought forward is deep. The fact society shifted from 'true' careers, to self-centered skills transactions bouncing between companies is kind of depressing. When things like loyalty are mocked without even taking the time of day to even name it properly, there is no way it can be healthy. I wonder when companies like Uber will tap into this. Because really, it already kinda works the same, we really only need the centralized app. Maybe pitch that idea to some relevant companies, you never know they might as well hire you to do it and make the whole work environment even less healthy.
Part 1 here: th-cam.com/video/POvD0hWEsK4/w-d-xo.html
Drop me a comment, let me know your thoughts.
My story to being a professional game dev.
I made a very strict plan on how I was going to succeed, and I refused to deviate on factors I could control. I was very tired for 3 years to make this dream happen. I actually went to college for game design. Looking back, I would change it to software engineering because I am a technical designer now.
Anyways, I worked full time and went to school for 3 years to get my B.S with no summer breaks. I worked from 7am-4pm. Then school work from 4:30pm - 2am. Weekends were 12 hour days of school work. I graduated as valedictorian. If I didn't have school work, I would work on a project for my portfolio.
I obtained my first game dev job as a VR game designer 1 year before I graduated. The number one thing that got me that job was a really good portfolio with interesting projects. That is more important than my college experience by far I think. MAKE A GREAT PORTFOLIO WITH GREAT PROJECTS!!!
This was really hard. I had a wife and a child (only one kid at the time), and I sacrificed 3 years of our life together to get this dream. It was much harder on an emotional level than physical. But, it paid off. I now never have to work a second job again, and my wife can stay home with our now 3 children, which is what she always wanted.
These days, I work a very strict 40 hours a week for my job, but I spend about 20-25 hours a week on side projects still.
Side note: I was 24 when I started college. So I was a little late, but not by much.
Very inspiring mate, i'm sure many will feel empowered by your story. Thank you for sharing.
L lol lllll
if this is true. thats kewl. i feel inspired. im sure the hardest part was dealing with your wife at the time. women are crazy.
Hell yeah!
Did/do you have any practice techniques you did to get better? If that makes sense
Very well said. It took me a couple of years to become a full-time game dev.
I started with making the most simple games I could think of - then seeing it through to the end of production. I launch a couple mobile games, and put together a clean website portfolio that explained the skills I learned from each of my projects. Then I applied for a whole bunch of jobs, and finally landed one.
And boy let me tell you - you learn SO MUCH quicker when you are working in Unity 8 hours a day. My skill progression has skyrocketed and I feel like a professional now.
My gamedev journey (so far):
Straight out of college, i knew i wanted to do game dev. But i had no experience whatsoever, so no one would have me. What i decided to do then is probably the best decision i ever made. I took a year out of my life to learn the ins and outs of unity, i bought many different courses, did some of my own projects, so by the end of the year i have built up quite a portfolio.
I then decided to start applying, but in my area there are very few studios, two AAA studios and one indie studio. I sent them my CV and some of the projects that i worked on, with very detailed descriptions of what i did in them in case they didnt have time to review the code.
All of them replied almost instantly, and said they would like to start the selection process. Some are more rigorous than others, but right now I'm very far in the process, and am quite confident.
So if you have the luxury of time, use it to get as good as possible, and start applying.
I'm still not hired, so i would have to update this post soon, but even now i feel very rewarded for my efforts, as well as feel satisfied with the skills that i have aquired along the way
Sounds about right. Portfolio is great. I used Google sites to host my portfolio. So it's a website but easy AF to set up and free. Literally just make a file in Google drive lol
thats definitely my biggest worry, it really doesn't seem like there are many game studios near me
any updates on the jobs?
Any update on the result?
How are you doing now? Were you able to get a game dev job?
I have been working for 3 months at my first real 'game-dev' job as a programmer, and the path I took to get there was almost 1:1 with the guidance you gave in this video. School projects got me a job making medical 'interactive' experiences as an intern that turned into a full time job for 1.5 years. After that time I went back to finish my degree in Computer Science, participated in game jams, and finished some functionally polished vertical slices. At this point I had about 3 years of making 'games' under my belt, a handful of projects I was proud of, and even started a TH-cam channel where I pushed myself to learn new skills such as editing and script writing while working on a game project.
