GamesIndustry.biz Academy Magazine

2022 EDITION: PROGRAMMING, ART, PRODUCTION, MEDIA, WRITING, DESIGN, AND MUCH, MUCH MORE

HOW TO GET A JOB IN VIDEO GAMES

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PLUS! A GUIDE TO BUILDING YOUR OWN PERSONAL BRAND

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CHRISTOPHER DRING

Head of games B2B

The video games industry is a thrilling, rapidly expanding and unique place to work.

It’s an industry always trying stuff before anyone else, whether that’s utilising cloud technologies, AR, VR, AI... it’s an industry of constant evolution and learning. There’s simply nothing like it.

It’s also the biggest entertainment medium on the planet. From Fortnite to FIFA, Minecraft to Candy Crush, there’s such a variety of projects to work on.

There are mobile games reaching hundreds of millions - even billions of players. There are online games that have become social hubs. There are console titles that are rivalling film in terms of narrative and visual capabilities. And there are indie games, which are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a ‘video game’.

It’s not perfect. You can’t escape the headlines around the lack of diversity in the video games business, or the terrible stories of harassment and abuse that continue to surface.

Yet things are improving. The industry is, slowly, becoming more diverse and inclusive. And at the right company, this can be an amazing place to work. During our Best Places To Work Awards, we surveyed thousands of employees from nearly 200 companies (which put themselves forward), and over 90% of staff said they look forward to going into work each day. At the right company, it’s a great place to work.

Our GamesIndustry.biz Academy is a destination full of guides on how to get into games, and not just programming and art, but writing, testing, marketing, composing, managing… this is an industry, there are hundreds of disciplines to consider. And we’ve compiled some of the best articles right here in this Academy Magazine.

Outside of the magazine, GamesIndustry.biz also hosts online and physical events where young people can connect with industry professionals.

We even have a jobs board (jobs.gamesindustry.biz) full of the latest roles from across the business.

So if you’re interested in working in games, sign-up to GamesIndustry. biz for free. We hope we can help you find what you’re looking for.

06: HOW TO STAND OUT! Industry experts on how to make your job application stand out.

22: HOW TO GET A JOB IN GAMES

Huge guides on programming, designing, art, sound design, testing, production, writing, journalism, PR and a whole lot more.

10: BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

Industry legend Brenda Romero gives students advice on building and growing your own reputation.

116: BEAT THE INTERVIEW We conclude with a guide to succeeding at your first games industry job interview.

GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZ ACADEMY MAGAZINE

GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZ EDITORIAL

A ReedPop Production

Editor-In-Chief James Batchelor

MAGAZINE EDITORIAL Editor Marie Dealessandri marie.dealessandri@gamesindustry.biz Publisher Christopher Dring Christopher.Dring@Gamesindustry.biz Contributors Vikki Blake, Niall O’Donoghue, Louise Wardale

DESIGN

Managing Editor Brendan Sinclair Features Editor Marie Dealessandri News Editor Danielle Partis Staff Writer Jeffrey Rousseau

MANAGEMENT

Art Direction Lucy Grimwood

MD Gamer Network /VP ReedPop Simon Maxwell

Design Director Karl Cox

President, ReedPop Lance Fensterman

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SPECIAL THANKS

Chris Buckley Chris.Buckley@GamesIndustry.biz

Dan Jones, Hannah Garrick, Jenny Martin, James Grant, OPM, Amiqus, Creative Assembly, Square Enix Montréal , National Film And Television School.

George Corner George.Corner@reedpop.com

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CHECK OUT THE GAMESINDUSTRY.BIZ JOBS BOARD How to make the most of the new GI Jobs Board for employers and job seekers

CHRISTOPHER DRING

Head of games B2B

Last year, GamesIndustry. biz launched a new jobs board filled with exciting roles in video games, from programming to HR, journalism to art. You can find it at jobs.gamesindustry.biz.

The board features plenty of excellent functions, including an improved search ability for employers and employees, an enhanced email job alerts

system, company profiles and, coming soon, we will be adding content and features to the jobs board, direct from our GamesIndustry.biz Academy.

But how do you make the most of the jobs board? We spoke to leading industry recruiters to offer their advice – for employers and job seekers – on how to succeed on the GI Jobs Board.

The GamesIndustry.biz Jobs Board

Gamesindustry.biz Jobs Board

Advice for job Seekers Read the job ad.

Then read it again You don’t necessarily need to have all the skills listed in the job description. It’s always worth trying it, even if you might not quite have the level of experience stated.

However, there are always skills you simply must have, and it’s worth identifying those.

“If you are applying for a lead artist position and the role requires 3D Studio Max professional experience with a published title using the software, then make sure you have that experience,” says Bonnie Pavlo, senior consultant at Big Planet.

She adds: “A lead programmer in the games industry is someone who usually has a minimum 7+ years professional programming experience.

University graduates should not be applying for this position. Grads should be applying to internships, junior roles, entry level, and so on.”

Apply for a job once “There is the fallacy that quantity is more important or relevant than quality,” Pavlo explains. “If you applied to a job and was rejected do not apply again to the same role. It will not increase your chances but impact negatively as it illustrates you lack attention to detail. If you are still waiting for a response to your application please reach out to the studio directly regarding the status of your application. Don’t just keep applying.”

Check your spelling Make sure you’ve spelt everything correctly. Spell checks on computers do work. But also make sure you’ve spelt names correctly, because every employer has an anecdote about an application where the job hunter spelt their own name wrong. Oh, and if you’ve got a portfolio with website links, double check that the links work.

Be Professional Having a creative or personality -driven application can help, without a doubt. But be mindful of how it comes across.

You may be super proud of your hellspawn666@hotmail.com email address, but perhaps don’t apply for a job with it.

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Advice for employers Rethink job descriptions to attract diverse talent “Very often women will look at a lengthy list of requirements and, if they can’t tick all the boxes, will immediately de-select themselves. In contrast, if men can only meet half of the requirements, they will still apply,” reveals Amiqus’ business manager Liz Prince.

“If you want to attract a diverse range of candidates, keep your job description shorter, think hard about what’s really an essential requirement and what you could be more flexible on. The more flex you have the wider your talent pool will be.”

Get your language right Underrepresented groups will look at the language of job descriptions to see if a company is a good fit for them personally.

“Make sure that your language is not gender biased,” Prince says.

Again, language used can deter women, so the best advice is to run your job specs through a gender bias decoder online – something like this one: https://www.totaljobs.com/ insidejob/gender-bias-decoder/ “Think about the benefits and rewards your studio is offering and including in the job description.

‘Beer Fridays’ may put off some candidates. Please also include at least a salary range in the spec.

“If you are truly committed to attracting a more diverse range of candidates, be open about your commitment to an inclusive working culture and demonstrate that in all of your online platforms, processes, and communications.”

Highlight your values “Many individuals are looking for a fresh start with a studio that shares their beliefs and aspirations, while also trying to improve the world of game development,” explains OPM managing director Kim Adcock.

“Consider what’s most vital to your company. If your focus is innovation, for example, talk about some of the fascinating and novel things your company has done or is aiming to do.”

Kim Adcock, OPM

Discuss your journey Adcock adds that employees want to feel like they can influence the goals of the company, so use the job ads to tell them where you are as a business, how you got there and when you want to go.

“Think of your job advert as an invitation for someone to join the team and achieve the same goals together.”

Post on specialist job boards Yes, the big jobs boards can hit a broad base of employees. But it’s the specialist jobs boards (yes, like the GamesIndustry.biz one) that can help you reach the audience you need.

“We’ve advertised on many of the big name job boards and they don’t even come close to the volume of decent applications we’ve got from games industry job boards,” Adcock says.

Respond to unsuccessful applicants In this industry, it’s entirely likely a rejected applicant may still join you one day. And it’s worth remembering that.

“We know it’s near on impossible to individually respond to everyone that applies, particularly if you’re advertising more than one job,” Adcock says.

“However, it must be disheartening for those that never hear anything. Even a template email letting people know they haven’t been successful is more than most companies are doing, and you’d be surprised how appreciated that can be.”

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HOW TO MAKE YOUR VIDEO GAMES RESUME, PORTFOLIO, AND JOB APPLICATION STAND OUT The GamesIndustry.biz Academy’s tips on how to overcome the first barriers between you and the job you want

Tailor your resume for the job you’re applying for

VIKKI BLAKE

Contributor

It doesn’t matter if you’re a graduate fresh out of university or an industry veteran with decades of experience; creating a great first impression is critical if you’ve any hope of securing that dream job.

It’s easier said than done, though, isn’t it? Particularly if you’re relying on nothing but your CV and a covering letter to help you get that foot in the door.

Against such fierce competition, it’s more important than ever to ensure your CV shines and catches the eye of recruiters for all the right reasons.

So if you’re new to the industry or simply looking to make a change, we spoke to some of the video game industry’s top recruiters to get their tips on how best to make your CV and portfolio stand out from the rest.

Almost every respondent we spoke to suggests that rather than sending out masses of generic CVs, candidates might have better luck if they tailor their resumes for each individual job. While that might feel a little labor-intensive, it’ll showcase your attention to detail, as well as help ensure you can best demonstrate how you meet every criterion detailed on the job specification.

Recruiters are always happy to see strong evidence of collaboration and teamwork, as well as critical thinking, problem-solving, and particularly in a pandemic evidence that applicants can manage their own time, especially when working remotely.

“It’s not enough to just list skills like ‘being a team player’ - that’s equivalent to ‘breathing air’,” advises Sezzy Beasley, who works at Improbable Games Canada as an HR business partner. “I recommend instead you write these skills down [and explain] how you have used them in your past work experience.”

Most hiring managers recognize that people will reuse covering letters and CVs,

Sezzy Beasley, Improbable

and completely understand how exhausting it can be to constantly battle each organization’s unique recruitment process.

However, that means even if you’re applying to numerous studios, you need to ensure every application you send is tweaked and personalized for each individual prospective employer.

That said, don’t be scared of detailing why you’re passionate about a company or video game, either. Showing off your knowledge about a particular game or series can help demonstrate your enthusiasm more than a cold list of your skills ever could.

How to stand out

Keep it short and simple

about it, but when I get inundated with hundreds of CVs you have to show me your personality, and you have to show me how you stand out. A CV on its own is incredibly difficult to stand out with,” he says.

Abbie Dickinson, brand communication manager at Rebellion, agrees, adding that applicants that take the time to explain why they want to work for Rebellion as opposed to any other studio “really does make [them] stand out.”

Skyhook Games’ managing director, David Harper, has one key piece of advice: keep it simple.

“Tell me the main things I need to know at the top of the CV without making me hunt for the details,” he says. “I like to see a brief summary at the top of a CV to give me a quick flavor of the applicant to see if I want to read further - TL;DR if you will.

“Keep it relevant and to the point.

I appreciate this is more difficult for people just starting their careers with Perfect your portfolio less material to draw from, but ask yourself if what you are including would Coatsink’s Blenkinsop highlights be a benefit to the employer reading that “it’s all about the portfolio.” it. Do they need to know you got your It needs to showcase your talents, 5m swimming badge for instance?” so make sure everything you Coatsink management assistant include emphasizes your skillset.

Emma Blenkinsop agrees and suggests If you’re applying for a technical all candidates “declutter” their resumes, role, make sure the examples on keeping their CVs short and concise, your website or well-spaced, and showreel are as no more than recent examples as two pages long.

“IT’S NOT ENOUGH TO they can be, and She also - if you’re starting recommends you JUST LIST SKILLS LIKE out - feature not “choose a nice, ‘BEING A TEAM PLAYER’ just your university easy-to-read font - THAT’S EQUIVALENT projects, but your and use page passion projects, too. break lines.”

TO ‘BREATHING AIR’” “It’s important to “If it’s easy Sezzy Beasley, Improbable showcase your work on the eye we’re with great images not immediately and provide insight put off and into your role on the project,” advises are more inclined to want to keep Improbable’s Beasley. “Depending reading,” Blenkinsop adds. on the position you’re applying for, Oh, and you might want your portfolio might need in-depth to rethink those cute little bar case studies, so be sure to see what graphs and pie charts, too. the job post specifically asks for.”

“We hate those meaningless If you’re looking to make a lasting graphics [that] show us how well you impression, however, Downton says know Unity or how good you are with that as well as a sizzling showreel, you Photoshop. They are just a space-filler need to evidence in your portfolio why and don’t tell us anything - skip it!” you should be interviewed over other applicants, too. A tall ask, perhaps, but Check - and then double anticipating some of these questions check - if a covering might give your application an edge. letter is required And don’t worry if you think your university portfolio looks a little bare; It might seem like a small oversight, but Skyhook’s Harper thinks you can add if a job application asks for a covering value by including examples of work that letter, make sure you add one - and you complete outside of your studies. personalize it to the organization you’re “There may be hundreds of people hoping to join. Max Downton, senior who have very similar course work, brand manager at Splash Damage, but very few that will have taken what admits he may discard your application they learned and decided to create if you’ve forgotten to add one. something based on that in their “If I was hiring for a low-applicant own time,” he says. “These are the volume role, then maybe I’d care less people that really stand out for me.”

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Your portfolio needs to clearly illustrate not only your experience but what disciplines you’re interested in, too.

Rebellion’s Dickinson says that having a portfolio that includes “environments and characters and props and textures” might hint at a “lack of specialization.”

Charmaine Clavier-St John, head of people at Hutch, agrees and suggests that developers tailor their portfolios according to their specialism:

Abbie Dickinson, Rebellion

• Portfolios for engineers should include personal projects, particularly if you are starting out in your career. Evidence of making a small game, contributing to a modding community, and/or working on Github code are signs of your proactive steps that can help “swing an application.”

• Portfolios for artists should be kept up to date with relevant pieces and your very best work. She advises artists focus on a smaller number of excellent pieces rather than too many, and ensure their portfolios have a “crisp and visually pleasing” layout, too.

• Portfolios for UI/UX applicants should not just include great examples of projects, but also your “process, workflow, wireframe,” too. The output is important, she says, but “that process is essential to helping you stand out amongst your peers.”

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Carefully and thoroughly read the application before you fill it in...

Most of the time, studios are looking for independent thinking who can creatively solve problems and are happy to get stuck in. As Hutch’s Clavier-St John puts it: “We want to see that hunger to build games, to get them in the hands of players and to make an impact.

It really is as much about aligning with a studio’s culture as it is about hard skills.”

First up: are you sure you have the necessary skills and experience to apply?

Don’t waste your or your recruiter’s time by applying for something you’re wholly unqualified for.

“I’m unlikely to consider CVs that show the candidate has not read the job post ...And then again thoroughly and properly and doesn’t have when you’ve finished it the relevant experience or required skills,” admits Improbable’s Beasley. “If the post “I don’t care how good your previous work is for a senior position and asking for 8+ experience is, if you can’t be bothered years of experience and CV lists less than to check your CV or covering letter for three years, I’m more likely to pass on it. spelling mistakes, I have no confidence “You can apply for a job if you’re close you have the attention to detail in the rest to the requirements but if you’re not, of your work,” admits randomly applying Skyhook’s Harper. for any and all Don’t be afraid to openings won’t “WE HATE THOSE let your personality help you in the long shine through. run and may leave MEANINGLESS GRAPHICS To be noticed by a bad impression [THAT] SHOW US HOW the people reading to the recruiter or WELL YOU KNOW UNITY your application or hiring manager.”

CV, your personality Downton further OR HOW GOOD YOU ARE must come through. suggests that WITH PHOTOSHOP” After all, your resume you should avoid Emma Blenkinsop, Coatsink is initially the only thing focussing on the the recruiter has to obvious details; make a first impression if you’re applying about you, so it might be prudent to for a video editor role then it’s expected communicate how an organization’s you’ll have incredible editing skills, so values align with your own beliefs. there’s no need to labor those points.

“Standing out is about showcasing your Instead, dedicate time to the additional personality,” agrees Downton, who thinks things that “might make you stand out.” you should even use your CV to talk about It’s also important to ensure your yourself to help hiring managers notice you. style and experience fits with what you “There are lots of people out there who know of the project, so if you submit a CV can do the job you’re applying for, so it’s that lacks experience or a showreel that about showing why you’re different,” he doesn’t match a studio’s signature artsays. “It’s about showing what you’d be style, for example, it’ll likely be discarded. like to work with, while also demonstrating your proficiency for the role. If you can do both of those in your application you’re well on your way to an interview.”

Clavier-St John says no recruiter just wants to see lists of technologies, frameworks, and tools on your resume.

Talk about your personal contributions, what part of your projects you really enjoyed - and why - so that the assessor can get an idea of who you are.

“Understanding what you contributed to previous projects really helps us to frame your experience,” she says.”

We want to see your passion and drive from the get-go, so don’t underestimate the importance of a well-done CV.” Dave Harper, Skyhook

How to stand out

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Use the STAR technique to evidence your experience

Keep in touch with your college professors and lecturers

11 things you can do now to spring clean your CV and portfolio

Hutch’s Clavier-St John also has a star tip -- literally -- for those looking to stand out in applications or interviews; memorize the handy mnemonic device, STAR.

Some studios have links with local schools, colleges, and universities - so use them. Take Rebellion, for example. While it does advertise vacancies on the usual channels “we’ve seen our applications increase since we’ve started talking about our studio more [publically],” Dickinson says - the studio also works with local education providers in order to attract, support, and retain the next generation of video game developers.

Improbable Games Canada employs a similar system.

“We care about establishing relationships with post-secondary institutions and game dev associations across the country, and connect with STEM programs that support underrepresented groups to encourage diversity and inclusive recruitment as much as possible,” explains Beasley.

It’s through these links the company specifically targets newly-qualified or early-career devs and notifies them of recruitment opportunities, perhaps before they are advertised on social media or the company’s website. Therefore, it’s important to keep an up-to-date resume ready and attend local events and talks when you can, as you never know when a chat with a former lecturer or professor turns into a job opening.

Don’t forget about intern schemes, too. Coatsink has “a number of our employees [that] started as interns” as part of universitylinked internship schemes.

Think you’re ready to apply for that dream job? Here are 11 simple things you can do right now to smarten up your CV and/or improve your chances of getting called back for an interview:

Charmaine Clavier-St John, Hutch

If you’re asked to provide examples or evidence in your application, think STAR and talk about the Situation, Task, Actions, and Result.

1. Situation: Start by describing the example situation you found yourself in.

2. Task: discuss the task you were assigned.

3. Actions: detail what you did to achieve your task.

4. Result: detail what the result was. Did you achieve your task?

If so, how? If not, what lessons did you learn? Make sure you refer specifically to what you’ve done in roles and the impact you made, as that’s equally as important.

You’re not limited to using it to describe your industry experience, either; use STAR when describing any relevant experiences to date, be they from a studio, university, or any work experience that demonstrates applicable transferable skills.

“Talk about specifics, use realworld examples and the impact that you had,” she advises.

• Make sure any links in your applications work.

• Ensure your website is accessible on mobile and desktop devices, or make use of websites like GitHub and ArtStation.

• Arrange your experience in reverse-chronological order, starting with your newest project at the top.

• Recent graduates should reference game jams and extracurricular activities.

• Double-, triple-, and then quadruple-check your spelling and grammar especially the name and pronouns of your recipient and the company’s name.

• Put your specific skills in bold or italics so they stand out on the page, be it on your resume or your website.

• List your skills and the tools you can use in a white font at the bottom of your CV; it’ll be invisible to the naked eye but may help it get noticed when recruiters are searching for keywords in hopeful applications.

• Ensure your font sizes and bullet points are consistent - show you take pride in attention to detail.

• Before you submit your freshly revised CV, ask a friend to look over it to double-check it’s accurate and makes sense.

Max Downton, Splash Damage

• If you’re drafting an application, bullet-point how you think you fulfill the person/role specification, addressing every criterion clearly and separately.

• Don’t expect speculative applications to open many, if any, doors - most of the time, they’ll be ignored.

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BRENDA ROMERO’S TIPS FOR BUILDING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND Brenda Romero gives students advice on how to build and grow their reputation before even entering the industry

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

Thinking of yourself as a brand as you’re about to enter the games industry can be a difficult exercise. But industry legend Brenda Romero believes it’s a necessary one.

During a GamesIndustry.biz Live: Academy talk, entitled You: The Brand, she advocated for students and aspiring developers about to enter the industry to not only see themselves as brands, but also to think strategically about how to grow that brand.

“When we think of brands, we often think of company names like say Creative Assembly or games like their Total War: Warhammer,” she said. “We might even think of people like say game director Hideo Kojima or writer and narrative designer Rhianna Pratchett.

We might think of game director Amy Hennig or even say game programmer John Carmack.

“Each one of these individuals has name recognition within the game industry.

You say their names to a fellow game developer and odds are they have heard of them, and they associate their names and the things that they do with quality.

And that actually makes them a brand.”

She added that thinking of yourself as a brand is anything but egotistical, and that whether you are in school or already in the industry, you are actually already a brand.

She gave a few examples to show that it starts building up very early on, whether you realise it or not.

If you’ve ever done group work, you probably have heard a variation of one of the following: “I would never work with them again because they never show up,” “Last time I did a project with them, it was a nightmare,” or “If so and so in on the team, absolutely count me in.”

“And you start to see that even before we’ve made real inroads into the industry, we’re picking up on things here or there that are forming a brand,” Romero said.

“These are forms of early branding, something we might refer to as our reputation. And they stick with people as they head into the professional world.

All of these things are a brand and show you why your brand is important.”

So how do you establish your brand?

And what is it made of?

Romero had the answers.

Brenda Romero

Brenda Romero’s tips

How to figure out what your brand is

“I have known artists who became programmers, and programmers who became designers, and programmers who became If you’re still studying, it can be difficult producers,” Romero said. “Give yourself time to project yourself into the industry and to get your footing but, like Miyamoto says, know exactly what you brand could be. revisit the core again and again.

Romero suggested a very simple exercise And it’s also fine to completely change direction. to figure it out: think about who you are now, Miyamoto himself in fact was actually a toy then think about who you will be in 2025. designer. So if you take one thing away from “When I mentor people I ask them to write this entire talk: please write your bio for 2025.” their bio, but I want them to write their bio Romero took the example of as if it’s five years from now,” she explained. a former student of hers, Will McCarty, “And when I do, certain interesting patterns to demonstrate how you can build your emerge. A fair few people want awards. brand early on and work towards your goal.

Others want to be at the “When he [was] still in top of their field. If they’re high school, he looked at programmers, they want one ad for a job he’d want “SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS to be CTOs or technical four years later when he directors. If they’re game graduated college. He was ARE A REFLECTION designers, they’re looking looking at where he wanted OF YOU IN THE WORLD. to be creative directors or to be. So it turns out his MAKE YOURSELF STAND design directors. Others answer for what he needed want to make sure that to learn was [everywhere].

OUT IN A POSITIVE WAY” they have released a “And here’s what Brenda Romero certain number of games. he was seeing when “Creative director he was looking for ads: Shigeru Miyamoto has ‘Extremely proficient in C++ talked about knowing the core of your game programming and debugging.’ And the more and revisiting it again and again as you go he looked, the more he saw the same thing. through development to make sure that you’re Everybody wanted C++, and so he found staying on track. Obviously that’s excellent his answer. So Will goes through his advice, but it’s also excellent personal advice. entire undergrad and he graduates, So review your bio, and review it again and and eventually Will does get a job in the again, review it several times a year to see if game industry and today he is a senior you’re still on track to be who you want to be.” software engineer at Glu [Mobile].

