What jobs are currently in demand?

Started by
7 comments, last by Obscure 13 years, 11 months ago
In the game development industry, what jobs are current high in demand? I know technical artists are, but I don't know much beyond that.
Advertisement
In general, no jobs are in high demand compared to the legions of people who'd be thrilled to do them to get to work on computer games for a living. That said, you're right about the difficulty in finding good artists.
If you take a look at the job listings on Gamasutra and GameJobs, you'll notice the majority of openings are for software engineers and creative/level designers. I'm sure the numbers look the same on other job sites due to the lack of quality software engineers looking for jobs. Plus, at least in the engineering side of the house, there is typically more money to be made outside the game industry.
Quote:Original post by Kiiryu
In the game development industry, what jobs are current high in demand? I know technical artists are, but I don't know much beyond that.

Are you a master programmer, artist, level designer, producer and musician/sfx person? If not what does it matter what roles are currently in demand. You should focus on getting a job you are passionate about, not what is currently in demand (and may not be in the future).

[Edited by - Obscure on May 25, 2010 2:25:33 AM]
Dan Marchant - Business Development Consultant
www.obscure.co.uk
No, but I am a game designer, artist, and musician, though certainly not a master in any field. I'm passionate about everything I do, and I'd enjoy doing any job I could get in the game dev industry. If I can't choose what I want to do based on personal preference, then it only makes sense to go where there's the most work and build a portfolio accordingly.
Quote:Original post by Kiiryu
No, but I am a game designer, artist, and musician, though certainly not a master in any field. I'm passionate about everything I do, and I'd enjoy doing any job I could get in the game dev industry. If I can't choose what I want to do based on personal preference, then it only makes sense to go where there's the most work

Okay, then. Quality Assurance.
Not game design, not art, not music.

-- Tom Sloper -- sloperama.com

Quote:Original post by Kiiryu
If I can't choose what I want to do based on personal preference, then it only makes sense to go where there's the most work and build a portfolio accordingly.

No, if you can't make decisions based on what you want it makes sense to learn to make decisions. Read Tom's lesson on making a decision grid Making a decision grid.

deciding based on what is currently in demand is a bad idea because:
a) it may not be in demand in the future,
b) the jobs that are most in demand are the ones lowest on the ladder that pay the least,
c) to break into the industry you need to focus and become really good at one thing. The games industry wants specialists rather than generalists. If you are OK at three things you will always lose out in hiring situations to three people who are much better at just one thing due to having focused.

Dan Marchant - Business Development Consultant
www.obscure.co.uk
Its funny that the mods are not answers the question at hand but rather giving advice, guess that is there job.
Quote:Original post by th2
Its funny that the mods are not answers the question at hand but rather giving advice, guess that is there job.

If someone asks a bad question and we simply answer it we are giving bad information not only to the original poster but also to everyone who reads this thread. We aren't here to tell people what they want to hear or reinforce their misconceptions. We are here to post information on how they can get into the games industry.

Dan Marchant - Business Development Consultant
www.obscure.co.uk

This topic is closed to new replies.

Advertisement