I felt the time was right to start my career in the game industry (and money from my old job was running low...). So I prepared my GitHub with code bases I was proud of and I made a website that hosts links to personal games I had worked on. At last, four months ago I started applying for jobs at Indie game studios and it took me 3 weeks before I was working full time. In my interview I was told that I stood out massively because I had demonstrated I was self driven and creative. They explicitly called out my projects they liked and said my attempt at a TH-cam channel showed I was capable of pushing myself to learn new skill sets.
I may not have massively succeeded at any point in the past 3 years but I have finally started to realize my childhood dream of becoming a bonified game developer. The advice in this video is spot on. I shared my story because it gives some context to the time and effort it can take just to get started. I wish everyone the same luck and success!
Note: I have the benefit of living near a big city with lots of small studios and I have a CS degree which I do owe some of this success to. I also think that 3 weeks was a rather short job hunting experience so I chalk that up to lucky timing.
I had a big smile on my face reading your comment! I'm really happy for you. Your story will be an inspiration to those who are on the rungs below. Well done. I hope you achieve the creative heights of your dreams.
Great story!
Do you mind sharing the portfolio website that got you hired? That would be really helpful since I'm trying to follow the same path by making a good portfolio before starting to apply
@@JulienNix fineapplestudio is the page name, followed by a com. TH-cam doesn't allow me to share links. The game and code base my boss called out is called "Entangled". Remember this page isn't all that got me hired, my resume was full of non game dev repos and 1.5 years working on 'interactive educational experiences' that I can not publicly share.
I graduated with a B.S. in Game Development in May. I have a portfolio of projects I made throughout my time in school. I participated in game jams, school projects, and personal projects. I've been applying to big and small studios alike, some of which have requirments that match exactly with my skillset, but I haven't gotten any interviews yet.
i wish you good luck!
this is the path i am on too, though i need a year or two more before i graduate. the next game jam is this weekend, and i am very excited for it!
Any luck?
@@Dailyfiver I got a position with an indie startup about a month later so 11/22 and worked with them for about a year. Right now I don't have anything solid and have been freelancing for a friend while I work on some of my own projects
Great points! Here's my story of getting a dev job with zero professional experience:
I had just graduated with a BS in software engineering and wanted to break into the indie dev scene. Started replying to job postings while joining game jams in the meantime. I didn't get any responses until I had a few game jams completed that I could add to my resume. I specifically wanted to have a career making multiplayer games, so all my games had online multiplayer, which caught an employer's eye. Had a really great call with the employer, got along well with the employees, and got the job!
This was almost two years ago and I've assisted in the company's hiring process for other engineers. Even the small indie companies receive a ton of replies for open positions, but very few stand out. And when you come across somebody who shows they are constantly pushing forward their knowledge and skills: it sticks out and people will notice. So do what you can to stand out: write a cover letter explaining why you are right for this specific company, maybe tweak the resume for the position, and showcase unique projects with clean code. Luck is a factor too, and sometimes things just don't work out. But keep pushing forward and good things will come.
looking at all the comments going like "yea I have a BS in engineering degree" as an non english native and not knowing what BS is, my mind is just reading that as "yea I graduated from a bullshit engineering diploma, kinda cool"
@@_capu hahha it is bachelor in science
In all these comments all I see are folks in game dev and jobs only related to game dev. I'm curious about the ones who work at fortune 500 companies as software engineers by day, and the secret game dev by evening until early mornings. I've seen many claim they're web developers full time, in other videos. That's another option I think you could mention as well. Not everyone's near a game dev studio and working for a little studio that can go under or pays poorly may not be lucrative for those with families. It's really all about the hustle.
Great video and nice to see you're active again.