You can ask yourself questions “He played his career with the same tactical throughout the process: are you going in decision-making that he used to play games the right direction? And do you actually and it paid off in a big way. So what do you still want to go in that direction? want to be? If I had any advice, having worked with hundreds of people at this point: be the best in your class, the best in your job.”

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What your brand is made of • Your portfolio The path leading to your objective for the future is paved with elements that you have to perfect. While your reputation will follow you around during your studies and career, you can work towards improving it and making it stand out.

Your portfolio is a prime example.

“When I talk to developers and find out what it is they’re hoping to see in people’s portfolios, I hear the same things again and again,” Romero said.

“They want to know who you are.

They want you to show what you are, show your actual work. And show proof that you’re making games. One of the easiest ways to leapfrog to the top of the resume pile is to actually have finished games on your site. You’d be surprised how many people don’t.”

She also advised to not make people “work for your work,” meaning that you should keep things simple and clean.

“Don’t have splash pages, have obvious thumbnails, keep the personal stuff off there - it’s just not necessary,” she said. “And show your gameplay in videos. People don’t want to have to download something, install it, get new drivers or whatever.

Just show me your gameplay.

“Also bear in mind that you are as good as your worst image, your worst code sample, your worst writing or your worst game. So in many cases, less is more. If you are thinking: ‘Oh my goodness, I only have five things to show,’ if those are five good things, that’s great. It’s better than five good things and five not so good things because that’s what they remember you for.”

She added that she’s been asked by several art directors to tell students to not put a car in their portfolio.

“They’ve seen a bazillion of them.

Find something that makes you stand out: what’s really unique about you?

And if you’re trying to target a specific company, make sure your portfolio reflects that direction and that decision of yours. Some companies even offer suggestions on what they’re looking for on their websites.”

“HE PLAYED HIS CAREER WITH THE SAME TACTICAL DECISION-MAKING THAT HE USED TO PLAY GAMES AND IT PAID OFF IN A BIG WAY” Brenda Romero

• Your experience

and nobody necessarily cares about the coffee shop job that you had.

What they want to see is the experience that you have that can benefit them.

“Another thing that is particularly important is just your involvement - your involvement with the industry, your involvement with other creative people. So any volunteering you’ve done, speaking, podcasts, outreach, teaching: all of that stuff is important to show your passion and to show who you are as a person.”

What experience you have, even if it’s very little, is also an integral part of your brand.

“Many people, especially those getting into the industry, are like: but I don’t have any experience, how am I supposed to get experience if I don’t have any experience?

Well, it doesn’t necessarily mean job experience. You can teach yourself things. In fact, probably the most hardcore programmers I know in the games industry are entirely self-taught. So you can teach yourself lots of stuff and show proof of that.

“You can also do independent work.

There’s nothing stopping you from making a game yourself. Go to game jams and submit all those games for every single festival that you see that offer any kind of award, because if you win an award - something say as big as the IGF - that’s huge. That will move mountains. And if you don’t win an award you might get a nomination, and trust me that’s not too bad either.”

• Your social media

• Your resume

One way to stand out in a positive way can be through your cover letters, Romero said. If you’re sending a CV for a position, it is still good practice to send a cover letter alongside it.

But people always end up saying the same things in cover letters, so she advised to take a different approach.

“Everyone is the same sort of product. Think of yourself as a game: What’s your hook? What is the reason that they should hire you? Your goal is to make yourself stand out in some way.

“I would say typically generalist [roles] are not what people are looking for when they’re first entering the industry, unless they’re equally good at a range of things. So find your love, follow it, and prove that you can do it.”

Having a good resume is also an important part of building your brand.

And that’s possible regardless of how experienced you are in the industry.

“Your resume should not be a tome, nor should it be needlessly abrupt,” Romero advised. “Tell people what they need to know about you.

[When looking] at a resume, people expect to see relevant experience, they don’t want you to exaggerate.

“Proofread your resume and also customise it to the employer. Don’t feel like you have to send out one single resume to everybody else. You might have a wide amount of experience but you want to tailor that to somebody -

Social media has taken a prominent position in many young people’s lives, and it is also widely used in the industry as a way to showcase creations and network. But Romero wanted to remind students of the reality of social media as they build their reputation.

“In this day and age, social media is quite obviously really important, and though all of your social media accounts are obviously personal they are also a reflection of you in the world, and the internet is quite obviously forever.

“You can delete a tweet but you cannot delete a screen grab, and nothing is private - not email, not DMs, not members-only forums.

So always be careful. If you’re gonna make yourself stand out, make yourself stand out in a positive way.”

• Your cover letter

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SPONSORED

HOW THE GAMES INDUSTRY IS HANDLING THE RETURN TO WORK OPM’s Kim Parker Adcock discusses the opportunities and challenges presented by COVID-19

The world is starting to learn to live with COVID. And employers are in the throes of working out what the future of the workplace looks like.

Already, games studios are encouraging staff to return to the office, although many are taking a cautious approach.

“With lockdowns seeming like they’ll be a thing of the past, some studios are bringing employees back to work,” says Kim Parker Adcock, head of recruitment specialists OPM. “We’ve been keeping a careful eye on how people feel about going back to work, and most online studies show that over 60% of people want to work from home in some way. While it may be a personal preference for some, for others, their lives have changed so much that they believe hybrid/ remote working should be mandatory.

When you can work from home, you can deal with issues like childcare, transportation costs, and owning pets that used to be a problem.”

She continues: “We’re currently working with over 120 games companies and every single one of them offers some kind of remote/hybrid working.

Before COVID, this was less than 5% of our client base. The majority of studios that are sending their staff back to the workplace are only doing it on a hybrid basis, which most people are fine with.

We’ve only had a few examples where people were wanting to leave their present company because they were being requested to return to the office, and this was because they were being asked to come in for three days a week instead of the one or two days, which appears to be becoming the norm.”

Some companies have decided to go fully remote, or are at least

open to hiring staff who are fully remote. It’s a move that can open up the available talent pool for studios, but it’s not an easy move to make.

“It’s critical to recognise what you’re missing out on by not having the team together every day,” Parker-Adcock says. “Creative people often work best in a team, so you need to set time up for sessions where ideas can bounce around the room.

Managers appear to struggle the most in this approach, as they must figure out how to lead, manage, and maintain a sense of company culture while working from home.

People are primarily left to their own devices, which makes onboarding new employees more difficult.”

The ability to hire people from anywhere means that employers could, in theory, hire talented people from places where the cost of living is lower, and potentially get away with paying less. But Parker Adcock says the truth is very much the opposite.

“Thanks to public salary surveys and websites like Glassdoor, it’s far more common for people to know what they’re worth. Thankfully, companies can no longer get away with recruiting low-cost employees, as was the case

in the past. In the last two years, we’ve seen some surprisingly high wages being offered, owing to a more competitive market for top talent.

One of the major challenges facing smaller businesses is that they are sometimes forced to compete on salary with larger, generally big city-based companies, which would have been a far less common problem in the past.”

Indeed, companies have to work harder than ever to attract staff and, more significantly, keep hold of them.

“There are more opportunities for the average games industry worker, and this will almost definitely lead to higher staff turnover for studios,” Parker Adcock concludes. “It’s a twosided coin for hiring managers, on one hand they have a bigger talent pool to attract new staff from, however there are now more opportunities for their current employees too. The last two years have been a bit of a wild ride, however I’m certain the industry will continue to evolve quickly and deal with these ever-changing trends.”

OPM Team

SPONSORED

STUDIO PROFILE: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY

We find out what’s going on behind the scenes at the world-famous Total War developer

Emma Smith, Creative Assembly

Creative Assembly is one of the biggest and most successful games studios in the UK. Famous for the Total War series, the firm has just released its latest game - the critically acclaimed Total War: Warhammer III. “It was an unforgettable experience for us, seeing the reviews, impressions, and excitement from press and players across the globe,” says studio development director David Bowman.

“Making games is never easy, but we are always humbled by the response and reminded about the rewarding and inspiring journey.”

One of the exciting projects at Creative Assembly is that it’s developing a new sci-fi FPS. “It still thrills me to be working with such smart, talented people who pour themselves into bringing these unique experiences to life,” Bowman says. “That passion and hard work are creating something very special that really will stand out in the competitive FPS market.”

He continues: “With every single one of our projects, we aim to surpass

expectations and offer something truly unique. However, each project also teaches us how to make the next one better and grows our teams’ abilities. That’s such a valuable ethos at Creative Assembly that we see across the entire business; that desire to share knowledge, to learn and to be the best that we can.

“I’ve worked at many studios over my years in games development – from small start-ups to the biggest names in the industry. What stands out about Creative Assembly is the strong people-focused values that are felt across the whole business.

We are continually looking for ways to improve, to have open dialogue at all levels, to listen and to learn from everyone’s experience and crucially being prepared to adapt and change when we need to.”

Beyond making games The studio may be known for its hit titles, but within the industry it has developed a reputation for being a top games employer - it is a fivetime winner of the UK Best Places To Work Awards. And it’s continually adapting to the needs of its teams.

“Thinking about our teams and culture, of course it’s been another strange 12 months as we’ve worked fully remote and through periods of national lockdowns in both the UK and Bulgaria,” says head of talent Emma Smith. “While I won’t pretend that it hasn’t been super challenging at times, it’s also been an opportunity for change and progress.

“We’ve put such an increased focus on empowering everyone at CA to have a voice and this is a theme through our weekly livestream with our studio

director, and through our work with our fantastic employee resource groups.

We’ve also invested in our wellbeing initiatives. It’s been important to provide a range of services and support from face-to-face counselling to virtual confidence building sessions. The world has been changing dramatically around us - we’ve needed to adapt the support we offer to better suit this situation.”

Outside of the studio itself, Creative Assembly has its Legacy Project, where it works with the next generation of talent - and in particular disadvantaged and underrepresented young people on breaking into the games industry.

Something that’s become more important since the pandemic.

“This is why we donated more than £30,000 in technology to give students access at home and launched a new Game Design scholarship programme which sees its first students receive financial support and expert mentorship this year,” Smith adds.

Best of all, Creative Assembly is looking for talented people to join its team.

“We are recruiting for junior to senior developers across all disciplines,” Smith concludes. “A particular area of growth is our technology teams.

We want to hear from individuals who take a rich and diverse approach to the craft of programming, who utilise a variety of technologies, data analytics and user research to provide the services games depend on.

“Game experience isn’t always required, just a healthy passion for creating and innovating in technology as part of an agile team.”

For more, check out the Creative Assembly website.

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SPONSORED

STUDIO PROFILE: SQUARE ENIX MONTRÉAL The famous mobile developer is celebrating its tenth anniversary

Square Enix Montréal, the studio famous for acclaimed mobile games such as Lara Croft Go and Hitman Sniper, is in the middle of its tenth anniversary celebrations.

The developer is marking the occasion with a series of initiatives, including ’10 years, 10 donations’, where it has donated $100,000 to causes in the city of Montréal, Canada (where it’s based). Employees voted on the causes, which included areas such as diversity, poverty reduction, homelessness and even paediatric care.

introduced a concept called Magic Mondays that gives the team every second Monday off with pay. It was initially a temporary measure designed to help staff who were often dealing with family obligations on top of their job and needed to unwind and recharge.

Magic Mondays proved so popular that the perk has become permanent, without any salary reductions.

Considering that, it’s perhaps no surprise that last year Square Enix Montréal won a GamesIndustry. biz Best Places To Work Award.

A diverse future

Square Enix Montréal team

Like every games studio, Square Enix Montréal has been adapting to the hybrid model as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. The studio admits that there is no finish line when it comes to reinventing the workplace of tomorrow, and therefore it’s focused its energies on the wellbeing of its team.

In June 2021 during the height of stay-at-home orders, the company

Square Enix Montréal is proactive in trying to promote greater the diversity of the video games industry. The studio is a co-founder with Gameloft Montréal and Ludia Games of an event called Next Lev’Elles. This unique cross-studio collaboration presents inspirational talks from women who have made their mark in tech and video games.

The event also serves as a fundraiser for local organizations that help vulnerable women in the Montréal community. The first two Next Lev’Elles events raised over $15,000 for charity.

All the charity work and wellbeing support is fantastic, but the real excitement about life at Square Enix Montréal is around the games.

It’s just released the excellent mobile game Hitman Sniper: The Shadows and is currently working on a new vision for Space Invaders on mobile with augmented reality features.

The games may be the job, but the management team is always committed

to the people first and foremost.

The studio’s mantra is ‘people before product’, and this is proven in how it acts and the decisions it makes. In the past year, the studio has launched employeeled values committees that empower any member of the team to propose initiatives and programs for the studio to truly live by its values of Collaboration, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Inclusion, and being Player Centric.

Employees are also provided with a one-time reimbursement of expenses related to setting up their home office and can participate in a Volunteer Recognition program.

These moments and initiatives are frequent for the staff at Square Enix Montréal.

The studio has big ambtions for its future. It is committed to bringing mobile games to that next level of quality. It is proud of the fact that its dev teams are relatively small and that everyone at Square Enix Montréal should feel like they can influence the product they’re working on and be given the space to innovate, ask questions, imagine, and learn. Plus, of course, work on big games brands that have the potential to reach hundreds of millions of gamers via mobile.

The teams may be small, but it is an ever-expanding company.

Right now, Square Enix Montréal is looking for numerous roles across the business, but particularly it is on the hunt for game designers and business intelligence specialists of all varieties to help support its growth.

Why not check out the jobs available right now at the Square Enix Montréal website.

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LESSONS LEARNT FROM LAUNCHING A STUDIO WHILE AT UNIVERSITY Waving Bear Studio’s co-founders talk about the challenges of transitioning from student to becoming your own boss

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

Having your own studio working on a passion project is the dream of many students learning about games development.

And it’s a dream that came true for Waving Bear Studio’s co-founders when they created their own outfit while studying at Portsmouth University in 2016, before an official launch after their graduation in 2018.

“Our uni let us do a gap [year] between our second and third year, and either work for another company or create our own,” co-founder Matt Busuttil, also animator and project manager, tells the GamesIndustry.biz Academy.

“And we thought, ‘Why don’t we have a go at it ourselves and see what we can do for the end of the year, make our own business?’”

The team also included Lucy Earp, now director and 3D artist, with CTO Dan Busuttil soon joining them as well.

They started working on a concept that would soon become Stuffed, a different kind of co-op first-person shooter, taking place in the dreams of a little girl.

As teddy bears, players have to defend her against nightmares, in a procedurally-generated world.

Earp is the one who originally came up with the concept, which evolved from a “Five Nights at Freddy’s horror vibe” to something more kid-friendly when the team realised - after showing the game at conventions during their placement year that children really enjoyed it.

“[We thought] maybe there was a market here, where [children] are clearly craving these sorts of games but obviously aren’t allowed to,” Matt Busuttil says. “So, we went back to the drawing board, and went, ‘Okay, let’s try and cutesy this up’. What is drawing them to it, and what can we do about that? See what can we keep that they’re enjoying, make it age appropriate, and more casual.”

Stuffed released in Early Access on Steam this year.

But the road from game development student to releasing a project under their name was long and winding. Waving Bear is very earnest about the challenges it has faced since the studio’s inception, and keen to share the lessons learnt along the way to help peers in similar situations.

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Waving Bear’s Stuffed released in Early Access in December

Do your research, give yourself time In 2018, before the team even graduated, Waving Bear set up a Kickstarter for Stuffed.

The funding goal of around £60,000 was ambitious and ultimately wasn’t reached.

“We were all in our third year of uni, we had been rejected by a few publishers and still wanted to carry on,” Matt Busuttil says. “We were still getting buzz around [Stuffed], so we thought we’d try and raise the money through Kickstarter.

We didn’t know what we were doing at all.

So, we jumped in head first to Kickstarter while we were doing our dissertations.

That failed horrendously.

I think we got £2,000.

“SOME PEOPLE FOCUS ON But if we’re completely honest, I think that was GETTING THIS PRODUCT a blessing in disguise TO THE MARKET, RATHER because we wouldn’t have THAN, ‘WE’RE A STUDIO been able to do what we [promised]. We were just HERE, HOW CAN WE too early at the time.”

KEEP GOING?’” Kickstarter is still a Matt Busuttil, Waving Bear platform of choice for funding games development.

A total of 408 crowdfunding campaigns met their goals in 2020, the highest number for video games since 2014.

So if that’s an option you’re exploring, the Waving Bear team has words of advice, lessons learnt from its own experience.

“Do your research,” Matt Busuttil says.

“Make sure you actually understand how that world works. Understand how marketing works. Make sure to give yourself

time. We gave ourselves two months’ prep to do this. That was nowhere near enough. You need to really try and market your game.

You need to get that secure fanbase for it.

“And there are a lot of things with Kickstarter that people don’t realise.

You do need to have a big chunk of the money beforehand. I think they even recommend themselves to have half the money that you want already, and this is just treated as a top-up. So it’s quite rare for someone to come on with no experience to understand what they’re doing with Kickstarter, and then get the money.”

Dan Busuttil highlights that the issue with setting up a Kickstarter coming straight out of uni is that you either don’t know how much money you need or you don’t know how long it’s going to take.

“You think you can do it all on this small budget,” he says. “Most of the time, you don’t get that budget anyway, but I feel like even if you did get that cash, you would really struggle with getting it done in time.

“You need to be a semi-functioning studio beforehand, and then asking for that cash to keep yourselves going, because you do also end up cannibalising a lot of sales.

If you do get £100,000 committed through Kickstarter, that’s £100,000 of game sales already done, already spent, because they’re not going to buy the game again.”

Matt Busuttil continues: “Everything costs more than you think, and takes longer than you think, and I think a lot of people don’t realise that.

We didn’t realise that at the time.”

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Look for opportunities everywhere

Remember that you’re running a business

After the Kickckarter, the team looked for opportunities to keep going and found one in the form of a tech incubator in Cornwall: Launchpad. It’s around that time that 3D artist Ashley Wharfe joined the studio.

He originally met Matt Busuttil during his third year as they were working on a uni project together.

“Matt messaged me, just out of the blue, because there [initially] was another artist [but] he didn’t want to come down to Cornwall, and they panicked,” Wharfe smiles. “I had nothing else going on, so I was like, ‘Yes, sure, I’ll move halfway across the country to start a studio with you’.”

Launchpad funded the first year of Waving Bear as a full-fledged studio, with the team able to focus on development full time.

“That was really useful, and we recommend it to any students coming out of uni,” Wharfe says. “If you can find some kind of scheme like that where you can be funded to work on [your project] full-time, it’s a really useful transition from that student to that professional, full-time working mentality. And then, beyond that, when we were trying to raise funding. I think the mindset was: any and all funding was a good option.

“We were prepared to pivot in so many [directions].

There was an esports investor [so] there was one point we were going to turn the game into a full competitive esports mode. Every grant that was available, we were looking at. Every investor, publisher. It was just being open to options, really.”

Another very important lesson when launching your own studio to work on a passion project is to remember that you’re not only here to develop a game. You are running a business, and you should focus on ways to stay afloat, even if that sometimes means making changes to what you’re working on.

“I think we all saw that trap, how you separate yourself from your product,” Dan Busuttil says. “Some people focus on getting this product to the market, rather than, ‘We’re a studio here, how can we keep going?’

And then build the product as well. [For us], it was just: how do we keep ourselves going as a studio? We were even looking at mobile at one point. We’re just constantly looking at ways to survive, really.

And then, eventually, “IT’S A MARATHON, we got to the position ESSENTIALLY, where we are now, where we could get INSTEAD OF A SPRINT” investment in.”

Matt Busuttil, Dan mentions Waving Bear this misconception that everything starts from an idea that you pitch to a publisher, and then you get “the lump sum of £300,000 your way.”

“That’s almost unheard of,” he adds. “We do know one team that did do that, and they were successful from it, but you don’t really hear it anywhere else from indie teams, especially if you’re just starting out.

Lessons learnt from uni studio

We mentor some teams, and they often have that mentality of, ‘So, we’ve got this game idea, and we’re just waiting for this £300,000’. But eventually, they come around to the idea of it being very, very difficult.

“If we look back now, three years ago, you would see that we were attached to this game rather than what we could do with it.

“YOU HAVE TO LEARN TO DEAL WITH REJECTION. THAT GETS EASIER, BUT YOU HAVE TO GET REALLY GOOD AT UNDERSTANDING FEEDBACK”

Matt Busuttil, Waving Bear

You have to look at where the market’s going. You can probably bend most IPs into some sort of market fit, or some sort of appealing product.

It’s just separating yourself enough, and being around long enough to see those changes that you can make.

That’s the hard bit. But sometimes, it’s this or die, really.”

Matt Busuttil agrees, and adds that the hardest thing when launching your own studio is simply to keep going, and that it’s easier to find small investments than to wait for a big sum of money that you think is going to “solve all problems.”

“I think this time last year we got £5,000 from an investor, which in the grand scheme of things isn’t a huge amount, but we were over the moon because that meant we could then hire someone to help us,” he says. “And it’s all these small stepping stones.

It’s like, ‘Okay, we got a little bit

Waving Bear is hoping to bring Stuffed to consoles this year

of money there, that means we can get here’. It’s a marathon, essentially, instead of a sprint.

“People forget that you’re still running a business. Even if you’re selling flowers or you’re a bakery, there’s still the business side that people forget they have to do.

You have to figure out the taxes, and how all that sort of stuff works, and in the same way, you’re not building the game for yourself. Don’t get me wrong, we love what we’re doing, and we do enjoy the product, but you have to mould to what the audience wants, and you can’t just be like, ‘I love this thing, I’m putting this in it’, if it’s not going to sell and it’s not going to attract people. You do have to bend and change, and I think some people can’t get past that.”

On the topic of figuring out taxes and other aspects of running a business, Wharfe adds that early on they didn’t know about investment schemes such as the UK’s Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and Enterprise Investment Scheme until investors asked them about it. He invites every new studio founder to really research these options ahead of time so they know what they’re talking about when meeting with investors.

Learn how to deal with people The games industry is a people business. That means that, when launching your own studio, you need to learn the various facets of what dealing with people means.

Constant rejection is one of them.

“Daily, multiple times a day,” Matt Busuttil adds. “You have to learn to deal with rejection.

That gets easier, to the point where it doesn’t really bother us anymore, but you have to get

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really good at understanding feedback, and understanding why someone said something.

“So, if someone’s saying ‘This game is crap’, why are they saying that? Do they just not like that genre? Is there thought behind that, or are they just hating on your product?

You really have to decipher [it].

“We got feedback this morning, someone emailed us, and it was such a horrible email, but we looked at what they said and went, ‘Actually, that’s a good point’, and we fixed something.

You have to learn that a lot of these people forget that you’re individuals, and it’s not some big, corporate company behind the screen, and it’s quite hurtful, sometimes, but you have to separate yourself from that.

On top of that [there’s] just random hate as well, people saying all kinds of horrible things on social media, and you’re like, ‘Why do you care this much?’”

It’s also about learning to talk to different types of people, from an established game publisher interested in your pitch, to an investor who knows way less about the medium.

“I feel like games people get in a bubble where they only talk to other games people, and assume that everything they do is games, and they understand all these nuances, whereas if you’re talking to an investor, they might not necessarily understand that, so you have to change your language,” Matt Busuttil says.

“You have to talk more about the money side of things, how the company’s going to grow, or you as individuals. Whereas when you’re talking to a publisher, it might just be the game focus.

So, reading who you’re talking to, and being able to change your pitch, essentially.”

