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Breaking into the games industry IS Impossible!!

Started by cannyshammy Jan 27, 2005 at 8:19 AM 41 replies 9.7k views

Original Post

Jan 27, 2005 at 8:19 AM

Okay, so im starting to think i made the wrong choice... The year is 2003, i have just finished secondary school and i have a choice of what university i should go to, Birmingham to study AI with Robotics or Huddersfield to study computer games programming.. Thinking that the games course would be more fun i decided to do that.. Now two years on i agree the course is really fun, i love the programming and would still love to work in this industry but there is one snag, its impossible to get into!! This course is what is known as a sandwich course which means we have 2 years in university then one year in the industry then the final year studying in university again. I have been looking for several months now for an internship placement for next year in a games company, i have sent of 74 emails so far, the majority of them don’t reply and the rest say no "Sorry we are not taking on any Interns".. Is there something i am doing wrong? I cant believe that no games company would be taking any interns.. What scares me even more is the fact that the majority of programming jobs i have seen require you to have 3-5 years of experience in the games industry.. How are you meant to get that experience if you cant even get into the industry in the first place? We had a guest lecture the other day from a member of Team17 (who aren’t taking any interns either BTW), he told us many helpful things. One thing he said however worried me greatly; he said the easiest way to get into the games industry isn’t through a university degree that is especially designed for that purpose, rather the best way is through games testing! Im sorry if this post sounds like im a whining little kid but i am seriously worried for my future and the future of the games industry... Canny

sanguineraven

Jan 27, 2005 at 8:32 AM

Hey. I don't know if my advice is the best, as I am still in my first year at Surrey university doing a sandwich (4 year) course on Computer Science and Engineering. I choose programming/game development mostly as a hobby (at least for now).

Have you done any projects out of university? As in, do you have a portfolio of demos or something you can show that you have done? I know there are quite a few places that take interns, (Rare, EA etc), and find a lot advertised in the magazine Develop. However, a lot of them won't take you just cos you are doing a games-related course. You'll need to have shown that you have taken your learning one step further, done something interesting on your own, made something impressive.

From what I've read here on GDnet forums, the easiest path into the industry often does seem to be QA, testing etc. I know one of my friends was looking to join the EA testing team after finishing his A-Levels but decided to go to university instead.

To re-iterate, have you got a portfolio of projects you can show to potential employers? If no, stop reading and start making. I hope this helped, even if just a little.

capn_midnight

Jan 27, 2005 at 8:34 AM

EA Tiburon says they'll be hiring 100 (currently at 400, up from 3 in 1995) people a year for the forseable future. They say they could make 5 games right now if only they had the people. They can't find enough qualified people coming out of college. They claim that each new generation of consoles demands 50% more developers than the last, and current consoles require anywhere from 30-100 developers. With the PS3 and XBox2 coming, they are looking to pad their roster (har har) in anticipation.

How do you get experience? You work in some other industry and in your spare time you start your own company. Release a couple of commercial games (that actually sell), and I would say you can claim to have the experience.

evelyn

Jan 27, 2005 at 8:49 AM

I sympathise with your situation and I would take note on what the previous posters have said. It seems the industry (certainly in Scotland) is going to go the way of films..ie work for a developer only when they need you, therefore, hardly any permanent jobs, unless, you're excellent in what you do.

I thought the uni would have enough contacts for placements (certainly they did it in my day - ok...going waaay back now!) but it's ridiculous having these sandwich courses if there's nothing for you to do in your placement year...what happens if you don't manage an intern job?

ghosted

Jan 27, 2005 at 8:53 AM

If it's any consolation I've been through the same thing. After graduating with my degree I set out in search of a job full of confidence. I set myself up with a tidy little website and portfolio before firing it off to anyone and everyone that might be interested. From the oodles of mails sent, I got very few responses, but most of those only served to enrage me further as they said "you need some experience first". Catch-22 kids - We're stuck in a recursive loop, Ctrl Alt Delete and shut-down. Game Over.

So I'd worked my tits off for 3 years, come top of my course and 6 months of searching had left me with little more than a deeply shattered sense of achievement. However, another of the factors making my search so depressing was knowing that my University flatmate had secured himself a position with a developer fairly swiftly. The fact of the matter is that a certain amount of luck is required and there's no point in losing sleep over something you canot control. It really helps to be in the right place at the right time.

I've since found employment elsewhere (teaching on my old uni course) and I know that one day I'll have another crack but my time here has allowed me to develop a calmer perspective on matters. I still keep in touch with the mate that made it and I'm still green with envy but getting flustered aint gonna help. I'll have another crack one day as it's want I want to do for a living. Christ I may even get that job one day and realise it sucks.

So, think of breaking into the games industry as a Mr Miyagi (karate kid) style test. If you can get through the frustration of getting that proverbial foot in the door you're probably made of the right stuff.