I was one of the mentioned commenters of the last video, the one mentioning 200+ applicants on job offers. The reason I had such a specific number is I'm using LinkedIn (as well as Indeed and Glassdoor) to find jobs and LinkedIn provides applicant counts. Perhaps these are poor places to look for game dev jobs, but I'm not sure what else to use. I've gone directly to game developer sites and applied there too, but with no luck yet.
I appreciate you making this follow-up video. I've been pretty discouraged as of late. I definitely realize I need to adjust my mindset, but it's hard for me to work on such uninspired projects as I've been working on for my last two jobs. I want to work on games with gunfire, explosions, and chaos for PC and Console, not AR and healthcare product exploration apps for iOS.
Are you a coder or artist?
@@justahuman4862 programmer mainly, with some skills with art.
Ah I see! that makes sense. The only alternative I could think of was that you had an insider, or sat outside the building counting applicants :) Thanks for clarifying!
I feel you about being discouraged and wanting a dev job with some meat. Just keep pushing man, it's a matter of time. Just keep improving / tuning your pitch.
I only just got my first industry job a few months ago so I'm very much aware of how miserable the search is, especially if you don't know where to look. Honestly, general job sites, LinkedIn, Indeed, etc. were useless for me, I never got a response on any of the applications I sent through them. I had the most luck with using Work With Indies, especially if the application involved writing an email instead of filling out a form, but you can also try Hitmarker or even just picking a city on game dev map and seeing what studios listed are hiring. But even though I was getting more responses from those sites, I didn't end up actually landing a job until I went to GDC and met the team I'd end up working with. It's a bit of an investment, but just being able to talk to other developers, professional and aspiring, really helped me find the drive to dig in and really put myself into looking for work. And there are a lot of opportunities for networking so you never know when you'll find someone looking for work. There was actually someone in my hostel who wanted programmers and I met them before the conference even started.
@@kktt1111 I really need to network more, that's for sure. I've been wanting to go to GDC as well as Unity events for years and haven't gotten myself to go. I'll have to give those other job search methods a try as well.
Regardless if you're working at a game dev job or your own projects at home, as long as you're spending your waking hrs creating stuff and putting it out there to be critiqued, you will get better to point where you become undeniable. As for finding success, I believe there's no luck involved. It's just: is you hat in the ring and do you love the craft more than the rewards?
All very good points. I've been working in tech since the 90's and I've been a (non-game) developer since the early 2000's. (On the side I've been programming since the mid 80's.) At this point, I can make a 6 figure income in various market sectors outside of game dev. My impression is that most game dev jobs don't pay that well? And, in many of them, they often end up wanting you to work a lot of extra hours, and they don't necessarily treat you all that well? There is a lot of competition for those jobs, and they know that, so, they sort of have you where they want you, to some extent. Certainly not all of them are like that, but it seems like a common theme that I hear about.
There have been some times when I have dipped my toe in the pool of professional game dev and/or collaborative game dev here and there, and the experience didn't really make me want to dive in. The thing is, when I start working on a game, I care about the design decisions, and if the money isn't coming from me, I'm not necessarily going to be the one who gets to make them. At least certainly not unilaterally! So I often found myself putting effort toward goals that I was just sort of sour about. I was like "Augh! I hate this. I can't believe they want it this way!" It's really hard to make myself work in that circumstance. In my non-game-dev day job, I actually get satisfaction from doing what someone else wants me to. My users find what I'm doing to be helpful and useful for them. They thank me and cheer me on, and they're willing to wait if it takes a while. And it's all a very positive thing for me. And I don't care about the specifics of what they want all that much myself. If the particular design they want is not the way I would do it, eh, /shrug, it doesn't really matter all that much to me. So it's easy to just do what my employers want on their projects during the day, and then go home and do what I want on my projects on my own. Each person is different. Every person has to figure out how they can find meaning and satisfaction in life.
Another advantage to a non-game-dev day job is that there really aren't any non-competition issues at all. Long ago, it used to be that many employers wanted you to sign something saying that anything you invent on your own belongs to them while you're in their employ (there was even a Dilbert cartoon about it), so I read my employment contracts very carefully! But I haven't seen a contract like that in a very long time now.