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From left to right: Matt Busuttil, Dan Busuttil, Lucy Earp & Ashley Wharfe

Go for it, but don’t forget to have fun When asked for a final word of advice for students looking to launch their own studio, Ashley Wharfe says that it might sound like a cliché, but that “if you want to do it, just do it, and stick with it.”

“If it’s something you want to do, there are ways through it,” he continues.

“There are ways to get funding. There will be other people who want to do it with you, just take the gamble, really. Do it, try it, and don’t give up. You’re going to get rejected.

There are going to be hard times. There are going to be points where you think of throwing in the towel. But if you stick with it, then hopefully, at some point in the future, you can get to where you want to be with it.”

Dan Busuttil adds that not only should you go for it, but you should enjoy it. If you’re not, this might not be the right move for you and the outcome might not be positive.

“Start doing it, yes, but the key bit is to enjoy doing it, and believe in [it],” he says. “The bits about having funding, they’re the hardest bits, and if you don’t actually enjoy either the product you’re working on or the industry you’re working in, the chances of it working out are just so slim.”

Earp echoes their sentiment, highlighting how hard the whole process is, but how much enjoyment you can also get from it.

“It’s not easy but it’s still really fun,” she says.

“And I’m really enjoying it still, even several years down the line. I’d much rather be making this than working just a 9 to 5 job. So, if you have the passion, the drive and the resilience

to getting knocked back, because you will get knocked back a lot, then, yes, just go for it.”

Matt Busuttil goes back to a previous point he’s made: the hardest part is just to keep going. But he argues that the amount of work that goes into developing a game is time well invested if it’s invested in yourself rather than someone else’s company.

“There have been a lot of times when you’re like, ‘We could just end it now and walk away.’

The hardest thing is just to motivate yourself to keep going. The thing is if you do get a job in the industry, you’re going to be working just as hard anyway, for someone else. You might as well put that effort into your own time. Invest in yourself, basically, to see what you can get done.

You’re just going to look back at it otherwise, thinking, ‘I should have done that’. Things take time, as well. It’s not an overnight success. It takes years.”

Looking at the future, the Waving Bear team is aiming to launch Stuffed on console this year, and hopes to be able to build more IP within the same universe. The studio would also love to keep Stuffed going as a live game “for as long as people are interested” instead of just moving onto the next game immediately.

“Leading on from that, outside of the context of the game, the goal is always just to keep growing the studio bigger and bigger,” Wharfe says. “So, bring on more developers, more artists, and other roles. It’s just constantly trying to grow, always pushing to be bigger and better.

“And hopefully get a bigger room than this one day - I don’t think we’ll fit many more in than we’ve currently got,” he laughs.

Page Title

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HOW IS THE DIVERSITY SITUATION IN GAMES?

Liz Prince, business manager of Amiqus and founder of G Into Gaming, discusses the industry’s efforts to be more inclusive and diverse

What’s the latest from G Into Gaming?

Even though we’ve been unable to meet with studios and individuals in person, we have been busy raising awareness of the need for more gender diversity in the games industry, taking part in virtual events such as Women in Games, the Games Education Summit, the Gamesindustry. biz Best Places To Work, and more.

We have also carried out extensive research of games industry professionals on their attitudes to remote and flexible working.

Our findings have revealed a general, and genuine, desire for more flexible working options, but it is worth noting that broader options from employers in terms of when, where and how staff work is more important for those with caring responsibilities – which are mostly women - and for anyone who may find it difficult to work full-time in an office. Following this survey, we’re working to create solutions that help studios to attract and retain diverse talent.

How has games progressed in terms of diversifying?

The recently released UKIE Census has revealed only small margins of change as the pandemic has meant a distinctly not ‘business as usual’ scenario. Of course, the recent reports of toxicity and harassment at some of the largest games publishers have done nothing to

attract young women to games.

However, what has definitely changed over the past couple of years is the recognition by studios that they must change their attitudes towards diversity. Consumers, particularly GenZ, are demanding that companies show a commitment to diversity and inclusion.

They are not accepting token gestures.

Studios know this and, to be fair, there are many who now have a true desire to make their workplaces more diverse, and their cultures more inclusive.

There are some fantastic companies such as Creative Assembly, Splash Damage, Sumo, Payload, Mediatonic, nDreams, Electric Square, NetSpeak Games and Hangar13 who are all investing time and resources into inclusion and diversity. But, clearly more must be done.

What are you hoping to see more of over the next few years?

I believe that a new attitude to flexible working and other new working patterns will have a huge impact on diversity. We know that flexibility has allowed parents to better manage their work/life balance. Remote working will also open up opportunities for those who need a home working environment, or don’t have the resources to relocate, afford to commute or to live in high-cost locations.

I would like to see more studios recognise that remote working can help to create a more diverse and inclusive industry, as well as offering

myriad other benefits such as increased employee wellbeing and - according to research - an uplift in productivity.

I would like more to see more employer focus on proactive management and de-biasing of promotion processes and programmes to support women into leadership roles.

I’d like to see more studios taking women’s health, such as menstruation, pregnancy and menopause, much more seriously. Although not directly a health issue, having shared parental maternity leave would also make a huge difference to women who are looking to develop their careers.

And last, I’d like to see gender and race pay gap reporting from across the industry.

What message would you like to share with students looking to get into this business?

Attend as many events as you can – either in person, or virtually – and network. The games industry is an incredibly welcoming place, and there will always be people to talk to you.

Make the most of the brilliant organisations that work in the industry to support graduates, young people and under-represented groups.

Outside of G Into Gaming, there’s POC in Play, Out Making Games, BAME in Games, Women in Games, Autistica Play and other organisations supporting under-represented groups. And specifically for young people, Next Gen Skills Academy and IntoGames provide invaluable advice.

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HOW TO GET A JOB AS A GAME PROGRAMMER The GamesIndustry.biz Academy explores the routes into one of the business’ core competencies: game programming

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

Despite the myriad of fields coming together in the creation of a video game, the game developer cliché is often one of the reclusive, nerdy programmer coding in a corner.

This isn’t not only a misrepresentation of how games are made, but also of how programmers work.

Programming is a creative field that requires technical knowledge and lots of interpersonal communication with other disciplines in order to pin down entire systems and mechanics, fix bugs, create rules, and just code an entire world to life.

“The job of a programmer is to understand a problem, figure out the best solution for that program given a set of constraints, and model that set of solutions as a series of well-engineered abstractions,” sums up Rodrigo Braz Monteiro, CTO at Chucklefish.

Monteiro has been a programmer in the games industry for 16 years, and climbing through the ranks at the Wargroove developer since 2016. We asked him and three other programmers with varying seniority levels how one can come to be in this role.

Rodrigo Braz Monteiro was lead programmer on Chucklefish’s Wargroove

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Sports Interactive’s Football Manager 2022

What education do I need to get a job as a games programmer?

Programming is a field that requires hard skills, meaning that a traditional educational path can be beneficial, for those who can afford it and who are receptive to that approach.

“I have a BSc in computer science and engineering, and an MSc in artificial intelligence,” says Duygu Cakmak, who has been a programmer for over a decade and is now project technical director at Creative Assembly.

“I think my education was closely aligned with what I wanted to do, and I would recommend a similar path to people who would like to follow a similar formal route in education.”

Nikhil Ramburrun, game programmer at Beans, recommends looking into either a computer science or an engineering degree if going to school is an option available to you.

“It does open more opportunities if you choose to do something else halfway through,” he explains.

“My own background is in electrical engineering, so my degree wasn’t

focused on programming, but I did take some courses. A lot of things about programming are self-taught, in my opinion.”

Jaden Palmer-Leandre graduated from a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2018, and has been working at Sports Interactive as a gameplay programmer since. He agrees that his degree helped him secure his first job but doesn’t think formal education is crucial to becoming a programmer.

“The best way to develop your skills and learn is to just start programming,” he says. “At the same time you will be developing an excellent portfolio that will showcase your talents better than any degree will.

If you can show you have the same breadth of knowledge as a graduate you will have a good chance.”

Monteiro is a good example of a self-taught programmer. He did study in adjacent fields but initially started coding when he was 11 through Klik & Play, a 1994 game development app, before slowly picking up C and C++ from age 13.

“Because I didn’t think you could realistically be a game developer in Brazil, I ended up going to university for engineering - mechatronics at first, then

Duygu Cakmak, CA

computer engineering,” he says. “Having a strong grasp of both computer science and mathematics (especially geometry and linear algebra) is essential - and I strongly disagree with anyone who claims otherwise! But it can be selftaught if you have the inclination for it, and indeed nearly all of my knowledge of computer science is self-taught.

“Different methods work better for different people, but keep in mind that there will always be a minimum amount of self-teaching that will be needed, since you’ll be constantly running into

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“DIFFERENT METHODS WORK BETTER FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE, BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A MINIMUM AMOUNT OF SELF-TEACHING THAT WILL BE NEEDED” Rodrigo Monteiro, Chucklefish

novel problems frequently throughout your whole career. For people who learn better by themselves, self-teaching might be the better option. There are other benefits that university will provide, of course, such as connecting you with a network of mentors, potential employees, and like-minded people, but it’s far from the only road.

When it comes to hiring programmers,

Nikhil Ramburrun used to be gameplay programmer at Far Cry 6 developer Ubisoft Toronto

I don’t consider whether they actually hold a relevant (or any) degree, as their body of work is a far more important metric.”

Cakmak also highlights that there are many ways to learn beyond traditional paths.

“Attending conferences ultimately had real value for my journey - I went to the Nucl.ai conference, which is where I met the Creative Assembly team,” she says. “I don’t think that formal education is necessarily crucial for a successful career in programming.

Regardless of whether you have tertiary education or not, curiosity and selflearning and a drive for continuous selfimprovement is the best route to success.

“For this field especially, given that [it’s] always advancing, if an individual chooses a path of self-education, there is a need to continually identify knowledge gaps and areas for improvement, and strive to learn those areas systematically and autonomously.”

Video game programming

What experience do I need to get a job in games programming?

Finding your first job as a games programmer has more to do with your portfolio than it has to do with your experience. And as already highlighted, said portfolio can be built in autonomy or through a degree.

“There are opportunities to become a games programmer through junior positions and these usually don’t require previous experience, but they will usually be looking for a bachelor’s degree or a stellar portfolio,” Palmer-Leandre says. “Without experience, there must be some evidence of you being passionate and knowledgeable about the subject matter. Build games or small programs while you hone your skills and show them off - this will almost always convey your feelings accurately.”

You can learn a lot by doing game development projects and getting them out to the public, Ramburrun says, adding: “Even more than people who went to school.”

“You’ll learn to design, code and - most importantly - test your video game,” he continues. “I’m definitely a more practical person, so I learned a lot through making projects than I could have from just school.

“WITHOUT EXPERIENCE, THERE MUST BE SOME EVIDENCE OF YOU BEING PASSIONATE AND KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE SUBJECT MATTER” Jaden Palmer-Leandre, SI

“As for getting into games, having game dev projects absolutely helps you stand out. Some companies have programs for new graduates, like Ubisoft Toronto Next, to help them get into the industry without the experience, so I would keep an eye out for that. You can also make an impact at hackathons, like Hack the North, and game jams.”

Jaden Palmer-Leandre, SI

Getting started with game programming has become much easier in recent years, Monteiro points out, due to the democratisation of game development tools such as Unity, Unreal, GameMaker, and Godot, he notes.

If you’re unfamiliar with these engines, the GamesIndustry.biz Academy has a series of guides on the topic.

“A large number of general purpose game engines allow you to get started without needing a deep understanding of systems programming,” Monteiro continues. “In my opinion, the best path to get into game programming is to download one of those engines, watch some YouTube tutorials, and just try implementing some simple games.

“The full body of knowledge required to be a senior game programmer is very extensive and will require years of practice, reading, and researching, but the first steps are now accessible to anyone who has a knack for abstract thought and a love for making things... And it’s a very fun journey.”

More important than your programming background is whether or not you can admit what you don’t know and are willing to ask questions, Ramburrun says when asked about what he’d look for when recruiting a programmer.

“Making games is a team effort and being able to mesh with the team is very important. I would rather have someone who’s programming skills aren’t as strong but is willing to leave their ego [behind], learn and work together as a team, than someone who is an expert in C++ but is terrible to work with.”

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What qualities and skills do I need to be a game programmer?

When looking for a new recruit for a programming job, Monteiro says he looks for the following: • Does this person seem like they can communicate effectively with the whole team?

• What is their body of work like?

These could be either personal or professional projects, and the scope here will depend on the seniority of the role.

• What are their main interests in programming? Do they seem passionate about tackling hard problems, or are they content with getting by with whatever they can scrape off the Internet?

This boils it down to a few key areas.

• 1. Technical abilities

• 2. Problem-solving

“A good programmer is a lazy programmer,” Ramburrun says.

“No matter how cool it sounds, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel if the technology is already there.”

This assumes a knowledge in various programming languages whether C++, Java, C#, or something else, which you will have learnt in school or by yourself. Ultimately, the languages you need will depend on the position you’re aiming for.

An interest and a keen ability for problem-solving are also essential to being a good programmer.

“Aside from the knowledge of your chosen language(s), good problemsolving skills are a requirement as there are always problems to solve and many of them abstract,” PalmerLeandre says. “Patience will also help you when you’re coming up against code that’s difficult to debug.”

Being good at problem-solving also comes with a curious mind, Cakmak says, as well as a drive to continuously self-improve.

“We are always looking for individuals who have high problemsolving skills. This doesn’t mean they necessarily know how to solve every problem, but more how to ask the right questions about a given problem, and suggest solutions based on the requirements.

“Perpetually solving problems can sometimes be frustrating, and a positive, can-do attitude is really important,” she continues. “It is worth noting that every problem may well have several solutions, and almost always there is no perfect solution.

It is always a balancing act of tradeoffs to some degree. An experienced programmer will be able to effectively see the problem from many different angles, and in turn assess the ultimate compromises and trade-offs with a view of the ultimate needs of the software.”

As already touched upon, problem solving also includes ironing out abstract issues, so this is something you need to be comfortable with.

“Programmers must have the ability to do complex abstract reasoning, the same skills you need when you’re solving a puzzle, figuring out the solution to a maths problem, or making a decision in a complicated situation.

“Programmers must have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge in their field, as they will need to be learning new skills on a daily basis, for the rest of their careers.

Programming is not a good job for people who want to learn a skill and be done with the learning process!”

“A GOOD PROGRAMMER IS A LAZY PROGRAMMER. NO MATTER HOW COOL IT SOUNDS, THERE’S NO NEED TO REINVENT THE WHEEL IF THE TECHNOLOGY IS ALREADY THERE” Nikhil Ramburrun, Beans

Keep in mind that you will also learn a lot on the job.

“From the technical side, the first thing we look for is fluency in C++ as we develop our games in our inhouse C++ game engine,” says Cakmak about Creative Assembly’s needs. “An understanding of how the end-to-end process of game development works and how games are made is also important, as well as a passion for them.”

Rodrigo Braz Monteiro, Chucklefish

Video game programming

• 3. Communication and teamwork

professional experiences and being a nice, kind and understanding person goes a long way. Leaving your ego at the door is a good way to get started on that.”

There’s a skill that’s common to almost Working in multi-disciplinary teams every single job in games, and it’s the ability means it is essential to be able to to work as part of a team. You can’t say it communicate technical concepts to nonenough: making games is not a solo effort. technical people, “as well as be receptive to “As clichéd as it may sound, commercial and design communication concepts that influence and teamwork are our technical approach,” crucial to being a “AN EXPERIENCED Cakmak says. better programmer,” PROGRAMMER WILL Palmer-Leandre says.

“The best BE ABLE TO SEE THE programmers don’t “If you can explain work in isolation; in an your ideas clearly PROBLEM FROM ideal world the most and work in a way DIFFERENT ANGLES, effective solutions and that facilitates other AND ASSESS THE TRADEtechnical approaches team members it will arise from collaboration most certainly lead to OFFS WITH A VIEW OF - this can be senior a successful career.”

THE SOFTWARE’S NEEDS” programmers sharing Which means Duygu Cakmak, CA previous experience, that having good as well as ideas communication and surfaced from more interpersonal skills junior team members suggesting is very important, Ramburrun adds. alternative approaches. Mentoring, and “Working in games, you’ll find that being a mentee, are important paths you talk to a lot more people other than to success at every stage and are often just your teammates. They will have genuinely rewarding and motivational.” different backgrounds, personal and

Creative Assembly’s A Total War Saga: Troy

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What are the common misconceptions about games programming?

There are several clichés that come with being a programmer. These misconceptions are detrimental to the field and can often have a turnoff effect for aspiring recruits.

Or, on the contrary, it might wrongly make it an attractive field to some.

One of these misconceptions is linked to the skill we just discussed: teamwork.

“Programmers are often thought of as reclusive and antisocial,” Monteiro says. “There are “THE CONSIDERATION certainly many moments of focused solitude as THAT GOES INTO you try to solve some DESIGNING SYSTEMS complex problem, but a AND FEATURES FROM programmer who can’t communicate well with THE GROUND-UP CAN the rest of the team is BE A FORM OF ART ultimately never going to IN AND OF ITSELF” be a great programmer.”

Duygu Cakmak, CA Palmer-Leandre says the most common misconception about being a programmer is that “you will be writing code like in Mr Robot.”

“Sometimes you think you will have code flowing through your fingertips at all times and be completely knowledgeable enough

to do this in a language before you really begin,” he explains. “You will learn that it takes many years to become fully proficient and even then, there are always new things to learn, it’s the beauty of programming.

You will likely visit StackOverflow and many other websites frequently during your career and will always need reminding of - and learning - lots of different concepts.”

For Ramburrun, the most common misconception has to do with hard skills, and the idea that you need to be great at math to be a good programmer.

“There’s little truth in that. In reality, you’ll learn a lot of things on the job and each position has a specific skillset that you’ll develop the longer you are there,” he says. “It’s okay not to know about something and it’s okay to admit that.

What matters is how willing you are to learn and consistently improve.

Also being a good person goes a long way.”

Finally, Cakmak touches upon a core issue: “One of the biggest misconceptions around programming as a discipline is that it is not creative. This is far from the truth - there are many ways to solve different problems and creativity is a key part of finding the right solutions.

The consideration that goes into designing systems and features from the groundup can be a form of art in and of itself.”

Chucklefish’s upcoming magical school sim, Witchbrook

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Creative Assembly’s latest release Total War: Warhammer 3

What are the career progression opportunities of a game programmer?

As Ramburrun puts it: “There are different career tracks you can progress through, but generally as a programmer it will fall into two broad categories: managing people or managing the tech.

Monteiro, in addition to being Chucklefish’s “If you’re not sure if you’d like to be a CTO, still works as a programmer people manager, you can request manager currently as lead on the company’s upcoming magical school sim, Witchbrook. training to see if that’s your cup of tea.

“Most programmers are in love with On the other side, if you like the tech and their craft, and resist moving to more programming a lot more, then becoming a senior programmer is managerial positions later in their career,” an option after getting he points out. “A typical more experience. path will involve “But your career also doesn’t have to be linear, becoming a senior or principal programmer, and you don’t need to stick to one dedicated and many programmers will gladly stay in that pathway. It can be position to the end of driven by your passion and interests, which their careers, or they can become involved might change as you’re exposed to different in more managerial roles and become lead roles and job families.” programmers, technical Managing people directors, or CTOs. or managing the tech is what Creative Assembly “Because programming is an calls the Leadership or Nikhil Ramburrun, Beans Expert pathways. incredibly useful skill, many programmers The former can take find a lot of success you into associate in completely unrelated fields, using roles to mid developers, senior and finally principal. The latter steers you their programming skill as their ‘secret towards becoming a lead for the team, weapon’ to give them an edge in whatever new career they pursue.” after which you can reach director roles.

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ADVICE AND RESOURCES FOR NEW AND ASPIRING GAME PROGRAMMERS Don’t specialise too early When she started studying with the idea to work in games, Cakmak really wanted to work in artificial intelligence. Which is why she followed on her bachelor’s degree in computer science with a masters degree in AI. While she doesn’t express any regret in doing so, she confesses that she might do things differently if she had to do it again.

“From the outset, I was an AI programmer through and through, and I focused on my specialisation a lot. If I were to start again, I would make sure that I took the time to ‘get my hands dirty’ with all aspects of game development as much as possible, to broaden my horizons.

“Each domain provides a different set of problems to solve and unique challenges, and in turn gives you a perspective to understand and come up with varied solutions and problemsolving methodologies in multiple areas.

This broadens one’s perspective and improves their ability to transfer different techniques in their own specialisation to create more effective and better solutions.”

March to the beat of your own drum When starting in games, it’s easy to feel a bit overwhelmed. As much as possible, try to not compare yourself to others and don’t be afraid to ask questions.

“I’ve had a great experience in my first few years as a programmer and wouldn’t change it for anything but, if I could do anything differently, it would be to not set my own expectations so high and compare myself to others,” Palmer-Leandre says. “Everyone is on their own separate journey and works in their own ways, comparing to another is the most counter-productive thing you can do, nothing good can come of it.”

Ramburrun adds: “I would definitely ask more questions. I tend to try and do things on my own, but I quickly realised that game development is a big machine and asking questions is not just very important for your development but also in making sure you have all the right tools to make your learning experience as smooth as possible.”

“GO AND CODE. FIND A PROBLEM YOU WANT TO SOLVE AND BUILD SOMETHING TO FIX IT” Jaden PalmerLeandre, SI

Video game programming

Go and code

small games, and game systems,” she says. “Re-factor and spend hours and days practicing again. Programming The most common piece of advice theory is of course important, but the from our interviewees was to just most vital aspect of becoming a good give coding a go, and make projects. programmer requires days, months and “Start now! Like, right now,” years of practice and perseverance.

Monteiro says. “A lot of people want to “Find interesting problems that appeal ‘one day’ try programming, but there’s to you, and then try to solve these using no time better than right now. Don’t wait multiple approaches. until ‘after you go to Communicate with uni,’ just go ahead and give it a try.” others and look at “BUT YOUR CAREER publicly available Palmer-Leandre ALSO DOESN’T HAVE solutions to analyse adds: “Go and code.

TO BE LINEAR, AND YOU and assess. The Find a problem you ultimate goal is to want to solve and build DON’T NEED TO STICK never stop learning.” something to fix it. If you TO ONE DEDICATED Ramburrun also want to become a games PATHWAY” advises to not limit programmer, download Nikhil Ramburrun, Beans yourself to a specific a game engine and work language and engine. through tutorials and “Make small projects documentation to learn and release them to the public,” he says. the ‘ins and outs’ of it. There are many “You’ll wear different hats and that will languages, engines and frameworks out help you speak the same language as there and there’s a big chance that one will be a perfect match to your skills and needs.” designers, production and testers when you Cakmak says it’s important to go beyond go out to a studio. If the possibility opens up to you, I would absolutely recommend the theory and just get your hands dirty. trying to get a mentorship in games.”

“Undertake personal projects, create

Resources

Books

Online Resources

All our interviewees recommended looking for YouTube tutorials on programming.