Wax on, wax off.

cannyshammy

Jan 27, 2005 at 8:53 AM

Yes, we have only been doing C++ since september but i have done 2 projects allready for my course which can be found on my website: www.artificial-studios.com

I have also reccently joined a mod team called BSE who created the raptor-race mod for unreal 2: http://www.teambse.co.uk/

Im not sure thats the problem though, the problem seems that i cant even get that far.. As i said i have sent of many emails that look simmilar to the following:

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I am a student from the University of Huddersfield, England and am studying Computer Games Programming. It is a course specifically designed to give a degree in modern computer games programming techniques and skills. I am currently in my second year and for the third year I have opted to do a year of internship in a computer games company abroad. I am very keen on joining your company to work for a year during 2005/2006.

The question I ask is; are you taking internships for the year 2005/2006? If so what is required for application? I have a CV (resume) and evidence of my programming skills if requested. I would be available to start my internship from Mid July 2005 which is required to be for a period of 12 months.

I look forward to your reply,
Michael Cann

The problem is that they all just say no they dont take internships, so i cant even get as far as showing them my programming skills :(

Canny

Perfunction

Jan 27, 2005 at 9:07 AM

Try going in person. Sending an email is about as unpersonal as you can get. Heck spammers send the companies emails and they don't even want a job. Instead of trying to send them emails go to the company and show them why they should hire you.

Networking is huge too. Start talking to people you know, maybe you will get lucky and a friend of your friend might have an uncle that owns Company X. I don't like to brag about how I got my job because it makes me look less skilled but my gf's dad is a high-ranking manager of a global enterprise.

I completely understand how you feel and all you can is just not give up.

Prototype

Jan 27, 2005 at 9:10 AM

Quote:
Original post by cannyshammy
Dear Sir/ Madam,
...
I have a CV (resume) and evidence of my programming skills if requested.

That's one of the problems. You should include it right away and blow their socks off. They get so much letters you must really make yourself stand out from the crowd. If you can't do that yet, there simply is no point trying.

Kitt3n

Jan 27, 2005 at 9:12 AM

Maybe adding the url of you site would help... I'm sure people
receiving your mail would click the link to take a quick look
(and then it's up to the site to show sth cool :)

..and good luck!

Monder

Jan 27, 2005 at 9:15 AM

When sending emails like that I would recomend starting off talking about your achievments in the first paragraph rather than just saying they can get information about your program skills if they want it. The reason being if you start off talking about something impressive you've done straight away they'll be more interested and impressed. Saying what is effectively 'I'm a student give me a job more info available on request' is not particularly impressive nor interesting. Starting off saying talking about Artificial Studios and the work you've done could get their interest and they may be more inclined to offer you something.

capn_midnight

Jan 27, 2005 at 9:18 AM

Quote:
Original post by Prototype
Quote:
Original post by cannyshammy
Dear Sir/ Madam,
...
I have a CV (resume) and evidence of my programming skills if requested.

That's one of the problems. You should include it right away and blow their socks off. They get so much letters you must really make yourself stand out from the crowd. If you can't do that yet, there simply is no point trying.

plus, the letter just plain sucks. "Keen"? Who uses "keen" in a formal letter?

You made the fatal error of telegraphing your intentions instead of just stating your intentions ("the question I ask is;"). You used a semi-colon in place of a colon.

What does this letter tell them? "Hi, I'm a student". Whoop di doo. What good are you? Just because you are working on a degree in game programming doesn't mean jack. Most of the people they hire don't have degrees in "game programming".

As stated before, include your resume. Don't use email, either. Visit their website and look for job postings, they will have a specific method for contacting them about jobs. Find out what each company is doing and express interest in their products as well as how you can help the company. It sounds like you just randomly fired off this empty letter to a random grouping of companies.

TANSTAAFL

Jan 27, 2005 at 9:18 AM

Send a letter. You know, a piece of paper in an envelope with a stamp on it.

Selsesstissan

Jan 27, 2005 at 9:35 AM

The best way to find your way in is by getting to know people that work in the industry. There is a reason the old saying "it's not what you know but WHO you know" exists. The other important step is work on your portfolio, and then work on it some more.

But most of all, be persistant. If this is something you really want to do, then prepare yourself to fight your way through that door! I was in the same boat as you not that long ago.

Talk to other students, how did they find internships? Talk to professors and advisors, maybe they know a small company looking for an intern. Go to conventions if you can. Talking to people on GameDev even helps, believe it or not thats how I ended up finding my job! And if all else fails, be prepared to work odd jobs while you continue your hunt. If you keep working at it, it will happen. But just sending mass emails probably won't get you very far.

EDIT: And one more thing. Add your URL right at the top of your letter and resume. And make sure the homepage is simple but shows off some of your best work.

Uthman

Jan 27, 2005 at 9:42 AM

I faced a similar predicament but choose to do computer engineering rather than game programming, and thank god

cannyshammy

Jan 27, 2005 at 9:43 AM

Quote:
Original post by TANSTAAFL
Send a letter. You know, a piece of paper in an envelope with a stamp on it.

Do you think this will help more? Will it not just be ignored and dismissed just as easily and readily as an email?

capn_midnight, how would you phrase the email then? I have been doing DirectX for less than 6 months so far, i cant exactly claim to be the worlds best programmer.