Around my area we game developers tend to earn by 5-10% more than other traditional software engineers and having pretty regular job hours.(Mobile)
Did you really choose your job by taking wages as a "only" parameter ? If so that's signing to a bad thing i think.
Even if in America, once you're in senior levels, game developer salaries are starting to looks nearly equal to traditional devs.
Outside of AAA there are lot of high paid jobs related game dev: VR, AR, Simulation(Medical, Military etc), Gamification apps even if film sector and the pay and hours is good either.
If i started to think to change my career i can always be a full stack web developer instantly in 2-3 months thanks to my strong background and other software companies around us are tearing each other to get us.
But i know nothing about America, maybe the game industry and employee laws sucks there.
This was a great video, maybe even more useful to me than the previous one. Thanks for making this man!
The best advice I can give as someone who was looking for their first job only five or six months ago is to put yourself in positions where you can get lucky. I found my job at GDC, not while I was actively looking for jobs to apply for but because the panel I was at opened the floor to any studios that were hiring. I met another person that was hiring just hanging around the hostel before the conference. Obviously you should still actively looking for studios that are hiring, but also making connections with other developers and being around people who are hiring can help immensely because you never know when you'll run into someone who could use your skill set. But you can put yourself in opportunities where they're more likely to meet you.
Best of luck to all the aspiring devs out there!
My first "gamedev" job was for a playable demo of an aspiring Indie with a AAA quality mindset, I spend 2 years working there as sole programmer and because of that I learned a lot of stuff (by reading documentation) but wasn't really challenging myself because there was no one that I would compare to or even ask if I was doing anything the right way so my progress was really slow.
Then I got another job in Industry trainings (mostly VR) and got to know a lot of people with different mindsets and ways of coding and then finally I started to progress, maybe it isn't really game related but now I got certain knowledge of the engine and I can make a game by myself in a relatively short time (currently I'm making casual mobile games).
"I learned a lot of stuff (by reading documentation) " hahahahahAHAHaHAH!!!!!!
@@monkeyrobotsinc.9875 He didn't say "Unreal Engine" so he could learned much from the doc :D
Another great video, i would only argue that you need job in game industry. As programmer you can find a lot of good jobs in other industries early on, and then slowly shift focus to game industry if you want. The amount of stuff you can learn from people programming for 20+ years is staggering, also organization structures, handling meetings, planning work and so on. It may not be directly connected to game dev, but that expirience translates. I started 6 years ago (having around 5 years of game dev experience) working for financial company, switched couple of jobs, and I have progressed rapidly in a way of structuring the code, and organizing projects.
Thumbnail: Gives up on your dreams.
Actual Video: Reasonable tips, advice, and going on details about the field.
I'd like to thank you for this and the previous video. I probably won't be able to make a videogame in a while but, for some reason these videos kind of suggest me that I might not be too side tracked.
Thanks its only been 6 months since I stepped into game dev. It can be hard to balance school and game dev. Making prototypes for small games.And working on my dream game sometimes.
For me:
In college for computer science degree I spent a decent chunk of time making games in my free time WITH others. Always in groups. Game jams and for assignments. What got me my current job is the portfolio of games I made and getting a referral from someone I worked with when I was making games.
So CS degree + portfolio + luck + connections got me my game dev job with no prior job experience in software. It's mobile game dev but still. A lot of people I work with a from Digipen a game dev school.
I was learn games development in my university years , I was begging for job in small studio's, so after five years from the first time that I touched unity I found what I want as entry level developer.
So guys ,don't lose hope.
Jon, you are a massive inspiration! All the best in all your projects!
Lost Relic Games hiring or what? 😅 Another great video my friend. Appreciate what you do for this community!