Beyond that, here are the resources they recommended to newcomers:

• “The Pragmatic Programmer”

by Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas, an excellent primer in the philosophy of good software engineering

• HackerRank, to prepare for interviews and brushing up on skills

• “C++17 - The Complete Guide”

by Nicolai M. Josuttis • “Effective Modern C++”

by Scott Meyers • “Software Engineering at Google: Lessons Learned from Programming Over Time” by Hyrum Wright, Titus Winters, and Tom Manshreck • More books are recommended in this Creative Assembly talk about how to become a programmer (see list in the article)

• W3Schools, to learn a language as a complete beginner • Udemy has good programming courses, particularly game programming • Stack Overflow for when you are stuck on a problem • “Where to Get Started Learing C++ and What Resources to Use,” article by Shafik Yaghmour

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HOW TO GET A JOB IN GAME DESIGN The GamesIndustry.biz Academy looks into how to get a job as a game designer

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds started as a mod - modding is a great place to start your game design career

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

Game design is a term that’s often used but widely misunderstood. Many people dream about becoming a game designer, but what does that entail exactly?

What does a game designer actually do?

Game design is a blend of analytical thinking and creative spirit. As a game designer, you’ll be asked not only to come up with the overall setting and feel of a game, but also its rules and mechanics. Being a game designer means having a vision, and then using technical skills to bring that vision to life.

One of the core traits of a game designer is the ability to understand how things function in a game and justify why they work that way. Everything from the gameplay loop to specific mechanics, from challenges to level design and story flow, needs to have a reason to be - figuring out that reason is the game designer’s job.

Depending on the studio, the role of the game designer can encompass a wide variety of tasks. In smaller companies, the game designer can also be the creative director or the lead programmer or writer, while in bigger studios those roles would be held by different people working hand-in-hand. There are also many specialties under the game design label - you can branch into level design, UI design or systems design for instance.

We’ll explore some of these specialties elsewhere in the GamesIndustry.biz Academy, but you have to walk before you can run - let’s start by looking at how to become a game designer.

“YOU NEED TO ANALYSE EVERYTHING YOU PLAY, BE IT A BOARD GAME, ROCK PAPER SCISSORS OR A VIDEO GAME” Jordi Ministral, Piccolo

Video game design

What education do I need to be a game designer?

• Higher education is the classic path to game design There’s a wide array of education options for anyone wishing to become a game designer, but Joy Dey, senior game designer at Creative Assembly, followed a more traditional path.

“I started taking programming lessons in high school when I was 15,” she says. “Following that, I studied computer science in university and while in my final year I discovered a game design course at another university.

I took an additional year studying game design and my career began shortly afterwards.”

Nerial game designer Daisy Fernandez has an MA in Game Design and Development from the National Film and Television School. She chose formal training due to feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available online.

“I have dyslexia and often need technical things explained to me in several ways,” she says. “As a result, having tuition felt like the most sensible way to go about learning how to make games... However, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge my privilege: higher education is expensive and there’s no guarantee of a job at the end of it.”

• You don’t need to study game design specifically Having a solid technical background is important for a game designer, but that doesn’t need to come through formal game design training specifically.

“Having a degree in game design gives a good foundation and can provide a foot in the door when it comes to applying for roles,” Dey says. “It is important, however, to have practical skills, not just formal education.

You will find free engines and resources online to create your own games, or you can do more technical university courses such as computer science or engineering.”

Ollie Hind, associate lead gameplay designer at Playground Games, has a computer science degree and decided to go this route for two reasons, the first being that technical skills are “a massive bonus” for a designer.

“And secondly, the games industry is tough to get into,” he adds. “Having other skills to fall back on, at least in the short term, is always good.”

• Learn about design principles outside of games Independent game designer Malath Abbas studied Computer Games Development at John Moores University, and followed it up with a Masters in 3D animation. Abbas doesn’t believe you need to study game design to become a game designer, as diversity of experience ultimately means more diverse ideas.

“Traditional design courses will help you open up more job opportunities,” he says. “Lots of people are doing game design courses and I’m not sure that’s healthy for the industry. It’s good to stand out and have a mixed background.”

Ross Gowing, senior creative director at Codemasters, is an example of how adjacent degrees can do a lot to help you understand game design.

“I don’t have any formal game design training, just a degree in graphic design which taught me a lot about the principles of effective visual communication,” he says. “I’m not sure that formal training [in game design] is crucial by any means.”

• Learn by doing Many game designers we talked to didn’t have formal training due to a lack of time or money, or simply because specialist courses didn’t exist when they joined the industry.

Interior Night founder Caroline Marchal first studied communications and politics, and then what was called ‘multimedia’ - it was 20 years ago, she points out.

“I had a vague plan of maybe becoming a scriptwriter for games, but I didn’t know what game design was until I started working at Quantic Dream,” she says. “There wasn’t game design training in the late ‘90s or early ‘00s, so it wasn’t a choice. I just jumped into it. I didn’t even know what game design really meant.

“Given my experience, I don’t believe formal training is a must. You can learn by reading a few books and, first and foremost, by making a game and learning from experience.

That said, I do think formal training can be useful and work as an accelerator.

In the right environment, you learn quicker and it helps to avoid mistakes.”

Jordi Ministral and Alexis Corominas, co-founders of Arise developer Piccolo, also learned game design by doing, and drawing inspiration from a wide range of sources.

“We were very autodidactic,” Ministral says. “We learned game design by analysing and playing video games, board games, designing advertising experiences, reading books, watching films.”

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What do I need to get noticed as a game designer?

• Build a portfolio If you want to get noticed in the industry, you need to create your own opportunities. If our guides to the best game engines prove one thing, it’s that it’s never been easier to find the right (free) tools to get started.

Only practice makes perfect.

“No amount of education will ever replace the experience you gain when making your own games,” says Dey. “Be it via game jams or your own projects, at home or with people on the internet, it is important to be constantly practicing your craft and honing your development skills.”

It’s best to practice in different genres as well. If you’ve tried platformers, why not try a strategy game or a shooter? Dey points out that creating board games or card games can also provide valuable lessons and insights into good design.

Abbas adds: “I would recommend solo indie development and game jams to build a portfolio over any education - or even better, to supplement an educational path that makes sense to your context. Design can be demonstrated practically, and less so through any formal qualification.”

• Consider a role in QA

• Look into the modding scene

In addition to working on your own games, first-hand experience at a studio will be valuable in landing a job in game design. In that respect, QA is one of the best ways to take your first step.

“Having worked on your own game with friends is a great experience, but for me the main thing you need to do is to get a job in a development studio and to go through a full cycle of concept/pre-production/ production/release,” Marchal says.

“Once you’ve done that, you have valuable experience under your belt.”

Codemasters’ Gowing started his career as a QA tester at Blitz Games Studios, where his commitment to the work impressed the company - he was soon asked to apply for a junior design role. Gowing points out that entry level game designers aren’t really expected to have any experience in the role, but an understanding of the development process and how a studio operates is useful.

“As a path that served me well personally, and a path that more than half my team have been through too, I’d thoroughly recommend taking a job as a QA tester and going from there,” he says. “It gives you a chance to learn a lot about the games industry and how a studio is run, as well as giving you a chance to get yourself noticed.”

Modding is another established way to get experience. Many games have mods these days, so it shouldn’t be too hard to join a community on Reddit, Discord, Steam, or whichever platform you prefer.

The list of successful games that started life as mods is long: Dear Esther was a mod for Valve’s Source engine, Dota was a mod for Warcraft III, DayZ has its roots in Arma 2, and PUBG can be traced to Arma 3.

In addition, some studios look to the modding scene when recruiting: Studio Wildcard has worked closely with modders on Ark: Survival Evolved, while Media Molecule has employed many creatives from its communities.

“Being a modder of a game that has the tools available is a great place to begin to stretch your game design muscles,” says Creative Assembly’s Dey. “And it provides a public community forum that will publicise your work if people like it enough.”

Dreams is a great way to practice your game design skills and Media Molecule is known for hiring from its community

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The co-founders o0f Arise developer Piccolo are self-taught game designers

The co-founders of Arise developer Piccolo are self-taught game designers

What qualities and skills do I need to work in game design?

You need to be analytical, logical and creative all at once Game design requires a mix of technical, analytical and creative skills. Marchal started at Quantic Dream not really knowing what a game designer should do - instead, she tried to understand how all the parts of a game came together, and that sums the role up nicely.

“Designers are very analytical: they can explain why this game sucks and why this one is awesome in a very articulate and smart way,” she says. “But there is a difference between critical and creative thinking. To be a designer, you need both minds. You have to look past the data, consider the global experience you’re trying to create and make decisions.

Once you have enough experience and know your audience well, you can start trusting your gut.”

Dey adds: “You should have the ability to really think logically, making sure all your systems and interactions make sense.

You should analyse everything, as you need to breakdown and study the underlying systems behind functions.”

Pair hard skills with the right attitude In terms of hard skills, maths and coding will be a great benefit to any game designer, but it’s not a deal breaker if you don’t have them.

“Basic maths comes in very handy when you need to plan an XP-Level structure for a game, or want to get started making simple economies,” Gowing says. “At a higher education level, I’d recommend [courses] that allow students to specialise in a discipline - design, art or code - and work in teams with other students following other disciplines, rather than [courses] that try to teach a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ approach.”

You need to be a good communicator Communication is a key element of being a game designer. Creating a video game is a collective effort, so it’s not enough to just figure out great mechanics - you need to explain your thinking to your team.

“You’ll hear this a lot, but you do need to have great communication skills,” Hind says. “Whether it’s pitching ideas, explaining your logic, giving feedback or just working as part of a team, communication is imperative - verbal and written. You need to be a problem solver, as finding solutions is a core part of your everyday job.”

Dey adds: “Game design is very collaborative. It is never just a single person making all the decisions. You need to work with people in your field or in other fields very closely, and you must be able to communicate clearly the work you have done. Humility is an underrated trait, yet it’s essential to take criticism and learn from it, accepting that you could be wrong and take on other views and ideas.”

You need to be empathetic Listening to the views of others requires empathy, which is also essential for a game designer to understand their players and what they want. As Piccolo’s Corominas explains, a common problem in game design is assuming that all people think and react the same way.

“It’s very hard to reach solutions that work for everyone because not all people enjoy or engage with the same elements,” he says.

“At some point you have to be aware that no matter what you do, your design will be flawed and all you can do is minimise the potential problems.

“Game design is something that happens by iterating a lot and testing with a lot of users.

Being able to distance yourself from your own design and determine a precise diagnostic is very tricky - it’s very hard to escape your own bias.”

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What are the common misconceptions about game design?

The first misconception is that game designers just play games all day. That assumption is common to many jobs in the industry games PR and journalism, for instance.

“I’m not sure if anyone who knows anything about games really believes that, but just in case you didn’t realise: making games is hard work,” Hind says. “It’s complex in so many different ways, from production to tech to art to design. It can be hard at times, so you really need that internal passion to see you through.”

Speaking of hard work, Marchal clarifies that being a game designer involves much more than most people think. The job’s responsibilities go beyond writing a game design document and tweaking new builds.

“The game designer is pivotal at every stage of the development process,” she says.

“You have to be hands-on and connect with every department, however big or small the task they’re in charge of may be.”

Game design shouldn’t be confused with game direction, Abbas says, although it often is by aspiring designers. When first Ross Gowing started in the industry as a QA tester on Dead to Rights Retribution

starting in the industry, it’s important to have ambition and share your ideas, but don’t try to run before you learn how to walk.

“You’re not a game director,” he says.

“There are examples of amazingly talented people climbing to the top and being able to lead teams. However, this is the few, and the majority are nameless but equally important in the industry. Again, collaboration is important, and I’ve seen far too many young people with big egos think they can be a game director when they don’t have fundamental skills.”

Gowing sums it up: “I’d hate to be the guy to crush people’s dreams, but you don’t get to sit on sofas playing games all day, you don’t decide the art style or draw the characters, and you probably won’t be directing 500 people to make your own version of Grand Theft Auto, with you cast as the central character.”

“I’D HATE TO BE THE GUY TO CRUSH PEOPLE’S DREAMS, BUT YOU DON’T GET TO SIT ON SOFAS PLAYING GAMES ALL DAY” Ross Gowing, Codemasters

Video game design

Advice for new and aspiring game designers • Keep making games and educating yourself The most common advice for any aspiring game designer is reassuringly simple: practice your craft.

“My advice would be to start off by downloading Unity for free and trying out some of the beginner’s tutorials on YouTube,” Fernandez says. “Ultimately, the best way to learn design is by smashing out some short and simple games and seeing what you like and what your limitations are.”

Dey points out that you can start with something as simple as Mario Maker.

There’s no wrong way of making a game, and there’s no reason to limit yourself when it comes to creation, whether you’re working for a studio or experimenting on your own. While you may think one of your ideas is stupid, someone on your team may see value that you don’t recognise.

“I sometimes felt that my ideas wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny from more experienced people,” Gowing adds. “But I learned that sharing an idea often allows other people to run with it and build on and improve it.”

• Be an active player Game design is about playing, too, but remember to be an active player.

In fact, you should try to learn something from every game you play.

“Whether it’s good or bad, fun or not, ask yourself why you feel like that and what the game has done to get you there,” Gowing says. “Take a careful look at a game you’ve played recently and identify a gameplay mechanic you’d alter or add to enhance the experience. Then task yourself with writing a one-page design for it that would give another person a clear picture of your intentions to the point where they’d be able to start making it.”

You can apply this active, analytical way of playing games to everyday situations, too. Corominas recommends an exercise where you “try to turn any situation into a game.”

“Imagine you’re in the airport, in the queue to board your plane,” he says.

“What kind of game can be created in that situation? Try to create a set of rules and visualise the outcome of those rules. Ponder if it is fun or engaging and how it could be improved. It may sound stupid, but it’s a great way to kill time without constantly checking your phone, and you’re honing your design skills.”

• Seek feedback, and ask plenty of questions While it can be daunting to share your work, you shouldn’t keep them to yourself. You can publish a game to a free platform like Itch.io, or just share your ideas with people you know.

“Create your own games - even if it’s a board game done with paper and pen - with a set of instructions and have your friends and family play it,” Ministral says.

“You shouldn’t explain anything to them.

Just watch and listen. By observing their reactions and analysing their processmaking, you will learn a lot more than in the time you spent creating the game.”

Whether you’re working for yourself or as part of a studio, you shouldn’t just be open to criticism and feedback, but actively seek it.

“When first getting the opportunity to work as a designer at Creative Assembly, I was very open to feedback and tried to absorb and learn as much as possible from the other designers,” Dey says. “One thing I could have done differently is to ask more questions.

I think asking more questions and diving more into the minds of the designers would have given me a greater breadth of understanding and, in particular, confidence in my own skills as a designer.

“Feedback will help you. Put your work online, take the criticism that comes from it, and use it to learn and grow in both your development skills and your personality.”

• Get life experience Believe it or not, there’s also a life outside of video games. Go and live it you’ll be a better designer for doing so.

“Nurture yourself with a lot of reading, going to museums, taking trips, and observing people to understand how the mind works,” Marchal says.

Hind describes this as “life experience,” which can include “seeing different cultures, trying crazy activities, accumulating emotional references which you can then tap into for your art.”

Try to remember that design is a field that applies to a huge number of areas - seeing how other industries tackle design problems can help you to better understand your own role.

“Look into other design practice and mediums outside games,” Abbas says. “What can you bring from interior design to games? What about fashion?

We live in a diverse global society what unique inspiration can you find to help you solve your problem and come up with good experiences?”

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HOW TO GET A JOB IN GAME ART The GamesIndustry.biz Academy looks into how to get a job as a game artist

Digital painting

by Luciana Nascimento

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

A game’s art style gives it an identity that may be remembered for decades to come.

Think Borderlands, Journey, Limbo, Persona, Portal, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - while these games have remained in everyone’s memory for more than just their art styles, they are instantly recognisable.

Anyone with an interest in digital art as a career can only dream about making such an impact, which makes the game artist role one of the most sought after in the industry.

While you may end up in a general game art role, there’s a wide array of specialties available - character artist, technical artist, concept artist, UI artist, environment artist, and more. In this guide, we’ll focus on the more general approach of getting a job as a game artist, but the Academy will look into these specialities later down the line.

“Getting your first job [as a game artist] is often tough,” Teazelcat CEO and game director Jodie Azhar says. “Game art jobs are highly competitive. Roles such as concept

“I OFTEN SEE PORTFOLIOS WITH JUST A COUPLE OF IMAGES TO REVIEW. AS A YOUNG ARTIST YOU SHOULD BE PRODUCING A LOT OF ART”

Olivier Leonardi, Ubisoft Reflections

artist and character artist can have hundreds of applicants for one role. Roles such as technical artist, technical animator, VFX artist, and UI artist often get fewer applicants, but these are no less creative roles and are very important to creating a game.”

These specialist roles can potentially make you a lot more employable, so it’s worth looking into what they entail.

Game artist roles may also change vastly depending on the size of the studio.

“It’s worth thinking about whether you want to work at a small company where you may get more responsibility and have to create different types of art, or whether you’d want to work on a bigger team where there are more people who do your particular job role and can give you feedback,” Azhar says.

Regardless of the exact role you’ll be choosing or the size of the studio, all game art jobs require a specific set of skills and abilities, which we’ll explore in-depth here.

Video game art

What education do I need to be a game artist?

• Higher education offers various paths toward game art Game art is taught at university, but it can also be learned completely independently - the path you take is really up to you. Higher education offers various degrees that can help you to become a game artist, and those degrees don’t need to be directly linked to games.

“For me it was very important [to go through higher education] since they hand you the tools you need, impose deadlines that force you to progress and it surrounded me with likeminded people who were all passionate about games, which definitely motivated me to become better,” says Hendrik Coppens, who studied 3D arts and is now principal character artist at Rare. “While I think the training is crucial, I wouldn’t say going to a specific school is an absolute necessity.”

Freelance 2D artist Lucy Kyriakidou, most recently lead character designer on Dlala Studios’ Battletoads, studied computer animation.

“Formal training is highly beneficial as good courses will teach you why things are done certain ways and introduce you to the correct terminology and language,” she says. “[It will also] give you a strong foundation for discussing your work with others and becoming an expert in your field.

“That said, there are many poor courses out there that are expensive and won’t provide you with the right skills to get a job.

It’s important to research courses to make sure you’ll be taught what you need to know.”

If you’re in the UK, Azhar advises to go to ScreenSkills to see a list of accredited courses and those who have a good employability rate for graduates. In the US, Princeton Review has put together a couple of top universities for game design courses, one for undergrad and one for grad schools.

• Having a background in traditional art can be a plus Olivier Leonardi, expert art director at Ubisoft Reflections, comes from a traditional art background - digital arts courses were few and far between when he was a student in the early ‘90s. But he believes a knowledge of traditional art will still go a long way.

“I was able to explore very different traditional art techniques,” he says. “This helped a lot with my understanding of the fundamentals

and opened new windows on very different art forms, including digital arts and video games.”

Coppens says he would have liked to explore traditional arts a bit more before getting into the games industry, as it can teach you valuable skills. Software tends to change regularly as well, so a good traditional foundation with a technical knowledge on how 3D software tends to function, for instance, allows you to transfer your skills more quickly.

“I always loved to dabble in art growing up, but I thought it wouldn’t contribute to any viable work skills. I would highly recommend focusing on both traditional and technical skills. Learn to work with the latest industry standard tools, but make sure your traditional skills - perspective, light, colour use, anatomy - are well trained.

A lot of students I talk to focus very hard on knowing every menu in Zbrush, but lack a basic understanding of what they’re trying to sculpt.”

• Focus on the skills rather than the degree Regardless of what they studied, our interviewees generally agreed that higher education isn’t mandatory to become a game artist. Azhar believes that, unless you want to work abroad, a degree isn’t necessary.

Kyriakidou adds that art is not so much about what you choose but how much you put into it.

“A structured education at university or college can provide immediate feedback and a pool of resources,” she says. “But studying at home or doing online courses means you can hear and learn from a variety of artists and discover different ways of doing things. I grew as an artist way quicker when I finished uni through personal work and studies - as long as you are willing to put in the effort, that’s all that matters.”

Luciana Nascimento, co-founder and art director at Bunnyhug, had formal training in game design and audiovisual production and, while she believes it taught her a lot, ultimately the hard skills she ended up using the most are not the ones she learnt at school.

She eventually found her first gig through showcasing her work on Deviantart.

“I knew a lot of my [game art] knowledge could have been acquired online but I chose this path mostly because I wanted to follow a career outside my home country, Brazil,” she says. “It gave me knowledge in several aspects in game development, but none [of these courses] gave me the knowledge of what I did the most in my career - create assets for pixel art games and UI/UX. A lot of that I learned with online tutorials, reading forums, online courses such as Schoolism and Oatley Academy, or even learning from several of my patient teammates.”

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What do I need to get noticed as a game artist?

• Have a portfolio to showcase your art If you only remember one thing from this article, let it be this: a good portfolio will get your foot in the door. It is absolutely crucial for an artist to be able to showcase their work - and it doesn’t necessarily need to be professional, paid work.

The way you present your art also matters. Leonardi advises to showcase the breadth of styles and techniques you can achieve, and not just the pieces you’re extremely proud of.

“I look for volume instead of a few curated pieces,” he says. “I often see portfolios with just a couple of images to review. As a young artist you should be producing a lot of art, especially out of study hours if you’re in an art school. You cannot rely only on directed work. Your personal work should be on display as well. We need to see volume because we need to feel that you are passionate, if not obsessed, with art.”

Sea of Thieves’ character art by Hendrik Coppens

You can also showcase work in progress images or renders in your portfolio.

“It’s not a bad idea because we can then discuss in the interview what went wrong, why you didn’t finish the piece, what you would have done differently,” Leonardi continues. “[You can] see that as an occasion to engage with us and talk about your aspirations as an artist.”

Creating art for a game is not the same as just drawing something for yourself, so your portfolio also needs to demonstrate you understand the specific approach that game art requires.

“What matters the most is having a portfolio that shows you understand how to make game art,” Nascimento says. “Showing your process of how you arrived at a design, how that developed into the assets, animation, and so on.”

There are many resources online for finding out how to make game art if that’s not something you’re totally familiar with yet. Azhar recommends Polycount’s forums as a good place to ask questions and get feedback on your work.

• Find your niche As there are many possible specialities within the field of game art, it may be a good idea to figure out sooner rather than later what exactly you’d like to do or what you’re really good at.

“I should have focused on one particular discipline and become really good at it,” Leonardi says, looking back at his early days as a game artist. “My focus would have been concept art as almost everything in a game development or in any visual media starts with this stage: the visual development of core ideas, exploring the elements that will be part of the essence of the product, and establishing the visual codes of the brand.”

Specialising in one aspect of game art is what exactly Jodie Azhar did before she created Teazelcat.

“I studied a course at Bournemouth University that’s now called Computer Animation Technical Arts,” she says. “I’ve spent most of my career as a technical artist so this was the perfect course for me - it teaches programming, maths, and 3D art and animation.”

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Lucy Kyriakidou was lead character designer on Dlala Studios’ Battletoads

• Attend career fairs and meet ups

“LEARN TO WORK WITH THE LATEST INDUSTRY STANDARD TOOLS, BUT MAKE SURE YOUR TRADITIONAL SKILLS ARE WELL TRAINED” Hendrik Coppens, Rare

A great way to make contacts is to attend career fairs at events. It can even help you get feedback, and even find your first job if you’re lucky.

“I got my first job by attending EGX’s career fair,” Azhar says. “You can get feedback online but attending events in person is incredibly useful.

EGX has a career fair that you can take your portfolio to and get feedback. Develop:Brighton also has the opportunity to speak to developers. If you’re at university you can talk to visiting lecturers. There may even be smaller meetups near you.

“Meeting people in person helps them recognise you later and it can be helpful when you apply for jobs to be able to mention you met someone from the company. It shows your dedication and gives them a good reference as to whether you’d be a good fit for the team.”

