That's right, tell me your story of how you started working in the game industry. I want to see the different variety of ways people got in. So start busting out your tales folks.

Very, interesting topic. I guess I'll start sharing.

Even though my story is quite an ordinary one (and maybe boring), as I'm just starting in the industry ^^'

I went to a generalist programming school. In my 5th year of study there is possibility to have a part-time internship during the 6 first month of the year, and a full time internship during the last 6 month. So I gave resumes to game studios, I went to some job interviews, and I got my first part-time internship in a game studio. And when this one finished, I did (and still doing) another internship, full-time, in another game studio.

And here I am :)

• QA for games company in Australia
• When company went down, started a business doing software QA for serious games + web development
• When business made enough money, locked myself in my house for a year to learn JS and make small games
• Moved to another country (with a bigger games industry) with portfolio of small personal games, GitHub repos, prior experience, and about a year of savings hoping I'd find something leaning more towards coding
• Found something (phew)

• Study programming
• Make friends and stuff
• Get intern job at a games company for 6 months
• Friends get hired from their internship at a different games company
• They tell their boss, who can't find a programmer, that I am a good programmer
• I apply for a job
• Go in for interview
• Trial day
• Get the job

I suggest making lots of friends, being an active part of the game dev community in your area.

I taught myself programming at late 13 or early 14 as a way of getting able to make my own game ideas, knowing that no one else would program them for me.
It turned out to be more fun than design so I stuck with it.

Since in high school it was obvious that I was going to make video games I did homework my own way: by playing (and programming) video games.
As a result I got straight F’s and dropped out of high school.

Best decision ever. I was able to go to a 2-year community college much sooner than I otherwise would have been able.
Since they focused just on programming, I was able to graduate early after only 1 year instead of 2 (see how easy it would have been to keep my interest, high school?) with a grade of 100% in Java and 172% in C++ (lots of extra credit).


I had not only gotten out of high-school early I also got out of college early, so when I was 22 I moved to Thailand, got a temporary job teaching English just to help me get by, and after a few months got my first industry job at Sanuk Games in Bangkok.

L. Spiro

I wrote a very extensive and detailed GDD for a turn-based RPG based on an existing IP. I contacted the owners with the design and they contracted me to make the game (I'm good at presentations). I got attached to a small studio of artists and programmers that immediately folded, leaving the project in limbo. When the IP owner wanted to focus on tablet apps, I made a amicable departure. What a year! Thrilling highs, terrifying lows, and zero games made.

My sister's friend's dad owned a development studio, and when I was 16 I asked him to let me see some example questions he would give prospective engineering hires. He gave me the programming tests he gives candidates, I took it and (unbeknownst to me at the time) did well. Two years later when I graduated from high school he contacted me about an internship. So I interned there for a number of summers, eventually becoming a full time employee.

I can't upvote this post so's I'll just give you a THUMBS UP in boring text here.

Walked out of college after a particularly bad year and got a job at Day 1 Studios near Baltimore - now part of World of Tanks developer Wargaming. It was straightforward enough. I'd been hanging on this site and others (Flipcode, Revolution3D, even DevMaster) and coding projects for a huge chunk of my life. I had the technical abilities to join an engine team and begin contributing, though in retrospect the maturity issues had yet to be fully addressed at that point. (I was 21 at the time.) Spent a bit over a year there, shipped Fracture for 360 and PS3.