My dream was working in video games. But it's hard to get a job as a 3d artist. I was able to get a job that was a startup after 7 years after graduation. Sometimes it's being at the right place and right time. I saw people getting jobs where I knew my art was better, I became bitter. It was more about who you know instead of your talent. Don't give up. Anyway. I worked in many different aspects, VR to AR to simulations. Branch out and see what's out there. If you are a artist go to polycount and compare your art to other people. I'm not a real coder so I have no idea about getting a job as a coder.
Art is all subjective. Your's may be more technically advanced, but not "better". In the digital space especially, art can be made "better" with filters, AI upscaling, ect. With enough time anyone can make something impressive. So none of that necessarily showcases your skill. In game dev specially. You need style to look original, versatility to work in different art styles, be able to make something good quickly and reliably, and have it be technically sound as well (low polly counts, good topology, clean and low res texture mapping). Not to mention you're working in a team, so your work needs to look similar to the other artists. You need to show that you can work with whatever they have, not out do it.
Poly count is meaningless in game art. Game art actually wants a lower poly count with higher quality in any situation to allow for more prefabs.
Polycount is also just meaningless in general you can crank the Poly count up in 3d modeling software
@@TegridyMadeGames think they meant the forum polycount
My Game Dev Journey Till Now Is Talking With Chat Gpt All Day And Watching Tutorials on TH-cam.
And further to your point about Eric barone’s success on stardew valley, he has said he started working on that game for his folio for applying for jobs. He didn’t decide until stardew valley had released so successfully that he wouldn’t need a game dev job.
Yeah I think in the documentary he said he wanted to make a game to keep his skills polished after graduating.
As far as the 200+ applicants thing goes, Indeed, LinkedIn, and most other job sites list how many people have applied to any position you're viewing. I've never seen a game dev job, at any level, up for over an hour, with less than 50 applications. They'll usually break 200 over the course of a single day.
As a developer that has some experience with hiring people I can say that a lot of applications to jobs have no merit to them. A lot of people apply to positions thinking they can transition without any proper skills for the position. So yeah, having 200 applications for a position at Blizzard or Ubisoft is probably common, but out of those 200 probably less than 20 are reasonable applicants. Even if you want to become a game dev you don't necessarily need game dev experience. The people that actually look make the final decision or at least heavily influence it (the current lead dev at the studio) will almost always say they rather have a person who can code in general and someone will teach them how to work the engine vs someone who knows the engine inside out (Unreal or Unity.. doesn't matter) but can't write more than a basic for loop.
I was pulled in for backend work after 7 years in cloud integration. It was a massive shift and the offer cameras out of the blue for an interview. Easy clinch once I spoke to the technical team and lead programmer. They even hired delivery men who were diving into making c++ game engines (for their inhouse engine at the time).
Besides the in field experience I explored Godot and Unity and was working voluntarily on an amateur puzzle multiplayer game
Once again a very insightful video John!
Thanks brother!
Great video, great channel. Keep up the good work!
Stardew valley was made by someone clearly dedicated however in a super unhealthy way, dangerous way so it shouldn't be glorified. The 99% comparable other games in that theme or devs who tried to work like that burned out, failed at either drawing interest or marketing and we don't know their names...
Didn't he took like 4 years to do it? If he didn't burn out himself maybe he took it seriously but consciously
Sounds like you don’t want it glorified because you couldn’t do it
I would love to hear your thoughts on what makes a good portfolio and practical tips on how to build one
Forgive me if this is a dumb question, I feel silly even asking. But how do you know when you are good enough to seek out employment?
I attended a game software developement course at university but left before I earnt my degree. A combination of compounding life problems and the global pandemic saw to that. Everything is much better now so I decided to pick up where I left off but it feels like wondering aimlessly through the woods. I have no solid idea of what I should be trying to learn or accomplish outside of the vague advice "work on some projects".
I know that it's not as simple as pick up game engine x, learn language y and make games 1, 2, 3, congrats your offically a game gev. It would just be nice to have an idea of where the goal posts are.
I am a business application developer, using C#: I'm learing unity, and always there is a bit (or more) attraction to work as a gamedev.
I had the opportunity to create a game in a hobbist team. Maybe I will jump to a gamedev job, when I will have a chance. But I'm also thinking about ... could I do it 40 hours a week, every day following directions of others?