In the US, big shows such as GDC usually offer portfolio reviews in partnership with big studios as well.

The Chinese Room’s senior artist Laura Dodds adds: “If I could do something differently I would try to reach out to the community sooner and seek more advice and reassurance from my peers. Meet ups and game jams can also help you meet other game devs and grow your network.”

• Make games Game jams truly are an invaluable way to get to grips with what you will be asked to do once in the industry; it will help you to get noticed and will add weight to your portfolio.

“Any experience you have making games is a bonus,” Azhar says. “Getting your art into a game engine, whether for a personal project, a game jam or an assignment, shows you can make art that works in a game. Taking part in a game jam or making a game as a side project helps develop an understanding of other areas of development that makes you more employable.”

It’s increasingly easy and cheap (if not free) to access technology that can make a game. If you’re only just getting started and have no programming experience, GameMaker or Construct could be good places to start, but you can look at our engines guides if you want to figure out what tool could be for you.

Nascimento adds: “A path that a lot of my friends came from was from creating their own opportunities.

They made games with friends and learned a lot of what they know in the process, without formal game art education.

Those projects gave their art visibility, and showed to their future clients and employers that they had some experience and knew not only how to make the pretty art, but how to implement it and how to make it work alongside game design.”

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What qualities and skills do I need to work as a game artist?

• Be communicative and a team player Art is something you can always improve on but soft skills can also make a difference, and more so than an aspiring artist might think. Good communication and accepting criticism will go a long way for instance.

“You have to work with people in many other job roles in order to solve problems “THE MOST COMMON during development,” MISCONCEPTION IS Azhar says. “You’ll have to communicate your ideas for THAT YOUR CREATIONS what the visuals should look ARE GOING TO BE like to designers, producers SEEN IN ISOLATION” and more technical developers.

Olivier Leonardi, You’ll also have to give and Ubisoft Reflections receive feedback on your work.

“It can be scary to share your work when you’re just starting out, but it’s invaluable having professionals pick up on areas you’re weak at and identify the skills you need to develop to make you employable.

If you don’t show others your work until you

Laura Dodds was head of art on Arca’s Path

feel it’s ready you can miss out on correcting bad habits early.”

While this applies to any art role, it’s particularly important in a small team such as Bunnyhug.

“Communication [and] reception to feedback are vital when working at a team level,” Nascimento says. “If they’re the one artist I hire for the entirety of a project, that might come second, but in my current position as a small studio director, it matters so much more.”

As already widely mentioned in our Academy guides about how to become a game designer or how to get a job as a games tester, development is a team effort.

If you prefer to work alone, you probably won’t be happy as part of a studio as the job requires constant collaboration.

“There is an important skill in game development that can only be acquired in a certain environment: teamwork,” Leonardi says. “So it doesn’t matter if you’re self taught, out of a prestigious art school, or a university: try to get some experience working in collaboration with other people, either with fellow students or through collaborative game competitions, game jams, and so on.

You will learn a lot about teamwork, political intelligence and also yourself.”

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Art for AR game Orbu

• You need to be able to follow a brief and adapt to all art styles While it’s important to have your own style, you need to be flexible as a game artist.

You never know what your next project could look like, and you will need to adapt to work within restrictions. For instance, if you’re working on an IP that’s part of an established franchise, you probably won’t be allowed to take many creative liberties.

“It is important to be able to work to a brief,” Kyriakidou says. “We artists have so many ideas and we need to be able to bring that creativity into work. But at the end of the day game development is a team sport, so we need to make sure we are following the team’s vision rather than letting our ideas get wild.”

Not only will you have to work to a brief, but that brief may change at any given time and you may have to start from scratch.

“A lot of the time it’s about learning when to stop and not obsessing over details,” Nascimento continues. “While execution may be important when thinking of results, what matters more long-term is whether or not the artist(s) you work with can adapt to new ideas and visual concepts. This would make for someone I can work with long-term.”

• You need to understand the entire development process As a game artist you always need to consider what the final product could look like once it’s gone through the entire pipeline. In a studio, you’re not just an artist, you’re a game developer and you should approach it as such - which includes some less glamorous tasks.

“I think a good game artist cares about the player experience and wants the game as a whole to be as good as it can be,” Dodds says. “It is really special to find an artist with the ability to create fantastic artwork but who can also understand thoroughly how their contribution fits into the entire team’s work.”

Your job as a game artist doesn’t stop when the art looks finished in the software you’ve used to create it, you need to be able set it in a game engine for instance.

“I find that a lot of people underestimate the technical and planning needs of a game,” Coppens says. “In the end it’s a product that needs to deliver a certain amount of assets that need to be carefully designed and created within a certain timeframe.

It’s important to know that you’ll often find yourself working on assets where you may not agree with the decisions or that aren’t entirely what you would want to be working on.”

Leonardi adds: “I think of all the artists I’ve worked with in my career, the ones that would always be recognised by their peers shared the same common traits: highly motivated even by the most unrewarding tasks.”

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Artwork from Tom Clancy’s The Division

What are the common misconceptions about game art?

• Your art is going to be the star of the show A game artist is just one part of a much bigger machine, so do not go in this career thinking it’s going to be a way to showcase your own skills to the public.

A lot of what you create probably won’t even make it to the final product.

“I think the most common misconception when you start as a game artist is that your creations are going to be seen in isolation, so that beautiful thing you spent days modelling, texturing and perfecting should be the star of the show,” Leonardi says. “Most often, your work is part of something bigger. A lot of artists participate in creating and assembling every component of a scene. Lighting artists and FX artists will do their passes. Level designers will adjust, move or delete visual elements.

“Players want to play games.

They are here for the experience first and foremost, so it requires some

compromise on the art side to allow for the best player experience.

This compromise can be quite hard for new artists to accept. You also have to accept that not all of the art you produce during development will make it to the final product; it’s not wasted time, once again it’s about making the best, most streamlined gaming experience.”

• The job is about making good looking art As previously hinted at, the fact you’re able to create beautiful things isn’t the only thing that matters in this career. Good looking art will only get you so far, you’ll need to bring something extra to the table.

“For me the biggest misconception is that making beautiful art is the most important skill of a game artist,” Nascimento says. “Being a good teammate, adaptable and willing to learn and listen is, in my opinion, more important than anything else.

The beautiful portfolio is how you get in, your behaviour is how you stay.”

Azhar adds: “The final visuals are not just about the art that you create either. Lots of work goes into

graphics programming to define the final rendering style, making it important to work well with others to ensure the finished game looks the way the artists envision it.”

• You’ll learn the ‘right’ way to do things If you’re expecting to figure out the proper way to do things in your first job as a game artist and then apply it to everything you do in your career going forward, think again.

“How game art is handled and executed is very different from studio to studio, so there’s no clear correct or right way to do anything,” Coppens says.

Dodds adds: “I certainly thought that once I entered the industry I would find out the ‘proper’ or ‘right’ way to make games. More and more I see some of the most talented artists and devs are the ones who say they don’t know something. No one can know everything and pipelines and tools are ever evolving so having a willingness to get out of your comfort zone to learn and experiment is essential.”

Video game art

Advice for new and aspiring game artists • Know your worth While you may be tempted to ‘work for exposure’ at the start of your career, you need to be very careful walking that line as it can ultimately devalue what you do.

“I think my biggest regret was accepting to work for free in indie projects when I had no financial security, and when the folks working with me didn’t see me as an equal team member,” Nascimento says. “It led to a lot of bad emotional experiences. To put it succinctly, prioritising my well-being and security before my impulsive passion would have been great.”

Kyriakidou’s first experience as a game artist was straight out of university. She got a freelance gig and says she did many things wrong.

“If I could go back I would tell myself to not make desperate decisions, like accepting projects for little money just because I had nothing else going, as that can hurt future opportunities,” she says. “When most of us are starting out we are just happy to be doing this on a professional level and our art being in a game that we maybe don’t always think things through - like if it is the right decision financially, or scheduling, and even how it would affect our mental health.”

“GETTING YOUR ART INTO A GAME ENGINE SHOWS YOU CAN MAKE ART THAT WORKS IN A GAME” Jodie Azhar, Teazelcat Games

• Speak to other freelance artists If, like Kyriakidou, you decide that freelancing full-time is the right thing for you, then you should be aware that working as a freelancer can be quite isolating.

Reach out to the rest of the game industry and other artists whenever possible.

“Freelancing is hard because when you are starting out you are on your own, with nobody telling you how things should be done,” she says. “So the best way to get over that is to speak to other self employed artists and people who are doing what you want to do in the future. Ask them about their process, how they find clients and even rates.

Everybody tells you not to undercharge but nobody tells you what that looks like, so don’t be afraid to talk about it and ask questions.”

• Take it slow It can be difficult to get into the games industry and it can take even longer to land the job you actually want to be doing - so be patient.

“Take it slow,” Leonardi says. “As exciting as the new job might sound, the first tasks you will be assigned as a young game artist might not be the most stimulating, but always remind yourself you are part of something bigger.

Don’t get frustrated because six months in a job you feel you’re not ‘making a difference’.

Prove your worth, gain trust from your leads, and you will see more challenging and higher profile tasks. Once the product is out, critical acclaim and financial success is always a team achievement not an individual one.

Put your team ahead of your own constituency.”

• Keep up to date with technology There are many tools available to create digital art, and while you won’t be expected to know how to use all of them, it’s important to keep up to date with what technology is available and what it can do.

“Technological advances are made constantly, software you use will be upgraded, new software to help with your job will be created and new methods to create game art will arise,” Azhar says. “While you won’t constantly switch between software, it’s important to be aware of what’s currently available and the processes that other artists use. During development you may also work with technical members of the team to make art tools specific to the work you’re doing.”

• Show you’re passionate Finally, the games industry is one that feeds on passion - for better or worse.

Being able to demonstrate and share that passion is your greatest weapon, so you shouldn’t be afraid to use it.

“I want to see the passion,” Leonardi says.

“We can definitely discuss art through the different phases of the recruitment process, but passion is contagious and can totally change the dynamic of a department. Showing a passion for video games is really important, that you understand the medium and how it’s different from other art disciplines. We want to see the potential for long-term engagement, going from being a job to becoming a career to ultimately being a calling.”

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HOW TO GET A JOB AS A VIDEO GAMES TESTER The GamesIndustry.biz Academy looks into how to get a job in video games quality assurance

CHRISTOPHER DRING

Head of games B2B

The job title ‘video games tester’ can sound almost perfect - a job where you spend all day playing video games.

That may be the view from the outside, but within the industry the role of ‘quality assurance technician’ is often viewed as an entry-level position; a great way to start in the industry, irrespective of experience or education, before going onto other things.

There’s some truth in that.

QA can often (although not always) result in playing a lot of games. And there are many examples of industry professionals who started in QA going on to become producers, programmers, creative directors,

analysts and studio heads.

Yet those views are reductive.

Games QA is a varied role where playing games may only be a small part of the job. And although it can be a stepping stone into the industry, it’s also a skilled, technical and challenging career in its own right.

Indeed, the history of games is littered with examples of how defects, poor service and technical issues have killed a game dead. And in today’s world of live games, the role of the tester has never been more important.

Still interested? Here’s everything you need to know to start your career in video games QA.

Artwork by Keywords Studios

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Jagex’s Runescape

What types of games testing jobs are there?

Not all games testers work within studios.

In fact, many work for outsourcing QA firms that test a variety of products, and there’s a variety of different testing functions.

The job that most people think about with QA is functionality testing. These teams are tasked with finding the majority of defects in a game, and are often one of the first groups to offer feedback on game builds.

Functionality testers are tasked with checking features and how well they integrate with the rest of the game.

Then there is localisation testing, which requires checking the text and audio to ensure the game will be well received in all regions.

Some localisation testing will require translating and implementing dialogue changes directly.

Next there’s compatibility testing. This is where you ensure that a game works well on different hardware - for instance, if a game works well on both PS4 Pro Malachy O’Neill, Jagex and PS4, or on different types of smartphones. Or with different controllers and other input devices.

Finally, there’s compliance/certification testing. Platform holders like Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation have rules to follow with their games, such as how developers should refer to their controllers. Testers will need to check text against guidelines and ensure that a Nintendo button prompt or a PlayStation error message doesn’t appear in an Xbox game. Get this wrong, and the game will fail certification.

There are other niche forms of testing, too, including performance, usability, focus group and closed beta testing. Although often

these can form part of the above four roles.

And with the rise of live, service-based games, the role of the tester is constantly evolving.

“Some large teams, especially those that work on live games [such as MMOs] will have teams of ‘release testers’,” explains Failbetter Games’ principal QA specialist Lesleyann White. “Rather than working on new features during development, these testers focus solely on the end product and its integration into the wider game, ensuring it doesn’t break existing content.”

Within studios, the role of QA is sometimes integrated with the development teams. And here testers are often either QA analysts or QA engineers.

“Our QA analysts are product experts, and the defects they detect generally centre around qualitative aspects like balance, value, and if it meets the original vision,” says Malachy O’Neill, QA director at Runescape developer Jagex.

“Taking part in design discussions and looking at what players are saying is a daily task. You may see this defined as black-box testing.

“On the opposite side, we have QA engineers who are more system focused.

They don’t have the breadth of knowledge of a QA analyst but can go much deeper, to architecture level. You need to be comfortable in development environments and can contribute to technical discussions. You may see this defined as grey-box testing.

“Lastly, there has been a drive in our industry for more QA automation and selfreliance, so that we can lower the technical barrier for non-technical testers. Large QA organisations now have a quality engineering sub-team that serves this function. A common job you will find is the software development engineer in test. People in this role have the ability to write code that tests code. You may see this defined as white-box testing.”

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“EMBEDDED QA REQUIRES OUTSTANDING COMMUNICATION SKILL, I CAN’T STRESS THAT ENOUGH” Malachy O’Neill, Jagex

Artwork by Keywords Studios

What education do I need to get a job as a game tester?

Broadly speaking, a formal education isn’t a requirement for working in games QA. “While college degrees in game design, software development and computer science are always a plus, most studios and QA agencies will take on applicants with a minimum of a high school [education],” says Adam Rush, QA manager at Keywords Studios.

Yet QA is becoming an increasingly demanding area of the games industry, and a bit of education can help secure you a position.

“The more technical the role becomes - such as QA engineer traditional formal education such as game development, computer science, and mathematics is highly rated but is rarely a hard requirement,” says O’Neill. “Quality assurance, maybe more than any other discipline, is learning as you go. Like a good fighting game it’s easy to pick up, hard to master.

“A recent trend is professional QA training, such as the ISTQB [International Software Testing Qualifications Board] series of certifications.

These demonstrate craft excellence and that you take QA seriously.”

White adds: “More and more companies are asking for applicants to have the ISTQB foundation certificate for testing. It’s a good thing to have it certainly gives you a grounding in software testing principles - but I don’t feel it should be a requirement, especially for junior roles, and I wouldn’t discount applicants without that qualification.

“I have seen it as a requirement for higher level QA roles, though, so it’s worth looking into, especially since the syllabus is available online. As part of your career development, a lot of companies are happy to put you through the exam, especially if you’ve already studied the syllabus.

“More and more roles are asking for programming skills, whether it’s to automate test scripts or to actually help fix the bugs you find. Even basic programming skills are beneficial for helping testers to read and understand code. There’s a wealth of knowledge to be gained from online courses, whether free tutorials on YouTube or from paid courses on portals like Udemy. They may not lead to formal qualifications but they will absolutely be a boon to any QA role.”

Video game tester

What’s the best way to get into games QA? You can find QA roles via the GamesIndustry.biz Jobs Board and directly on the websites of your local studios. A lot of employers do prefer a bit of QA experience, but how do you get that when you’re only just starting out?

“Apply for internships and work experience,” suggests White. “This doesn’t necessarily have to be in the games industry - target tech companies.

Summer jobs are also good experiences where you’ll gain vital skills.”

“Research industry tools. I’m not just talking about testing tools like Test Rail, Charles proxy, Jira, but tools used by the wider dev team like Visual Studio, Git, Ink, Twine, Blender, 3DS Max, and so on. Most have free, trial or educational versions.”

White also advises studying bug abuse: “I do not mean become a bug abuser - you’ll get banned for one thing - but look for examples of others abusing bugs before they were fixed.

The best games to target for this are MMOs. You’ll learn a lot about destructive thinking and be able to spot patterns like how interfaces can be used to stall scripts, for example.

“Finally, join online testing communities. You can meet other testers who are usually very happy to offer guidance. Sometimes there are even opportunities to help test software applications. It may not be games, but it’s testing experience.”

What qualities and skills do I need to work as a game tester?

Adam Rush, Keywords

Creating your own games as well as learning various tools and technology will also give you advantages.

“Build a portfolio where you can demonstrate your knowledge of game design and programming,” White continues. “Have a blog where you write up the processes of your development and your debugging and bug fixing efforts. Learn about different game engines: Unity, Unreal, and GameMaker all have free versions. While you will spend time in QA testing game builds, you’ll also spend time testing directly in the game engine, so knowing your way around one is super helpful.

“YOU HAVE TO FILTER THROUGH PLAYERS’ FEEDBACK, WHICH CAN BE VERY DISHEARTENING”

Lesleyann White, Failbetter

Believe it or not ‘being good at games’ is not the most important skill you’ll need to become a games tester.

“You need to be logical, patient, a creative thinker, with a brief and clear written ability,” says Universally Speaking general manager James Cubitt. “You must be able to articulate - clearly and concisely - where the issues are, what they are, how they occurred so that fellow testers and developers can understand and reproduce the issue.

“Patience is required when trying to reproduce issues, as you will need to do the same thing many times to ensure the ‘steps to reproduce’ are as accurate as possible, and that it really does happen every time. This can get even worse with an issue that only occurs occasionally.

“Creativity is also essential, as you must be able to think like the many types of users. Some just run through a title, some explore every nook and cranny, some will try to do things out of order and look for bugs and exploits themselves. This all has to be covered.”

Pole To Win’s president of North America and India Sijo Jose adds:

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“Gaming knowledge, a passion for games, basic QA know-how, analytical skills, and good English communication skills are a great base to build from.

Exposure to as many platforms as possible is always an advantage, too.

We also look for soft skills like attention to detail, tech-savviness, adaptability and flexibility, the ability to work in a team, and creative problem-solving skills.”

“SOME LARGE TEAMS, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT WORK ON LIVE GAMES, WILL HAVE TEAMS OF RELEASE TESTERS” Lesleyann White, Failbetter

As you move up within QA, the ability to be organised so you can manage teams and liaise with clients is essential, says Testronic Warsaw’s QA project lead Pawel Marciniak.

“I start the day by assigning tasks to each member of the team. And I will contact the client throughout the day, sending them updates on the progress we are making. Reviewing bugs reported during the day by technicians is also part of my responsibility. More often than not I create checklists based on design documents or the title itself.”

A major skill that budding testers ought to learn, especially when working directly with developers, is diplomacy.

“Embedded QA requires outstanding communication skill - I can’t stress that enough,” says O’Neill. “You are working side-by-side with programmers, artists, designers... You need to be able to negotiate and be emotionally aware to get your view across, even if they don’t necessarily want to hear it.

“Leaving your ego at the door is also important. I’ve seen too many testers come out of game development courses that get a real culture shock because they can’t handle when their ideas or defects are not taken onboard.”

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What are the common misconceptions about games QA? • It’s just playing games all day There are many assumptions around games testing, and the most common one is shared with video games journalism and games PR. In simple terms, no, game testing doesn’t mean just playing games all day.

“There is a big difference between testing and playing,” says Cubitt.

“We plan and execute tests in a methodical way, to ensure everything is covered. It could be connecting and disconnecting for a day when testing multiplayer, it could be going through every customisable item and ensuring they load as expected.”

White adds: “At times it can be very repetitive, and there is more paperwork and documentation than you’d imagine. The work itself is nothing like playing a game as you would at home. You just don’t get to enjoy the games you make as a regular consumer of games. In fact, by the time you’re done with development you may never want to touch that game or piece of content again.”

• It’s a laid-back and fun career Because a lot of people assume testing games is the same as playing games, they also imagine it’s going to be a relaxed, laid-back environment. Well, they should rethink this perspective.

“It can be fun at times, like any other job, but it can also be hellishly stressful,” White explains. “I thought the 2020’s UKIE UK Game Industry Census was rather illuminating, with QA showing the highest rates of depression (30% of QA respondents) and the second highest rates of anxiety (34%).

“The role can be very high pressure.

There are still not enough companies employing embedded testers throughout development - instead, they opt to bring QA on towards the end of development. Testers in these situations are often faced with inadequate testing tools and resources.

Time is running out, all the bugs must be found, prioritised, fixed and regressed before an immovable deadline.

“Testers are often labelled as ‘the last line of defence’. It’s meant as a badge of honour but it adds pressure, shifts responsibility, and often hints at bad project management.

It can lead to a culture where the blame always lands on QA. “As a double whammy, a lot of QA roles involve player support of some kind. Even if you don’t have to respond to players, you still have to filter through their reports/feedback, which can be very disheartening and certainly has an impact on mental health.”

O’Neill adds: “A regular misconception I see from players is that our role is the ‘ultimate approver’, with the phrase ‘why did QA not stop this?’ widely used. As ever in life, there is give and take... Suggestions are made, but it’s a team decision on what is done. QA ensures that everyone has the information. Are we always happy with the outcome? Of course not. Within QA circles the term ‘Quality Assistance’ is gaining traction as a better representation of what we are. We are not Quality Control.

New testers struggle with this.”

animation or community management or marketing. The reality is you’ll be working in a frequently tiring, often stressful, technical role that sadly involves overtime at a lot of companies. It can leave you with little spare time to develop your skills in what you really want to do.

“In contrast, QA is one of the few roles in the industry where you get to touch every element of the game, you get to work with every other department, and you gain a complete overview of the development process - one of the many things that make it so exciting. Because of that it can be a great grounding for roles like production and design. The tech aspects can also be a great primer for evolving into programming roles.”

• It’s a dead-end job, just a stepping stone into the industry While some use QA as a way to enter the games industry to do something else, it can also be a very fulfilling career in its own right. Jose lists test lead, project manager and director of QA as some of the roles available to those who choose to follow the path.

“Experienced testers are incredibly valuable,” Cubitt says.

“As you progress into more senior roles, you’ll find yourself taking on greater responsibilities, which involves training and managing testers, as well as creating test plans while being in direct communication with the developers - you’ll be constantly building and reinforcing the most vital workplace skills.”

White agrees: “A lot of people made their start in the games industry as testers, and I’m sure people will continue to do that for a long time to come. But it’s a fascinating and technical career, one that is as vital as any other to making games. It’s quite disrespectful to those who choose to pursue QA as a career to treat it as a mere stepping stone. Plus, QA leads and hiring managers want analysts who are good at their craft and are actually going to stick around, not someone who is looking for a quick way into the audio department.

“It’s also not a great stepping off point for a lot of roles in the industry.

You can learn some incredible skills in QA, but not a lot of it is relevant to

Pawel Marciniak, Testronic

It’s all about finding bugs Quality assurance is not just about noticing bugs so they can be fixed - it’s much more than that.

“It’s about analysing and improving overall quality in current and future projects,” says White. “As well as finding bugs, QA is there to ensure that the game is a user-friendly, intuitive and fun experience. That the user’s needs are actually met, not just that the product meets its specifications. And that quality is raised across the whole team by identifying the root cause of errors and ensuring processes are changed through development to combat this.”