Quote:
Original post by Kitt3n

Maybe adding the url of you site would help... I'm sure people
receiving your mail would click the link to take a quick look
(and then it's up to the site to show sth cool :)

Yes you are right this is a good idea kitten thanks :)

Quote:
Original post by Prototype

That's one of the problems. You should include it right away and blow their socks off. They get so much letters you must really make yourself stand out from the crowd. If you can't do that yet, there simply is no point trying.

Yes perhaps you are right, but there isnt much point if they arent taking interns atall like most of them seem to be saying :(

It seems that the genreal feeling here is that to get into the industry its mainly who you know not what you know, it doesnt matter if you are an awsome programmer if you dont know the right people you arnt going to get anywhere..

So rather than asking lots of people perhaps i should try sending few more personal messages?

Thoughts?

Canny

EDIT: Selsesstissan, beat me to the old saying, also thankyou mate for a helpfull post, unfortunately we are the first year to be doing games at the University of Huddersfield so there isnt anyone i can realy ask. Perhaps i could ask students at other universities..

I have been told that the year before i joined the university there were 21 courses for Computer Games in the UK, now there are over 140 courses for computer games!! That is just phenominal and probably doesnt help my job hunt.

Also just to let you know i am looking for internship that is NOT in the UK, prefreably america or canada.

Malderi

Jan 27, 2005 at 9:53 AM

One of the other things that I've done is to look for programming jobs outside of the game industry. Although game programming is fun, there's plenty of semi-related industries that don't have nearly the demand for jobs (at least as I've seen)

I'm currently a sophomore CS major at a state university. I'm doing C++ for a local lab with military/government contracts. When I graduate I'll have four years C++ experience coding with them. It's not working at Blizzard, but it sure as hell is experience, and good experience too.

OrangyTang

Jan 27, 2005 at 10:10 AM

Quote:
Original post by cannyshammy
Also just to let you know i am looking for internship that is NOT in the UK, prefreably america or canada.

Well theres your problem right there.

Mephs

Jan 27, 2005 at 10:15 AM

Tell me about it! It is bad enough that there are only around 3 or 4 games companies within commuting range, and ten times harder when you realise how difficult it is to actually get one of these sacred jobs! I think I'm starting to get something right though because I have a feeling with my demo work now that I'm getting up to the standard that games companies really want.

When you're first starting out with game programming, I think it's oh so easy to think you know much more than you really do, and assume that you could get a job with no problem, but it's not until you put in some serious work that you'll realise what's really involved. I guess like many people here though, to get a job in the industry, I'd be willing to do just about anything as it's just what I am, even though I work as an ICT technician at the moment, I've just known since a very young age that games programming is what I really want to do no matter what.... just keep believing in that and put in as much work as you have ambition and I'm sure you'll make it eventually (I know I will!!).

Cheers,

Steve

Enlighter

Jan 27, 2005 at 11:04 AM

I might discourage you a bit, but I got into the industry and am now a lead designer, and I have not gone through any college or university. The best way to do it would be to find a company that has a game coming out and needs testers and support people, and MAKE SURE you ask if you will be able to move up from that position. Many company's will just drop you once the task is done, so make sure you ask if that position has potential to grow into a larger role. Some companies I advise you look into would be blizard (they are almost always looking for roles like this), Sony Online Entertainment, or smaller companies that don't have much recognition, but are going somewhere.

If you get into a smaller company even if their game never sees the light of day you have something to put on your resume and you can say that you have worked on a game that didn't make it so you know what NOT to do next time.

Anyway I hope this helps you out a bit. Keep at it and I advise not sending e-mails but sending a hard copy of a resume :: ) its more impressive.

Spoonbender

Jan 27, 2005 at 11:27 AM

Quote:
Original post by cannyshammy
Quote:
Original post by Prototype

That's one of the problems. You should include it right away and blow their socks off. They get so much letters you must really make yourself stand out from the crowd. If you can't do that yet, there simply is no point trying.

Yes perhaps you are right, but there isnt much point if they arent taking interns atall like most of them seem to be saying :(

Sure there is. If you blow their socks off, then they'll hire you no matter what. ;)
Either they'll accept an intern after all, or they'll offer you a real job, or they might just keep your application and look at it next time they need to hire someone. I'm just another student, but from what I know, interns aren't that common in the industry in general. If you're required to get an internship for a year, then I'd assume the university has some contacts they can use to help their students out.

It's generally considered pretty tough to break into the industry, so you're going to need all the help you can get. That means make a great portfolio, contact the studio in person rather than email, don't be picky with what you're offered (Why not the UK? If you can get in *somewhere* then you can get the experience that allows you to get other offers, and *then* you can start thinking about where you'd like to work), and finally, get to know people.
You might want to check www.igda.org. Their local chapter probably holds meetings regularly. Good opportunity to get to know people inside the industry.

And finally, if you're in the UK, I doubt you'll be able to get anything elsewhere. No one would hire an intern who lives on the wrong continent, even if he claims he's willing to move. (Interns are easy enough to find, so it's a lot easier for them to get one locally *if* they want to hire one)

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