Or should I go on my free way, organize my own projects, and team up with a few graphics workmate, and be "free", indie ?
This is something I need to know, and find out myself, and decide when this will be a real question .
What language and game engine should I spend the most time learning to break into the industry? Trying to decide to start with Unity/C# or Unreal/C++
I would be careful when using the phrase "realistic" simply due to the cause that we over-estimate things far too often. Prioritizing reinforcement of our pipelines and planning is the realism we're looking for.
For example, If we want to make a photorealistic game, instead of coming to the conclusion that it's unrealistic simply because it seems so, it's important to make ourselves aware of the options and learn to be resourceful with them to achieve our desired results.
In my experience getting an entry level game dev job is a logical impossibility.
Every job, every single one, requires years of previous game dev experience with an existing company.
It's a closed loop that's nigh impossible to break through.
thank you.
200 applicants per dev job is definitely not a gross exaggeration. I think it's even a low average. I know for a fact for example that a position for game writer at a games company you know will first be shortlisted to 50 people, though I am unsure how many originally applied. This will be similar for game developer or game designer. Also you can see on some job sites how many people applied. People in the industry often refer to applications being in the hundreds for positions. An easier entry can be had making games for advertising companies, sure.
Yuuup, I was thinking this exact thing. To be fair though they're mostly places like LinkedIn, Indeed, and anywhere people can "quick apply". It helps to go to less traveled job sites.
Would like to know about your dev log too. Blood and bones Or some gameplay videos or the progress and the art work. I know you have that but I do miss them.
They are coming! The dev logs can get in the way of actual dev, but I'm coming towards the end of a dev cycle and will be sharing updates soon.
If y.ou can program in 3d, and if you can prove you can do what you put on your resume is important. Practice practice. They don't know who put up that code in github
i have a fear, becoming a pixie (fairy ood parents), i feel a visceral repulsion to any corporate, sales, suit and tie, briefcase,advertising, shit like that, i would rather kill myself that end up like this, but it seems i have no other option.
Can you maybe do a video about a Good CV, and a Good Portfolio please?
being a game dev and getting the focus to sit down and making games is hard for someone to ADHD. The problem is not the coding. Its getting the will and mood to move and sit and begin to work on the projects. v.v
I find getting into game dev much less learning code damn near impossible and in fact it's affecting my ability to want to study so I understand the doubt lol
Great follow up!
Cheers Skeffles!
It is very hard to get a dev job programmer, doesn't matter you know how to make games they are very picky in the way you program. The easiest way is making your own game if you can, just make an easy game first and not a complicated one and with that money make a better one
I'd say the reason they're picky is because everybody needs to be coding in the same/similar formats where there are multiple programmers. This stops the whole thing becoming a mess, and makes it easier for any coder on the team to get to work on an existing part of the game (because it should be a familiar format).
I had a 9-month full time job as a coder and it was pretty much the first time I had to work with other peoples code all the time and yes, it was challenging/annoying sometimes (annoying because sometimes I felt things were being done in an overly-complicated way) but that's the job and it actually helped me with my reluctance to deal with other peoples code.
Game dev? Impossible. Now, if I had an apocalypse cloak…
what value is a Jr even bringing? I've always been told juniors are essentially a liability for the first year
It most probably was a troll but the idea he brought forward is deep.
The fact society shifted from 'true' careers, to self-centered skills transactions bouncing between companies is kind of depressing. When things like loyalty are mocked without even taking the time of day to even name it properly, there is no way it can be healthy. I wonder when companies like Uber will tap into this. Because really, it already kinda works the same, we really only need the centralized app.
Maybe pitch that idea to some relevant companies, you never know they might as well hire you to do it and make the whole work environment even less healthy.
Never underestimate how many people drink the company kool-aid
Correction Eric Barone had a job!!!
Good stuff.
Thanks>3
Can you make blood and mead mobile
Maybe underestimating the shit show that is dev jobs atm