In addition, some testers are involved in fixing the bugs, not just finding them. And testers will often produce bibles and technical documentation for development teams. Some will even create tools to make testing easier and quicker.

Video game tester

Advice for new and aspiring games testers • Check your local studios’ websites Your local game developers might not always need game testers, but they often need people to come in and offer feedback.

“If these studios are hosting open houses or local play sessions, get involved,” Rush suggests. “Developers and producers are constantly looking for gamers who can communicate their opinions cleanly and provide actionable feedback on gameplay.

James Cubitt, Universally Speaking

“If you aren’t lucky enough to live in a city with a booming games industry, seek out opportunities to become a remote beta tester.

While these may not offer an in-studio QA experience, you will gain insight and learn how to provide actionable feedback to the devs and community coordinators running them.”

He continues: “Get involved in betas - sometimes studios just want lots of people in their games, but sometimes they want feedback and bugs that you find. This is experience that you can take into an entry-level interview.”

• Learn about the games industry - all of it Pay attention to the industry and the latest developments - new technology, new genres, and new services constantly transform the games testing landscape.

“Having wide and varied game knowledge is always going to be a benefit,” White says. “As is having a good working knowledge of the games made by the company that you are applying to. However, don’t focus solely on becoming an expert on just one game or genre.

“If you want to work for Blizzard because you’re a massive World of Warcraft fan, then game knowledge is going to help, but if WoW is all you know then it can be detrimental. Not only does it limit your perspective, but it can give

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you a solely player-focused mentality.

While testers do need to approach their work with a user mindset, they also need to employ a business-focused mindset because at the end of the day that’s what it is - a business.”

“SEEK OUT OPPORTUNITIES TO BECOME A REMOTE BETA TESTER, YOU WILL GAIN INSIGHT AND LEARN HOW TO PROVIDE ACTIONABLE FEEDBACK”

Adam Rush, Keywords Studios

• Have an open mind You may end up testing a variety of different products. You may be a huge strategy fan, but be willing to embrace that Switch party game, too.

“You probably won’t be on your favourite AAA game franchise right away, or the platform you prefer,” Cubitt says. “Mobile gaming is huge and there will be a lot of tests around that, and you’ll quickly find yourself broadening your horizons for the kind of games you play.

There are games for all ages, they all need solid and robust testing.”

Failbetter Games’ Fallen London

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HOW TO BECOME A VIDEO GAME SOUND DESIGNER The GamesIndustry.biz Academy finds out what it takes to make a living creating soundscapes for virtual worlds

NIALL O’DONOGHUE Contributor

If you’ve ever been fully immersed in a game, you probably have quality sound design to thank for it.

Every noise you hear when you explore places like Dunwall in Dishonored or Yharnam in Bloodborne, from the clink of a glass all the way up to the snarls of beasts, needs to be created and implemented by a sound designer.

It’s a fascinating role and one that allows you to have a definable impact on the overall quality and creative vision of a game. However, it can be somewhat unclear from the outside looking in what sound designers actually do.

“THE MORE THAT YOU CAN KNOW ABOUT THE CHARACTER FOR WHAT YOU’RE DESIGNING FOR, THE BETTER THE SOUNDS WILL BE” Andrea Chang, Hi-Rez

William Chyr’s Manifold Garden

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For Sable, sound designer and composer Martin Kvale worked by himself

What is the day-to-day reality of sound design?

• Working as part of a larger, multi-disciplined team The role of a sound designer will vary depending on the type of game you work on and whether you’re working in-house with a studio or as an external vendor, audio director at Hi-Rez Studios Andrea Chang explains.

In-house, sound designers interface heavily with the development team, at meetings and otherwise, to ensure the game is achieving its creative vision.

They can also work as a member of a larger audio team, where designers focus on creating sound assets and implementing them into the game.

These other roles vary and can include dedicated audio programmers, technical sound designers, dialogue editors and audio directors like Chang.

For an action game like Hi-Rez’s Smite, designers start by analysing design documents and doing some research.

“The more that you can know about the character for what you’re designing for, the better the sounds will be,” Chang explains. “Whether that is the material that they’re made of or wearing, or their personality, that’s all informative to the sound design.”

Sound designer and composer Martin Kvale, known for games like Manifold Garden and the recently released Sable, works as a contractor alongside his work with Krillbite Studio and Noknok Audio.

Compared to larger studios, where sound designers may have a specific remit, Kvale says sound designers can also act as audio leads when working on smaller teams. Firstly, he needs

to work out his role on a project: are there programmers interested in audio he can work with? Is the creative director hands-on or hands-off with audio? Then, he needs to manage his own time whilst communicating with these different departments.

For Sable, an exploration game set on a desert planet, Kvale worked by himself, and while he needed to work within budgetary restrictions he also had the luxury of taking risks.

This allowed him to take a very different approach to a sci-fi soundscape than the likes of Star Wars. The world of Sable is quiet and ambient - think tent flaps and whooshing sands - interjected with surreal sounds coming from things like your customisable hoverbike.

• Brainstorming ideas for audio assets Designers need to brainstorm ideas to develop a sound kit: how do you communicate magic, for example? Is it light fairy magic, or sinister dark magic?

What if a character is made out of ice?

Kirsty Gillmore, an experienced sound designer for audio and theatre and voice director for games, finds the creation aspect of the work thrilling.

For the recent audio drama The Sandman: Act II, Gillmore needed to create a sound effect for a floating crystal heart. After trialing variations of multiple sound effects, she incorporated sounds of gore and drops of blood, adding high-frequency filters to achieve a crystalline effect, alongside chimes and heartbeats. Gillmore feels that sound design rewards people who like thinking and creating outside the box.

“Anybody who enjoys that level of creativity, really enjoys diving into sounds, dissecting them and recording

interesting stuff and playing around with it,” Gillmore says. “Somebody who’s creative would really thrive on that.”

Kvale thinks of sound design as making a puzzle game in reverse, seeing the pieces come together as you work on them, and likens the creative flow to composing or performing music.

“I do work very experimentally so I never quite know what I’m doing that day or what I’m working at, but having all these [things] slowly come together and in the end it becomes something like Sable that can make someone feel emotion, that’s definitely something that is very mind-blowing to me,” Kvale says.

Sound designers must create sounds that work functionally as a part of gameplay. For example, a game might need footstep sounds for every surface type alongside dramatic ultimate abilities. For games, designers often need to implement sound effects themselves, using middleware tools like Wwise.

Although other mediums can have fewer creative restrictions, being involved in the minutiae means that a sound designer can make a big impact on a game. Furthermore, limitation breeds creativity.

“For me, one of the things that I like with games is the fact that you’re working with so many departments and your sound doesn’t stand alone,” sound designer and dialogue editor Kate Kelly, who worked on Psychonauts 2 as a contractor, says during a group interview with Double Fine’s senior sound designer Paul O’Rourke and technical sound designer Steven Green.

“It’s really adding to whatever is going on visually or mechanically and you’re adding that extra thing that really anchors the player into the world.”

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What education do I need?

• Courses can be useful to acquire certain skills Chang initially studied music composition, but started working on student game projects during a graduate program at the University of Southern California.

After gaining experience on around 30 student game projects, and with some help from her programme head, she started freelancing.

Andrea Chang, Hi-Rez

“I didn’t really know what I was doing at the beginning, but I just jumped in and got my feet wet,” Chang says.

“I learned a lot and that’s how I was like: ‘I think this is a more viable path and I’m really interested in it as well’.”

However, Chang realised she wanted to further strengthen her sound design and technical skills, particularly since she wanted to work on larger AAA games, and went to the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Tempe, Arizona for a Master Recording Program in

Audio Engineering. This gave her experience in various fields, like recording musicians and field recordings, alongside game audio.

“It filled a knowledge gap for me, in terms of all of the different options out there,” Chang says. “After that I felt a lot more technically proficient.”

She then landed her first “real industry job” with EA in 2013, working on the ultimately cancelled MOBA Dawngate.

“It definitely is helpful having some schooling if you aren’t super disciplined or don’t know where to start because there’s just so many different things out there. It’s a bit more focused and structured and helps you hit the ground running,” Chang explains.

“That’s not to say that you can’t do it if you don’t go to school, but I would say trade schools are a bit more helpful than a four-year program.”

Schools can help students improve their design skills and get proficiency with tools like Wwise and Unreal Engine.

Knowledge of Wwise was the second most desired skill (63%) in an analysis of just under 100 salaried job postings for sound designers conducted by GameSoundCon over a four month period in 2020, just behind experience (69%). Other desired skills include scripting (48%), proficiency with Unreal (41%), a formal education and experience with digital audio workstations (DAW) like ProTools and Reaper.

Chang advises people to learn more about Wwise online through courses available on manufacturer Audiokinetic’s website, modules for which are free alongside optional paid tests.

• Getting hands-on experience is crucial

“I DOUBT ANYONE’S GOING TO BE ASKING ABOUT MY SCHOOL - THEY’RE MOSTLY GOING TO BE LOOKING AT THE BODY OF WORK THAT I’VE DONE” Paul O’Rourke, Double Fine

Martin Kvale

Ultimately, Chang feels there’s only so much that you can read about learning sound design: you simply need to jump in and get hands-on with it.

“Experience is number one,” O’Rourke agrees. “[Kelly, Green and I] all went to school for audio and I think those were important in our early resumes just to show that we had learned somewhere professionally, but no one’s ever asked me to prove that I did go to school. Going forward, I doubt anyone’s going to be asking about my school - they’re mostly going to be looking at the body of work that I’ve done, the projects that I’ve worked on and how that could apply to what they’re doing.”

Kvale studied music and audio production in Norway and travelled to Australia to further study audio production and sound design.

When he came back, he dove into student projects and game jams and got his break after working on The Plan and Among the Sleep. “[This approach] worked for me, but I’m a socially extroverted person,” Kvale says. “I built up my career because I was privileged enough to have work that kept me fed and I also had the freedom to go around and travel, to go to game jams and conferences.

He continues: “I don’t think it’s impossible to get there without that, but it definitely takes more time.

But I also think, especially in the last year with the pandemic, it’s been amazing to see how people can network through social media. That’s a good equaliser for allowing more people to be able to do what I do.”

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Hi-Rez Studios’ Smite

How do I build up my portfolio and get started?

• Make your audio reel stand out A common mistake O’Rourke sees in sound design reels is someone overdubbing a well-known trailer with their own sounds, an approach he feels can draw unfavourable comparisons.

Instead, he recommends people take something less well-known to work with, like a music video, and to focus on smaller, simpler aspects of design rather than dramatic and bombastic effects.

“That really gets my attention when I’m looking at a reel; someone showing they’re able to hit all of the different pillars of what go into making a video game, especially examples of them messing around in a software like Unreal or Unity and showing ‘hey, here’s a little system I built’,” O’Rourke explains.

Green actively avoided redesigning trailers starting out, instead creating a reel using gameplay footage of the 2D platformer Limbo and a cube game demo, both of which were running in real-time using his own sound effects. “[It showed that] I implemented stuff into these games,” Green says.

“Yes, it was hand fed to me, but it wasn’t a redesign, it was like:

‘I’m actually doing this’, and I think that stood out at the time. The big thing that I feel like I’ve learned along the way is to be unique: definitely don’t follow the trend as much as possible.”

Kelly adds that designers should tailor their reels for the type of game they’re applying for - a reel for an indie game will sound very different than one for a AAA action game.

For example, she ended up redesigning the audio of gameplay from the puzzle platformer Snake Pass for her reel.

“I just ended up going through Steam and finding games that I liked the aesthetic of or would like to be working on, and then did a re-design of that,” Kelly explains. “It’s a pretty

Kate Kelly

powerful thing being able to show ‘here’s your sounds in the game’, but if you don’t have that or if you want to show something different then that’s the runner up - doing a video of gameplay and then adding your sounds.”

• Networking is important, but don’t force it When asked if she has any important advice to mention, Kelly simply answers: “Make friends.”

O’Rourke agrees: “Networking is a huge part of the entertainment industry. You know that saying, ‘It’s who you know...’”

He notes that reaching out to people working on projects and volunteering your time at events can help put you out there. However, he advises against being too aggressive in your approach: focus on making friends first and foremost at events, rather than getting a job, and it might pay dividends when you send out applications in the future.

For example, Kelly has worked as a conference associate with the annual Game Developers Conference, which allowed her to connect with various industry figures.

“Just being a familiar face makes a big difference,” she says. “Just showing up is a big part of it, even if you’re not being super active.”

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What skills do I need to be a game sound designer?

• A core knowledge of sound design and good communications skills If your goal is to get a job and make a living as a sound designer, O’Rourke emphasises the importance of learning as many new skills as possible.

“You should work on your implementation skills, learning the middlewares, learning the different programs people are using.

If you notice all the applications are looking for Unity or Unreal experience, go learn those tools as much as you can,” O’Rourke says.

For example, a big-budget game like The Last of Us Part II may require designers who know more about audio engineering, the process of recording and mixing audio, and having these skills would act in your favour for these roles.

Double Fine’s Psychonauts 2

“The more proficient you are at all these things, then the better positioned you are when a position comes around,” O’Rourke concludes.

Although Gilmore says that you can’t simply sidestep into game audio from different mediums, she feels that sound design for games shares many core skills with sound design for other mediums.

“You need to know how sound works,” she says. “Being able to handle things like signal flow and knowing how compression works not just with a plugin, but how EQ works, how dynamics processing works, what does noise floor mean: all these basic sound concepts.”

Kvale feels that communication skills are paramount, particularly since sound design is often a more integrated part of the creation process for games versus more linear mediums like film. Additionally, you always need to bear in mind the functionality of your audio in a gameplay context.

“An average sound can sound way better than a good sound as long as it’s put in in a good manner,” Kvale says.

Additionally, he notes that while it’s not strictly necessary, understanding some programming gives sound designers a better idea of how much work their ideas will take for programmers to implement, which is particularly important when working on games with small budgets.

Paul O’Rourke, Double Fine

Video game sound design

• Composition is useful but not mandatory

• Make sure you’re working at a consistent and healthy pace

Composition skills were listed as required or preferred skills for 23% of jobs analysed by GameSoundCon in 2020, and many of our interviewees have an educational background in music.

However, it’s not strictly necessary to be musical to get started in sound design.

Although Chang does utilise her musical knowledge when making decisions about the overall style and direction of a game’s music alongside a composer, she feels that it’s not as important a skill for pure sound design.

“Focus on the implementation side of things. If you are implementing music into the game, you need to understand generally how the structure of game music works, how loops work and how music events happen in the game and how they’re triggered,” Chang advises.

“It’s more of the structural part of it that a sound designer needs to know versus ‘How do you write a pretty song?’”

It’s also important to simply keep tabs on yourself, particularly as a contractor.

Kvale admits that there can be a sense of needing to be on a project all the time, a juggling act exacerbated by the fact that games often bottleneck their release dates for specific time periods: he once had six games he’d worked on come out in six weeks.

Kirsty Gillmore

Steve Green, Double Fine

It’s also worth considering that some sound design roles lean more heavily into the technical aspect of the work. As a technical sound designer, Green implements sounds and ideas into games, ensuring that they function correctly and are realised as the sound designers intended.

“It might just be a personality thing, but I like it when things work: I don’t like it when things are broken,” Green laughs. “I’m literally not a composer - I can’t make music for my life and while I’m confident in my sound designing skills, I just enjoy making sure things aren’t broken. I like organisation.”

He recommends that designers implement a structured approach, working continuously and evenly whilst giving themselves time to fail, and have a support network of friends and colleagues to avoid burning out.

“When you listen to Sable and you listen to Manifold Garden, what you’re hearing there is hundreds and hundreds of hours of small adjustments being made, big strokes being decided on and slowly filed down to fit better,” he continues.

“Everything that ends up in there has many, many small revisions and small fixes, and that comes from just being able to do it a little bit each day and keep on doing it a little bit each day.”

“IT’S REALLY ADDING TO WHATEVER IS GOING ON VISUALLY OR MECHANICALLY AND YOU’RE ADDING THAT EXTRA THING THAT REALLY ANCHORS THE PLAYER INTO THE WORLD” Kate Kelly

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HOW TO GET A JOB AS A GAME PRODUCER The GamesIndustry.biz Academy explores the many paths to working in video games production

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

“People seem to think production is this nebulous, indefinable thing, but it really isn’t.”

This recent tweet from Silent Games’ CEO Sally Blake encapsulates the myths around game production and what it entails pretty well. It’s also what prompted the GamesIndustry.biz Academy to look into the field, providing guidance for those who might be tempted by the role but are unsure about what it encompasses.

Blake, who co-founded Silent Games, is a former senior

producer at No More Robots and Hammerhead, having previously spent over six years as producer at Ubisoft Reflections.

And for her, production comes down to three things.

“You are there to make sure the game is on time, on budget, and at quality,” she says.

“Day-to-day, I’ll be reviewing the project budget, checking we’re on track to meet our milestone goals, and making sure the team has all the tools and information they need to do their best.

Capy Games’ Grindstone

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Sally Blake spent over six years as producer at Ubisoft, working on The Division 2 among others

“As a junior producer, you usually handle more of the micro-level work such as inputting tasks and estimates, making sure the bug/ task tracking databases are up to date, booking meetings and so on. As you move up the ranks you tend to look at things on a more macro-level such as defining scope for a large project or multiple projects at one time, as well as coaching and supporting junior producers.”

Staff in games production roles sometimes have opportunities to branch into more specialist roles such as data analysis or playtest coordination, Blake notes. But she adds that she actually doesn’t know many producers who have chosen to leave the field as it has a broad range of seniority levels.

Mike Anderson, producer at Monument Valley and Alba: A Wildlife Adventure developer Ustwo Games, describes the general career ladder for a producer as production assistant > associate producer > Sally Blake, producer > senior producer > lead Silent Games producer > executive producer.

“Your mileage may vary, but I’ve also seen people move from production into super prestigious roles, such as heads of studio, CEOs or founding their own studios,” he says. “The ceiling for producers is pretty high, basically.”

Blake, CEO of a company she co-founded, is the perfect example.

She agrees that “the sky’s the limit” when it comes to progressing in this career.

“IF YOU’RE TOO WORRIED ABOUT DOING THINGS WRONG, YOU’LL BE SEVERELY HAMPERING YOUR ABILITY TO LEARN”

Mike Anderson, Ustwo Games

It’s a role that can also be interesting in a freelance capacity, once you’ve made the right contacts and have a bit of experience, notes Farah Coculuzzi, producer at Grindstone developer Capy Games.

“If you’re a freelance contractor, once you have a reputation working on one or two projects it’s somewhat easy to keep contracts coming in and can be a lucrative career pathway option after a couple of years,” she explains.

John Nejady is production director at Modern Wolf and former senior producer at Coconut Lizard and associate producer at Sumo Digital and CCP. And if freelance is not for you, he notes that while AAA may have a greater number of opportunities when it comes to game production, indie studios is probably where you should look if you’re just starting.

“In my experience the bigger places have so much interest in every role, internally and externally, [that] your chance of getting them is actually lower,” he says. “The greater opportunities come from joining small teams who are growing, where you and the team can grow together with you taking more or a production role.”

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What education do I need to get a job in video games production?

The dominating feeling expressed by our interviewees is that games producer is not a role that requires higher education specifically.

Nejady has a degree in TV and Film Production from the University of Sunderland and says that some of the theory units were useful in “training his eye” and the practical ones “drove home the reality that you have to deliver X thing after Y time.” And while he says that this perspective “broadly endures in games,” he insists that no specific degree will generally prepare you for a role as a game producer.

“If there is a ‘best path’, I don’t think I know it,” he says. “So many fantastic producers I worked with have had incredibly varied pasts from chemists, marketing, history PhDs - it varies a lot.”

Reese Wright, senior producer at games consulting agency Robot Teddy, says they have learnt everything on the job.

“My educational background wasn’t stellar - I was a senior high school dropout,” they say. “I wouldn’t say that higher education is essential to become a great producer, as many of the people who are truly beloved in the job have great soft skills over strong hard skills.

That’s not to say there’s nothing to be gained from a great educational background. Most great producers are jacks of all trades, masters of none, so a varied education history can really give people a leg-up.”

Coculuzzi says she “accidentally” got into games event management while studying Digital Design at the Auckland University of Technology, later leading her to production.

“I volunteered my time to help organise indie dev booths at local game events and helped out with conferences local to New Zealand. I realised later on that the skills I picked up from volunteering can be applied to junior game production roles, so that was the pathway I started pursuing. By the time I graduated, I luckily had built up

Reese Wright, Robot Teddy

a network in the NZ and Australian games industry. In 2017, I got my first official games job as an associate producer working on a mobile title in Melbourne.”

But while higher education is not a must, some training can be really useful to the role. You can seek it prior to looking for production positions or it is sometimes offered as part of personal development plans at some studios.

“Some form of project management training will go a long way, be it Agile/Scrum, Prince2, or Waterfall,” Wright says. “Having an understanding of different methodologies can be super helpful.”

Blake, who initially studied animation, describes her own learning of Agile/Scrum principles as “foundational knowledge” but adds that you “can be an excellent producer without doing any expensive courses.”

Anderson adds: “The only ‘production’ related qualification I have is one I got after moving into production/on the job, and it’s a Scrum Master Certification from the ScrumAlliance.

I personally don’t think there’s any academic course which can sufficiently prepare you John Nejady, Modern Wolf for the sorts of challenges you’ll encounter in production

“TRY TO HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR LIMITS, AND DON’T BE AFRAID TO SAY WHEN YOU’RE AT THEM” Reese Wright, Robot Teddy

daily. The best producers I know don’t have a bunch of degrees, but have had the chance to experience a few project life cycles, and have learnt so much through the first-hand development experience they’ve had.

“I just feel that there’s only so much you can teach about game production without actually experiencing it.

A lot of project management courses I’ve seen are based on super defined problems with only one solution, and let me just say right now, that is not how games get made at all. Unless I’ve been doing it wrong all along.”

Coculuzzi says that “aside from some light touches on Jira and Trello practices in one of [her] University papers,” she doesn’t have any specific training related to games production.

“I don’t think a productionfocused education is necessary for becoming a producer, and I think having knowledge on other areas in games (and even outside of games) can make you a better producer, as it teaches you how to communicate with the rest of the team on the aspects they’re working on,” she says.

“I do recommend learning different project tracking softwares through online courses, and looking up how they’re used in studio environments.

People are also usually super friendly in the games industry and happy to answer any questions you might have about production practices.”

Nejady adds that he was recently asked by a budding producer if they should do an Agile or Prince2 course to become a producer, and says that neither is right nor wrong.

“Having one, or the other, or both, is no guarantee that you will get a job, or make the right decisions when you get there,” he continues. “As a producer there’s a huge variety of things you might need to do, and I think no single course can really cover it. Each course can give you another tool in your toolbox, but at any given moment you might need to use any combination of the tools in your box, some you might have learned on a course, or others you might have gleaned during some casual conversation in passing with someone.”

Video game producer

What experience do I need to get a job in video games production?

As made abundantly clear by our interviewees, games production might be a good fit for a variety of people depending on which transferable skills they have. So, much like recommending any specific education is impossible, there is not one straight path to follow when it comes to experience.

“With production, it does seem to be one of those paths that are more ‘wiggly’ and have a lot of routes to entry, more so than some other disciplines,” Blake says. “I know a lot of producers that build skills in QA first. However, now there does seem to be a few more junior level production opportunities and internships. I think production is becoming more recognised as a role that is necessary for a team to succeed; in the past it was seen as a luxury.

Just getting any kind of experience as a team leader is really helpful - for example, in your university in [group] projects or as part of a game jam.”

Four out of the five people we talked to for this guide had their start in production through QA. Anderson notes that progressing through the ranks of QA prepares for various aspects of a production role.

“As QA lead I used to have a small team to manage, reports to write and spent a lot of time working in spreadsheets, all of which are parts of my job now, though everything is a bit bigger now,” he says. “This is of course

not a guaranteed route into production, but by first getting a role in a studio, you will at least get exposure to what people working in your dream role do day-to-day, and from there you can decide if that’s where you’d like to be.”

Wright worked in quality assurance for 11 years before fully becoming a game producer.

“QA taught me a lot about how games get built, the whole release process, teamwork, and project management, all of which have been essential knowledge during my time as a producer,” they add.

“QA is a good place to grow into production as it’s generally a department that has a lot of interaction with producers and several similarities in structure once you get up to QA/ team management level. I couldn’t say that is the ‘best path’ to becoming a producer though; people move to production from many different areas of the games industry, be it QA, art, coding, marketing - really anywhere can be the birthplace of great producers.”

So any experience in the games industry will be good experience, to show an understanding of the development cycle. There are a lot of transferable skills from other industries too, so your past work experiences might be more relevant than you think.

“A lot of producers I know have gotten their first games production roles not by directly working on games at the start of their career,” Coculuzzi says. “I think a lot of organisational, people and project management skills from other industries

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can be easily applied to games.

So, if you’re in a producer-type role in another industry and want to move into games, I’d say just go for it and be pretty open about your background during game job interviews.”

Anderson adds that even something as simple as being good with emails can directly help you in the role.

“The entry-level production roles you’ll want to be looking for are production assistant or assistant producer, neither of which should have too high requirements for applicants,” he says. “Sometimes I see these roles ask for a significant amount of production experience, which I think is wrong as a requirement. That being said, I think you should still apply to those roles even if you don’t have industry experience, as I’m not aware of any other routes directly into production with lower barriers to entry than that.”

Nejady offers a prime example of how valuable skills can even come from sectors far, far away from the games industry: “At 17, I joined the merchant navy and trained as a deck officer for around four years. As part of that I had formal management training, and was part of a very well structured management hierarchy - from the captain, to us, to the crew - as part of which I helped to manage the work of teams of people of all ages, from across the globe.”

Farah Coculuzzi was producer on Wilder Games’ Noa Noa

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Robot Teddy’s Reese Wright is currently working on Innersloth’s Among Us

What qualities and skills do I need to be a game producer?

Soft skills are at the top of the list of qualities needed to be a good games producer.

As Wright puts it, “it’s more of a mindset thing.”

“Do you love planning things? Do you like helping people? Are you someone who naturally keeps a lot of metaphorical plates spinning? Do you love to learn? Then you might be a great producer,” they say.

• You need to be a team player with excellent communication skills Blake has been involved in the recruitment process at AAA and indie studios, so she has a clear picture of what she looks for in a producer.

When asked about the skills needed, she says it’s instinctually easiest to talk about the most practical examples of things to learn.

“How to use bug tracking software, how to create budgets, how to build a project roadmap and timeline,” she lists. “All of those are vital skills but are secondary to the ability to make a team feel like they are heard, understood, and supported.

“I’m looking for someone who is team focused and thinks about the quality of the game and how our players will feel playing it,” she continues. “So basically, someone who has the ability to look at the bigger picture and understand what quality looks like - putting a list of tasks in Jira is one thing, but working with leads and directors to make sure the game is actually good is another.

The best producer’s cast aside their ego to get the absolute best decision for the game and team, whether it’s something they suggested or not.”

Anderson adds that it goes beyond just supporting and being a part of the team. Producers are really the glue that keeps the whole team together, so you need to do so with the right attitude.

Farah Coculuzzi, “Producers help create the culture Capy Games of a team, and your team members

will feed off your energy, so someone who is upbeat and enthusiastic about things will help foster a healthy environment in which to make games,” he says. “Something I personally find really important is to be honest. I’m a pretty transparent person, and I think that helps to build trust between myself and my team.

“I don’t really care if someone doesn’t know X software or tool, as that can always be taught, but as far as I’m aware, there’s no course or degree you can take in not being an arsehole.

It’s much more valuable for me to see how a person interacts with others. Do they help create an environment where people are comfortable being honest, do they show inquisitiveness?

You don’t have to be a full on extrovert, just need to show a genuine interest in things and a desire to learn, and I’ll be sold on you.”

Needless to say that this all requires strong interpersonal and communication skills.

“You’re almost always interacting with people 80% of your day as a producer, so good interpersonal and emotional intelligence skills come first,” Coculuzzi says.

Nejady adds: “I think you need to understand people. Be a good listener, emotionally intelligent, a good organiser, and a good motivator of people. The whole job, whether it’s managing those above you, working things out with people outside of your organisation, or those on your team, is people. If you can get an understanding of what motivates people, the pressures they are under, their hopes, dreams and fears, you can go a long way to helping work out outcomes that are helpful and productive for all.”

• You need to be a problem solver Problem solving is a massive part of the game producer role, Anderson points out, highlighting the necessity to “approach issues with a can-do attitude.” Being able to identify problem areas later down the line is also crucial, Coculuzzi adds, though she says it’s something you can also learn as you go.

“Another skill is knowing how to adapt your team and project’s situation as you need,” she continues. “Things never go 100% planned

Video game producer in games. Lastly, knowing how your game works inside out will help you communicate with your team and understand the project a lot better.”

Another aspect of being adaptable and having that cando attitude is being autonomous, which is crucial in production.

“Even as a junior you don’t always have people handing tasks to you,” Blake says. “So you need to recognise what needs to be done and get it done.

Taking initiative and making suggestions for improvements to processes and pipelines is always a bonus.

“There are times where decision paralysis is worse than getting something wrong, so someone who can admit to their past mistakes and learn from them is ideal.”

• You need to be able to cope under pressure Game production is often in the eye of the storm when something goes wrong, meaning you also need to be resilient and cope well with failure.

“Key things like grace under pressure, being able to read a room and guide a team to follow a plan, being able to communicate clearly, and being comfortable with change - these are essential skills producers need every day,” Wright says.

Because the work of a team will

be linked to your decisions and your ability to react to stressful situations, it’s really essential to be able to remain calm, collected and levelheaded as a games producer. “[An] important lesson, which applies to anyone in a leadership position, is learning how to cope under pressure and how to manage your emotions while

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at work or if they need time off because, you know, life is like that sometimes. I didn’t know that would be part of the role when I started, but it’s genuinely a privilege to be able to support someone in those moments.”

While coping under pressure is crucial, always remain aware of your limits as well, Wright points out.

“Try to have a good understanding of your limits, and don’t be afraid to say when you’re at them,” they say. “It’s very easy for producers to take on everything because they want to keep all the things running as smoothly as possible, and this can often come at a personal cost. It’s okay to say ‘enough is enough’, honestly.”

“IF YOU WANT TO BE A PRODUCER BECAUSE YOU WANT TO ‘BE THE BOSS’, OR ‘BE THE ONE WHO MAKES ALL THE DECISIONS’, GET THAT OUT OF YOUR HEAD”

• You need some hard skills, too

still maintaining a good level of honesty and vulnerability,” Blake says. “The way you perceive a situation can really affect team morale and getting that balance right is really key. It’s not always easy to do in a stressful situation, but the team look to you to make decisions and support them when they are struggling, so you need to be a person that can deal with crisis effectively.

“Producers just end up being the person people go to if they are genuinely struggling with something

While soft skills are at the core of production, it’s not to say there’s no hard skill needed. Most of them can be learnt on the job, but it doesn’t hurt if you already have some of these.

“One skill I highly recommend is becoming friends with spreadsheets.

Learn a few basic formulas, like IF statements, INDEX(MATCH), using AND and OR, SUMIFS, COUNTIFS. Honestly, it’ll make life a lot easier if you can semiautomate your planning spreadsheets to update everywhere whenever one thing changes,” Wright says. “Or go next level and learn VBA or even SQL if you really want to level-up your usefulness.”

John Nejady, Modern Wolf

Ustwo Games’ Alba: A Wildlife Adventure

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CCP’s Eve Valkyrie is the game John Nejady worked on first as a producer

What are the common misconceptions about games production?

Like all jobs, game production comes with a bunch of myths and misconceptions that are always useful to recognise before taking a path towards this career.

One persistent myth is the false impression that production is about “telling people what to do,” Anderson says.

“It generally tends to work more like this: your team tells you what they would like to do, and you (using your spreadsheets and other tools) help them cut that down to the amount of work they actually can do,” he explains.

“It’s usually much more of a supportive role than you may think it is. There are also a lot of unglamorous aspects of game development which you will end up doing as a producer, and sometimes these are thankless tasks.”

Nejady adds: “If you want to be a producer because you want to ‘be the boss’, or ‘be the one who makes all the decisions’, I’d say get that out of your head. Producers like that definitely do exist, but in my experience [they] are the ones with unhappy teams, who are crunching, and ultimately harming the ability to help the team deliver the best possible work.

“In my experience the best producers and leaders in general exist to support the talented individuals who are on their teams.

By caring for, trusting and supporting our teams we give them the best chance to do good work, maintain positive productive relationships, and be happier and more effective project managers ourselves.”

Another misconception is that production is “all spreadsheets” and that you have to love numbers to be a good game producer, Blake says.

“I love neither spreadsheets nor numbers but manage okay,” she says. “There are tons of tools out there to automate things and to be honest it’s usually more practical to make use of them”.

Coculuzzi points out that the idea that you “need to know how to use fancy softwares from the get-go” is also a false impression: “In reality we all learn new tools and project management software on the job,” she says.

Finally, Wright highlights that not all producer roles within games are the same, unlike what many seem to think.

“For example, there is a world of difference between the knowledge needed to be a publishing producer vs a development producer - and having done both, I can attest that it is not an easy switch to make between them,” they say. “Some producers are very handson and have a great deal of control when it comes to game direction, while others believe their job is to facilitate others to make that direction. Personally, I’m in the latter camp.

There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ description of what producers do or need to be like.”

Video game producer

Advice for new and aspiring game producers

Nejady also points in the direction of this Twitter thread he put together, sharing useful resources.

Wright highlights a great “onestop-shop for production reading resources” found on Trello, compiled

by Dan Bergin-Holly, production director of Fortitude Games.

Blake writes a video games production-focused blog, +1 Wisdom, with advice aimed at students, new producers and veterans alike.

She also has book recommendations that you can find on her Twitter.

• Embrace your mistakes When asked whether there’s anything they’d do differently if they could change something about their first experience as a games producer, Wright is unequivocal: “Not at all.”

“Sure, I’ve made some silly mistakes along the way, but I learned a lot from them - don’t be afraid of messing up because it can be a really valuable experience,” they say.

“Horrifying at the time, maybe, but never all that bad afterwards.”

That’s a sentiment that was echoed by all the interviewees when asked for advice for new and aspiring game producers: don’t be afraid of making mistakes. And if you do, learn from them and move forward.

“Once I was made producer [at CCP], I was given ownership of yet another thing to deliver - demos for the Sony and Oculus booths at E3, shortly after the latter was acquired by Facebook,” Nejady says. “My first act was to call a meeting for those who would be contributing to the demos.

I ended up inviting probably double the number of people who needed to be there, and having zero agenda for it.

It was a mess, and ultimately a waste of many people’s time. I should have kept the numbers lower, and hosted the meeting with a more focused agenda.

“Looking back on that period and the end of that project, I think I definitely allowed the pressure I was feeling to manifest itself unhealthily; for myself and the team. I think I definitely allowed egotism and arrogance to become prominent aspects of my being, and this probably in some way harmed the project and my relationships with some team members. Admittedly I would have benefited from more support, but ultimately I feel the responsibility for that lies with me. I’m glad I had

“I DON’T REALLY CARE IF SOMEONE DOESN’T KNOW X TOOL, AS THAT CAN ALWAYS BE TAUGHT, BUT THERE’S NO COURSE YOU CAN TAKE IN NOT BEING AN ARSEHOLE” Mike Anderson, Ustwo

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Mike Anderson, Ustwo Games

those eye-opening experiences within my first year as a producer.”

Anderson says that “having things go wrong and then fixing them is pretty much the job in a nutshell.”

He continues: “If you’re too worried about doing things wrong, you’ll be severely hampering your ability to learn. Production to me is a lot about identifying a problem, fixing that problem, and then setting up a process so that problem will hopefully not happen again. Then it’s just a matter of time before a new problem appears, and you go through the steps again. After repeating this process a few times, you’ll become more comfortable with things not quite going to plan, and be more confident with your ability to solve problems.”

• Find resources to learn more Whether you’re just starting or are looking for a job, there’s a wealth of resources available to game producers online, and you should make the most out of it.

“Websites like Skillshare have some great production tutorials,” Coculuzzi says. “I’d also recommend checking out GDC talks, as well as finding game producer groups on Slack and Discord for interesting discussions and resources that get shared there.”

When it comes to GDC talks, Nejady particularly recommends the 2016 session “Super Producers: Build Your Leadership and Make Great Games” by Gearbox Software’s Aaron Thibault, while Anderson points out that the event has a YouTube playlist dedicated to game production that is well worth exploring.

• Ask questions and reach out to game producers If you’re only just starting as a games producer, don’t be afraid to ask questions to other team members and seek advice from your peers.

Looking back at her first experience, Coculuzzi says she “would’ve liked to ask more questions about things that [she] thought were pretty obvious at the time, especially during project onboarding.”

Wright adds: “Talk to other producers as much as possible to learn which type of producer you want to be producers are by and large a helpful lot, and are usually happy to answer questions if they’re not too super busy.”

Blake adds that, when speaking to producers currently in the industry, you should try and find out about what their role and responsibilities are.

“I know it can be tricky, but an internship or work experience at a game studio is worth its weight in gold,” she says. “Production processes and strategies are changing all the time, which is why talking to people in industry is really useful as you’ll always have the latest.”

Finally, Coculuzzi highlights the importance of just trusting yourself and remaining resilient in what is a very competitive industry.

“Trust your gut instinct, listen and don’t give up. A lot of entry level production jobs ask for one or two shipped titles. I think that is pretty unrealistic for new people in our industry, and if you see a position that you like I say totally go for it and apply.

You never know what’ll happen!”

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HOW TO GET A JOB AS A GAMES WRITER The GamesIndustry.biz Academy looks into how to get a job writing video games

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

After 68 years of recognising excellence in science-fiction and fantasy literature, the Hugo Awards added a video game category to the 2021 edition.

While the accolade has yet to be added permanently to the organisation’s roster, it still represents a great step towards the recognition of interactive storytelling.

With each year passing, the games industry becomes more interested in story. While the big blockbusters are still typically gameplay-focused - as shown by the best-selling games in the US in 2020 - there’s a growing trend towards trying to push the boundaries of narrative in AAA games.

“IT’S ALL WONDERFUL IF YOU CAN CREATE GLITTERING CHARACTERS, BUT IF YOU CAN’T DO IT WITHIN A DEADLINE, YOU’RE GOING TO BE NOBODY’S FRIEND” Corey Brotherson

Dim Bulb Games and Serenity Forge’s Where the Water Tastes like Wine

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Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs Legion

Even developers who have historically been purely focused on gameplay have experimented with narrative elements, such as EA venturing into story modes in recent FIFA titles, or NBA 2K making the narrative MyCareer Mode a core feature of the series.

Pushed by an indie scene that’s always at the avant-garde of storytelling, AAA has a new appetite for carefully crafted stories, which have shined in recent years with titles such as God of War, The Witcher 3, Persona 5 or The Last of Us Part II. This shift, which contributes to making interactive storytelling more visible, might motivate an entire new generation towards games writing as a job. But before opting for such a career, you need to make sure you’re getting into it for the right reasons.

Like most artistic jobs, it’s easy to idealise games writing.

Much like game artists don’t just draw what they want all day and game journalists are not paid to play video games, writing games doesn’t mean writing compelling stories day in, day out. So be aware of the caveats, says Olivia Wood. She’s narrative lead at Star Stable Entertainment, former writer at Failbetter Games, and also works as a freelancer as part of Bear Wolf - she was one of the writers on

“As a writer, the entirety of your job is based around writing and solving problems related to writing,” says Xalavier Nelson Jr., narrative designer and writer of Hypnospace Outlaw and Skate Bird, and creator of An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs and the recently announced Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator.

Xalavier Nelson Jr.

the indie anthology game Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, among others.

“Writing is hard,” she says. “It will sometimes make you miserable. Just because it does, doesn’t mean you suck.

One of my favourite writers told me that she runs to have something she hates more than writing. Although if you hate it too much, do something else. Life is too short. It’s not a good way to have your name remembered in the annals of history. It’s also not the best paid job in the industry, and it’s very competitive.”

There are a lot of jobs you can put under the games writing label. Narrative designers and writers are typically the most common ones you’ll encounter.

“YOU ARE NOT THE ‘AUTHOR OF YOUR OWN STORY’. IF YOU WANT TO TELL ‘YOUR STORY’, WRITE A NOVEL, BUT A GAME IS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT” Lauren Stone

“So if you are a game’s writer, it is feasible that you could spend your entire tenure at a studio writing screenplay and format scripts. Narrative design, alongside also doing writing, usually involves looking at the mechanical basis of the game and visual aspects, and collaborating with a team to determine ways to convey your narrative through other elements that are not solely narrative components.”

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What education do I need to get a job in games writing?

Some of the most memorable stories told in games have been written by creators with an educational background that has little to do with storytelling. Uncharted creator Amy Hennig studied film theory and production. Mass Effect lead writer Drew Karpyshyn has a BA in fine arts. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima studied economics.

Your degree isn’t what’s going to make you a game writer. But that’s not to say you shouldn’t study for one.

“I hold a bachelors in English: Creative Writing Emphasis, Theater minor,” says Lauren Stone, Clancy IP writer at Ubisoft Reflections. “I don’t believe a specific degree in writing is necessary to become a games writer, however, big caveat, it makes it much easier to get a work visa as a ‘skilled worker’ in a foreign country.

“Because games are global, and you sometimes have to chase the projects and jobs, being able to get Lauren Stone a visa to work in another country could be necessary to advance your career.

If you want to be a full-time staff writer for a major studio, then having a bachelor’s degree can make that pursuit easier, especially before you have a substantial body of work that you can use to support your visa application to immigration boards.”

Wood agrees with Stone on the visa front, but insists that it’s not necessarily a writing degree that you need.

“I do think that enough of an education that you understand grammar rules is useful - so that you can pick and choose when to ignore ‘correct’ style, fight the right battles, and not be intimidated by pedants,” she explains.

“A formal education can also introduce you to subjects that you wouldn’t have sought out of your own volition, expose you to writing that you might not otherwise have got around to.

“A degree can provide you with the opportunity to develop your skills in criticism.

I think history degrees can be incredibly useful I’m envious of some of the rich layers of history that my colleagues know exist to draw from.

At the same time, I have no regrets about studying philosophy and politics - that gave me different advantages. But all this is stuff you can do on your own time, and don’t need to be formally guided into. While not a games writer, Terry Pratchett, one of the best and most compassionate writers we’ve had, didn’t go to university.”

Corey Brotherson, comic book writer and lead narrative designer at Silver Rain Games,

spent most of his 20-year career in the industry as a journalist, as well as a content producer and writer for PlayStation Europe, for over 12 years. He has a BA in English language and literature, as well as a master’s in journalism.

“I thought if I got a degree in English language and literature, then I’ve got a foundation for fiction, which is something I wanted to do but I had no idea how to get into.

I was trying to think long term: I don’t know if you need a degree to become a fiction writer, but hopefully that will help. Both degrees actually became really important in being able to create this foundation for games writing.

Mainly in terms of organisational writing, communication and creativity - there’s a lot of transposable skills from journalism, to games writing, to marketing. They have helped in terms of being able to let employers know that I was serious about becoming a writer and that I had enough grounding there.”

Kike Ayoola, writer at The Wagadu Chronicles developer Twin Drums, has a BSc in computer science. She explains that a formal education in game design can also be very beneficial to being a good games writer.

“You’re writing for games with mechanics and so many other design elements that you need to integrate your narrative with; I think having a good understanding of all of the parts that bring games together could be a huge advantage,” she says.

The degree you choose to pursue can also be linked to the genre of games you want to work with, or the type of stories you want to write.

“Don’t forget that we have all kinds of writers in AAA,” Stone says, adding that many programs could be beneficial depending on the game being made. “If you’re working on a Clancy game [and] you have a degree in Criminal Justice or Political Science you may be more appealing than someone with a degree in English because you bring specific expertise to the table. Being able to highlight what makes you unique and targeting projects and teams that will see the value in your knowledge is more important than ticking the box for ‘has a degree’.”

When he’s in a position to recommend or hire writers, Nelson says he doesn’t care where or how they trained - what matters is their technical skill as well as the perspective they bring to their worlds.

“The ideal education for a narrative designer or writer in my opinion is something that makes you as broad of a person as possible.

The more resources you can pull from in terms of mythology, strange technical minutia and trivia, little pieces of how other mediums have solved problems, history, and philosophy, the better equipped you’ll be able to not just solve problems with your teams, but to write richer stories coming right out of the gate.

Any education, whether it’s formal or not, that provides you with that full broad scope of being human, is the way to go in my opinion.”

Video game writer

What do I need to get noticed as a games writer?

• Build a portfolio of writing samples As made abundantly clear by the variety of educational options available to aspiring game writers, there is no one path into the job. But there are essential elements that you need to perfect, and most of them revolve around your writing portfolio and what should be in it. It is your most precious ally, and ideally it should be composed of work that is relevant to games.

“This includes things like writing samples that show off your ability to write dialogue [and] an understanding of barks [short lines of ambient dialog],” says lead narrative designer at Capy Games, Kaitlin Tremblay.

It’s all about showcasing that you can write for games specifically, so you should display “a focus on dialogue and cinematic scene construction, as well as an understanding of the different types of writing and narrative structures used in games,” she continues.

That includes choice writing, branching stories, open-world and combat barks, item descriptions and flavour text, tutorials, linear versus non-linear narrative, authored content versus systemic behaviours, and more.

However, it’s worth noting that any writing is better than no writing at all.

“If you want to be a writer, write,” Stone says, before noting that she’s honed her craft as a writer in other media before transitioning to games.

She adds that she knows plenty of novelists and screenwriters who have

transitioned because they created a body of work. What matters is that you have done writing before applying for jobs.

“You can’t apply somewhere, even as a junior, and expect to start writing there,” Wood adds. “While junior writers should be taught and given room to expand, not all companies will be great at this, and writing jobs are so popular that you need to have samples to show genuine interest in the role, and that you can actually write. So, while there’s lots of advice telling you ‘don’t work for free’ - which is largely true - it should probably be ‘don’t work for others for free.’ To get into game writing you need to have written.”

• Finish and publish stories Writing for yourself so you have writing samples to show is sometimes still not quite enough though - you ideally need to actually finish and seek publication of your work.

“There’s a lot of people in all creative industries that said to me: if you can finish a story, then that shows at least you’re dedicated to the craft itself,” Brotherson says, noting that he had roughly a dozen stories under his belt when he was approached about working on indie project Windrush Tales and (separately) working at Silver Rain Games.

“And that probably gave [me] the confidence to be able to say: [I] know how to create a plot, how to finesse a story, how to create compelling characters, how to write dialogue.

Those things were just as important as me being able to say: I’ve got a MA and I’ve got a BA. That will give you a substantial advantage

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Kike Ayoola

when you’re applying for jobs.”

Wood recommends regularly writing flash fiction and sending it to any company that might publish it.

If you can’t show your work to other people and listen to feedback, you’re never going to learn or improve.

She warns that this can be a bruising education - but it is all necessary.

“In games writing you are going to have work cut, changed, rewritten by someone else, thrown out,” she explains.

“Getting used to rejection, trying to learn not to take it personally or to heart... is pretty vital. I’d look at competitions, at game jams, and use them as motivation for the creation of portfolio pieces.

There are loads of talks on writing online; many GDC talks are on YouTube.

Watch them. Build a portfolio, apply for jobs, politely ask for feedback and be gracious when you get rejections.”

Laundry Bear’s A Mortician’s Tale

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• Make playable content Your portfolio should also demonstrate an understanding of the tools of the craft, and showcase playable content.

“Try as much as possible to familiarise yourself with the variety of game writing software available and try as soon as possible to start making games,” Ayoola says. “Even making small practice games on your own shows your enthusiasm and dedication to the art, and helps you as a game writer to begin to understand the structure of your stories and how to use your narrative to drive it forward.”

Twine was overwhelmingly mentioned by our interviewees as an essential piece of software for aspiring games writers to get accustomed to.

Nelson points out that he “got the work by doing the work” and he started with Twine because that’s what he “could wrap [his] head around.” And the more he practiced it, the better he became at it, allowing him to embrace story and game development as a whole. “[I saw] my initial lack of knowledge not as a limitation but as a constraint that I could do interesting creativity within,” he explains. “What I could pull off technically gave me an avenue through which to view the game development process as a whole, and later on really benefit my clients when it came to building narrative structures and designs that specifically took advantage of solutions that would make the game easier to build, as opposed to trying to cellophane wrap a story over a shape that really did not want it.”

Tremblay adds that making a

game in Twine really teaches you fundamentals of choice design, branching narrative, and how to use variables to tell a player-driven story.

“You can include barks and you can show off snappy dialogue in a Twine,” she continues. “While not all studios make branching narratives, a released game made in something like Twine is still valuable because it’s a released game, and there is so much you learn about scoping, balancing work for a release date, and so on, from developing and releasing a game, no matter the size or engine it is made in.

Whatever engine or software you want to use, know what you want to get out of it, formalise your learnings from it, and treat it as what it is: a released game in your portfolio that people can play and that you can use to build your reputation, experience, and skills.”

• Play the networking game Finally, networking is absolutely key to getting noticed as a games writer.

Doing all of the above will be almost worthless if you don’t take the time to put yourself in the spotlight and interact with peers.

“Junior games writing jobs are notoriously hard to come by, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” Tremblay says. “Building genuine relationships with other game writers and developers is an important way to gain connections to people who are looking and hiring. A lot of people want to be games writers, so the competition is tough, and landing a gig often relies on words of recommendations and

“I LET MY SELF-DOUBT AND ANXIETY KEEP ME FROM REACHING OUT TO PEOPLE WHO I KNOW WOULD’VE BEEN WONDERFUL CAREER ADVOCATES FOR MYSELF” Kaitlin Tremblay

people being suggested to fulfill roles.

“So genuinely participating in the games writing community through events, on Twitter, is one way of building your network and letting people know you’re looking for a job. But remember not to treat people like conduits to a job; treat people like people, build earnest friendships, and grow your network and community through shared interests, enthusiasm, and support.”

Brotherson says networking played a fundamental part in a good portion of his career, whether that’s in games or comic books. So it’s worth being persistent even if that’s not your thing. “[Networking] does have this wonderful trickle down effect and I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’m a particularly good networker,” he laughs. “I’m quite introverted, I tend to be quite nervous and anxious in large crowds. But I think that combination of putting yourself out there, being open to talking to people and being open to opportunities that come up [is fundamental].”

Failbetter Games’ Mask of the Rose

Video game writer

What qualities and skills do I need to work in games writing?

Before getting into the essential skills needed to be a good games writer, it’s important to understand that different studios will have different needs and requirements.

“A lot of AAA studios rely heavily on barks, so demonstrating a thorough understanding of the role of barks, and how to write barks well, is important,” Tremblay explains. “Other studios, especially mobile, focus a lot on dialogue choice and branching narrative, so being able to demonstrate a scalable understanding of how to develop meaningful branches that don’t blow up scope, and how to write dialogue choices for expressive player agency, are important experiences there. Some studios have all their dialogue voiced, and others don’t. A games writing portfolio isn’t one-size-fits-all.”

• You need to be a good writer This is an obvious one but to get a job in games writing, you need to be a good writer - especially with strong dialogue chops, Tremblay says. “’Good writing’ is obviously subjective, but a focus on being adaptive, writing strong dialogue, [and] knowing how to balance thematic and gameplay needs in writing are all crucial skills to have. Knowing how to create and develop characters, how to write dialogue, how to write scenes, how to construct plot, and how to use and break structures and conventions is really important since that is the job.”

Being a good writer also means being detail-oriented and having enough imagination to turn a setting that is being given to you into a believable story or world. “[You need] good understanding of the lore you’re working with and the ability to build worlds and characters from this,” Ayoola says. “I think an eye for detail never goes amiss in writing - people notice the small but pleasant things that end up in your work.”

• You need to learn how story fits in the game-making puzzle No one will expect you to know game development in and out as a writer, but having a willingness and ability to

understand the mechanics and features of the game you are working on will go a long way, Ayoola points out.

Tremblay adds that learning how games are made is about understanding the processes, the difficulties, and the successes.

“Understand the role of different disciplines, how they work together, how different engines determine what, and how story gets implemented into a game, since that will determine what you can write and where it can be triggered and surfaced to the player,” she says. “Knowing, generally, how a game gets made can only ever help you know how to better tell a story for games.

This will also help you respect other job disciplines, their responsibilities, and how you can collaborate with them to tell the best story.

“You’re obviously telling the story of the game and providing characterisation, but writing is also often reinforcing gameplay goals, mission directives, abilities. So understand that your writing will likely have to fulfill a few functions, and try to write with all of those goals in mind.”

• You need to be collaborative and open Making games is highly collaborative, and as a writer you will be working with a lot of different departments.

So knowing how to work with others and receive feedback is paramount.

“You have to put your ego aside,” Brotherson says. “Being able to communicate your ideas and being able to work with people who have their own ideas about what the story should be and what the character should be doing, and being able to convey and work together to make the best story possible, is the only way you can work forward on a game.”

Stone explains that it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t fight for your work if you really believe in it, but you will have to let some things go.

“Often we are told as writers to ‘kill our darlings’ - in games, you’re less of a parent and more of a farmer,” she says. “You raise chickens for eggs, but eventually you’re going to have to kill your old hens that stopped laying.

90% of everything you write will never see the light of day. You can try to use them for soup or coq au vin, but they no longer work as intended. If you’re

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good, that 10% will ship. You have to be diligent, thorough, but not controlling and that is a very delicate line to walk.

“I would highly recommend getting into writing groups or collaborative creation, whether that is game jams or another discipline, like improv or theater.

Learning to work with other people and take feedback and realign to support the team is crucial to staying in games.”

• You need to be able to work to specs and deadlines None of your creativity is worth anything if you’re not able to deliver it on time or within the guidelines that have been given to you.

“You [can’t] complain about writing barks every single day for about a week,” Brotherson adds. “[Sometimes] you’re writing one bit of dialogue in lots of different ways that are conveying the same message. ‘Take cover’, ‘I’m taking cover’, ‘okay, I’m getting undercover now’... and you’re just basically doing that repeatedly over and over again in an Excel sheet, until you’re absolutely sick of trying to find different ways of saying the same thing. This is part of the process and it’s part of the job.”

He adds that he learnt about the primordial importance of working to specs the hard way, after a writing test gone wrong at a AAA studio. While he was praised for his imagination and creativity, he failed a part of the test that asked to write according to specific constraints.

“It’s all wonderful if you can create a story and create glittering characters, but if you can’t do it within a deadline and you’re holding up lots of other departments in the process, you’re going to be nobody’s friend.

Creativity can only take you so far.

Being able to stay on spec is super vital.

And it sounds obvious, but it’s very easy to get caught up in the excitement and the whole: ‘Oh my god they’ve given me X, Y and Z from this game to write about and I’m gonna really show them how amazingly imaginative I can be.’

“You need to sometimes be able to step back and let go of what you’re doing and saying: I’ve done the best I can. Yes, I could reiterate it and work on it, and make it even better, but there are deadlines, there are money situations here that need to be considered.

There’s wider considerations and consequences. As important as writing is, you are not the centre of the game.”

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What are the common misconceptions about games writing?

The most common misconception about being a games writer is that everything you do revolves around writing words. But it isn’t the case.

“There’s a really strong misconception where, as a games writer, you’re just sitting there and you’re turning out characters, and you’re writing dialogue, and you’re doing all this really really fun stuff,” Brotherson says.

“You do get to do that. But before you get to do that, you have to do an absolute ton of structural work.

You’re having to get around putting ideas down and working through those ideas and rewriting those ideas constantly, and making sure that it works not just from a narrative and storytelling perspective, but from a game’s design perspective as well.”

You might also not get to write your own ideas, so you need to be able to get excited about writing Corey Brotherson about other people’s concepts.

“You are not the ‘author of your own story’,” Stone says. “If you want to tell ‘your story’, write a novel, but a game is a collaborative effort. There will be more stakeholders who get a say in what you’re writing and whether or not it ever sees the light of day than you will ever know. Some work you think is completely brilliant other people will

Twin Drums’ The Wagadu Chronicles

hate, and something you think is too much will make it into the trailer for your game. You never know what people will connect with, so treat everything like it is that million-dollar cinematic.”

Sometimes a part of the story will need changing because the animation team couldn’t get around a technical challenge. Sometimes shareholders will ask the team to cut a character because it performed poorly in a focus test.

That is just the reality of game development.

Nelson clarifies that the job of a game’s writer is not just to tell a story, but to support whatever the creative team’s vision is.

“You are an enabler as a games writer, not a driver, even if the game is a narrativedriven game. The first experience I had in games was discovering just how much the mundane, frustrating, reality of game development had been obfuscated for me as a player. Things that I assumed were trivial, like even putting a dialogue box on the screen, were actually nightmarish processes. So, I think, coming through the door with a great amount of humility and with a desire to learn as much as possible about the other pieces of the project that you will be impacting is essential. Because one line of dialogue you write can mean up to months of work for your collaborators.

“The more you know the costs of your words and your work, the more you can intentionally harness those moments so that if you’re spending a lot of money, you’re doing it to make something incredible. You’re walking intoit with your eyes fully wide open to all of the challenges that await you.”

Video game writer

Advice for new and aspiring games writers • Operate from a basis of stability As touched upon by Olivia Wood, games writing is a labour of love and certainly isn’t the best paying job the games industry has to offer. So you may need to have a day job to support your creative endeavours, which is something Nelson is keen to normalise.

“The greatest piece of advice I could give to a games writer as well as anyone else looking to join the game industry is to operate from a basis of stability whenever possible,” he says.

“A huge plot point in an ‘80s movie is when someone tells the aspiring creative hero: ‘Don’t quit your day job kid!’ and it’s a motivator to prove that sucker wrong, and move towards your dreams and show the world just what you can do.

“And I want to heavily destigmatise the idea of maintaining a day job while writing for games or searching for a career in games, so that you not only have a backup but you have a basis of stability to operate from in terms of pursuing your career.

“Because let me tell you two things.

When you make choices, especially important career choices, from a position of desperation, it is very likely you will be making incorrect choices.

Or at least choices that do not benefit and work towards your future. The second major thing is that once you have the money, credits, reputation, funding, to move fully into game development, you can do that whenever. But as tiring as it is to maintain a day job alongside a potential career in creativity, it’s that much harder to write 50 grenade barks when you haven’t eaten today.”

• Read a lot While it may sound like a cliché, reading a lot is essential to becoming a better writer, whether that’s reading fiction or books about writing.

“I think we’re in a wonderful age where lots of people have put out lots of books on what games narrative is, and how to be successful in creating a good game story,” Brotherson says. “Getting to expand that toolbox and understanding all the mechanics that come with games writing and games narrative is really just a fantastic way of being

able to prepare yourself for that job.”

However, whatever you read, do not be a passive reader. As Wood explains, you need to read thoughtfully.

“Reading for entertainment and pleasure is good, and you’ll absorb things unconsciously. But you’ll learn a lot more by thinking why you liked something, why you disliked something, and how you can extract tricks and tools to replicate things in your own work.”

Tremblay works with a community of games writers as part of DMG, a queer and feminist nonprofit organisation for marginalised game creators, and as part of that work she put together a reading list for folks who want to learn a bit more about the craft. It includes books, talks, and blogs on DMG’s website.

• Reach out to peers and seek mentorship We’ve already highlighted the importance of networking. If you’re lucky enough, networking may lead you to finding a mentor, which is an invaluable way to learn and progress.

After initial interest in a games writing position, Ayoola ended up in contact with Jana Sloan van Geest, senior game writer at story-driven casual games firm Wooga, and former scriptwriter at Guerilla Games and Ubisoft.

“She really took me under her wing as her mentee,” Ayoola says. “She gave me her precious time, sharing all of her knowledge and pretty much gave me all of the advice I needed to both understand the role and start off as a game writer. She was also the one who invited me to the event where I would later meet Allan [Cudicio], founder of Twin Drums.

“Don’t be afraid to reach out to people; there are lots of really kind and supportive people in the game writing community who despite having worked on some really big titles are so warm and really want to support those who are still up and coming.”

A good mentor will help you get a job, Stone says, but a great one will help you to keep the job.

Looking back at her first experience in games, Tremblay says she had to do a lot of the learning by herself because she didn’t have a mentor.

“I always missed not having a mentor-type figure I could ask specific questions to and somebody who could help me navigate legalese of contracts, studio politics, as well as the

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craft of narrative design and games writing,” she says. “There wasn’t a lack of qualified people, I just let my self-doubt and anxiety keep me from reaching out to people who I know would’ve been kind, supportive, and wonderful career advocates for myself.”

• Listen to music One final piece of advice from Nelson, which he describes as an “immensely powerful thing,” is to listen to as much music as you can, including genres that you do not care about and that you perhaps look down upon.

“When you’re working as a game writer, a lot of times, you will not just be working with material and genres that you personally care about. You also are going to be dealing with collaborators who have wildly different bases of inspiration and creative joy than you.

Music is among the most digestible and accessible forms, so if you can listen to a metal song and find something to value in it and understand why people would like it, without disregarding it or going with an oversimplified answer, you will have the mental framework through which to approach a new genre of writing, and find something special to bring to the table.”

To conclude, Wood wants to remind aspiring writers that getting into games is hard. But once you have your first gig, it’s immediately easier.

“I have heard people say: ‘don’t apply for jobs you don’t want as a stepping stone to the one you do.’

But, honestly, a lot of people transition to writing from other disciplines.

And if you’re multi-skilled, you’re more likely to be useful to small companies that can’t afford specialists.

You can learn a lot about games, and thus about how writing works within them, by working in other roles.

If you can get other roles, take them!”

Olivia Wood

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HOW TO GET A JOB IN THE GAMES PRESS The GamesIndustry.biz Academy looks into how to get a job as a games journalist

Go to events - nothing beats real life networking

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

There are as many paths leading to games journalism as there are games journalists out there. While on paper that could mean it’s easy to build a career in the field, the reality is less rosy - you’ll have to fight to earn a place in this very competitive landscape.

The recent rise of video-based reporting further disrupted a sector that has been shaken to its core over the last decade, with print circulation in massive decline.

Internet use doubled in the UK between 2008 to 2018, according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics, while the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism reported in 2018 that 74% of UK adults used “online methods” to find news each week - a figure that rises to 91% for 18 to 24 year olds.

While these are UK statistics, they are representative of a much wider trend. In the games press, that trend has resulted in the

“HARNESS ANY NICHE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE AND LOOK TO OWN THAT CORNER” Rob Dwiar, GamesRadar

closure of many beloved magazines, but when one door closes, another opens. The decline in print also led to a rise in demand for multimedia journalists in emerging formats such as video and podcasts, and the skills required in a good journalist are very different now compared to what they were ten or even five years ago.

Depending on the type of job you’re aiming for, you’ll need to be proficient in a wide array of skills. It isn’t enough anymore to simply be a good writer. Do you know how to edit a podcast? Do you know how to brief someone so they answer appropriately in a video interview? Do you know your SEO? Do you have a legal understanding of what libel is? Do you know how to structure news?

There isn’t one path to a career in games journalism. There are many approaches, and combining them in a smart manner will give you the best chance of achieving your goal.

Video game press

What education do I need to get a job in the games press?

believes you don’t necessarily need it either, there are a few important topics that aspiring journalists should study.

“I don’t think formal training is crucial, Formal training is a contentious issue but it certainly won’t hurt, especially if you in journalism in general, and games want to go into news writing,” she says.

“Something that really helps? Legal training journalism in particular. Some believe education is crucial to - defamation, usage rights, all the law stuff grasping the basics, while others insist that applies to media.

“IF YOU’RE TRYING there’s no better way Most of us don’t TO SHOWCASE YOUR have any training in to learn than practice in real life. There is that, which is pretty WRITING CHOPS, YOU shocking really.” truth on both sides SHOULDN’T SUBMIT A of the debate.

With games DRY, DULL COVER LETTER” “I went to university journalism, it’s possible Vikki Blake and studied English to have a seemingly unrelated education Language, with a minor and still build a in Journalistic Studies both have been really career. Transferable useful,” says Alex Donaldson, assistant skills can be found in unexpected editor at VG247 and publisher of the Mist places, as GamesRadar commissioning editor Rob Dwiar discovered on Network websites. “By the time I went to uni I already knew I wanted to work in the his path into the games press.

“My formal training consists of a BSc games media for a living, but I didn’t really and a PG Dip in Landscape Design, almost go to uni in order to expand my skill-set specifically for that. A lot of really talented as far removed from any journalism or creative writing degree that you can people in the field - perhaps the majority get,” he says. “This training still gave me - didn’t go at all, and there’s an awful lot of ‘on the job’ training in games media.” a host of transferable skills that made me better prepared, not to mention Alice Bell, deputy editor at Rock the niche knowledge that got me into Paper Shotgun, doesn’t have formal games writing in the first place.” training in journalism, and while she Publications are often in need of experts on games-as-a-service such as Rainbow Six Siege

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Events are key in fully understanding how the industry works

What do I need to get noticed in the games press?

Bell, Donaldson and Dwiar represent three different paths to games, so if you don’t have formal training there are still many ways to launch a career. Combining them will maximise your chances.

• Do volunteer work, seek internships and write for yourself One route to paid commissions is volunteer work, but tread very carefully.

There’s a thin line between free labour that will help your career and being exploited by an unscrupulous employer.

Donaldson knows this path better than most - he studied journalism, but volunteering was a springboard for his career.

“Don’t work with those who might exploit you, and measure your experience and the quality of your work,” he says. “Know when it’s time to start going to places with your new experience in order to ask for cash. I did a lot of volunteer work that eventually came to fruition and allowed me to transition to more traditional work. The volunteer work was both

for websites that I co-founded - and still co-own to this day - and other fledgling ‘hobbyist’ websites.

“I was very young when I founded my first few websites. That was a completely different time for the internet, but I think the broad concept of ‘doing your own thing’ is a pretty valid route at any age. I was able to point to the work I’d done for myself and for free elsewhere, to begin building a portfolio and reputation to secure paid work.”

Doing your own thing can simply mean creating a blog, a YouTube channel, or writing Medium posts once in a while - anything that gives you something to show a potential employer.

Bell wrote for her university paper, for instance, and used work experience as a route to paid employment.

“Uni papers are nothing like real media, but they’re still good on the ol’ CV,” she says. “I did work experience at Official Xbox Magazine for two weeks, and did well enough that they paid me to do some more, and had me in-house for a month to help on an issue.”

• If at all possible, go to events Attending events isn’t necessarily easy for a variety of reasons: you may live in a remote area, travel costs could be prohibitive, or mobility

may be an issue. However, it’s a valuable way to make contacts, and nothing beats real life networking.

“Income from [freelance work] was combined with student grants in order to take myself to events like E3 and Leipzig Games Convention [now known as Gamescom],” Donaldson says. “These events were pretty key for me in meeting people and fully understanding how the industry works. When you’re at home writing you can have fantastic knowledge but still live a pretty sheltered existence that places a ceiling on your ability to advance.

“Events allow you to do a few key things. First, you can make contacts.

What you know is important, but so is who you know - an editor who can put a real-life face to a name might be more likely to remember you. Meeting game developers and publisher representatives in person can likewise open access doors that can lead to great places.

“I realise that not everybody is comfortable putting themselves out there at events, and that’s okay - it isn’t for everyone. But if you’re able to do this, it can help significantly. My first convention and trade show experiences were ultimately life-changing.”

Video game press

What qualities and skills do I need to work in the games press?

• Be passionate about writing, and not just the games While your education doesn’t matter that much, you should be able to demonstrate your ability with a portfolio of written work. Most roles will involve writing in some form, so not only do you need to know how to write, you need to enjoy it, too. It may sound odd, but some think a passion for games is enough.

“More than anything, [you need to] like writing, care about writing,” Bell explains.

“Like games, sure, of course. But day-to-day, the writing is what you’ll be doing most of. If you don’t want to be a writer more than you want to work in games, you’ll go mad, and should look for a different route into the games industry.”

Donaldson adds: “Tenacity and passion are really important, simply because this is a harder thing to do than a lot of people realise. The pay often isn’t great, the schedule can be punishing, and the audience isn’t always grateful. All of these things are fine, but you have to really want the job to do it and walk away happy.”

• Be inquisitive, open, and cool under pressure Most jobs in the press will ask you to publish original stories to set deadlines. You need to be able to write under pressure, identify which stories are interesting, and find ways to bring something fresh to each one.

“The ability to sniff out something interesting is a skill itself,” Dwiar says. “Being keen, inquisitive, and open-minded are all good skills or attributes to have, too.”

Keeping an open-mind is particularly important for two reasons: improvement often comes as the result of criticism, and you’ll need to cover topics you have no strong personal passion for.

“Be open to notes from editors, no matter how brutal,” Donaldson says. “Be open to new video game experiences. No matter how well defined your tastes are, a closeminded critic isn’t worthy of the title - and something you’d never usually play may well be where your next commission originates.”

What are the common misconceptions about the games press?

Before choosing a career in games journalism, you should be aware that there’s a lot of admin, legwork and preparation involved before you get to the good bits.

“The obvious [misconception] is the concept that we play games all day,” Donaldson says.

“We don’t. So much of my day is emails, red tape and statistics, but that’s all part of the job. We play a lot of games, obviously, but there’s a lot else to do and, even when reviewing, a lot of our playing actually happens outside work hours.”

You will rarely play games during work hours, even if you role requires you to have played those games. Deadlines on reviews can be short, with sometimes only a few days between the moment the PR sends you the code and the embargo for the review to be published.

These circumstances can turn something supposedly fun into a professional challenge, and that applies to many areas of the job.

“Another common misconception is the ‘glamour’ of the job,” Donaldson adds. “We get to go to a lot of cool events, and the travel and meeting cool people are significant perks, but the idea that it’s just a gravy train are far wide of the mark. Trade shows like E3 would be cool if everything that had to be done there weren’t so grueling. I still enjoy it, but I will admit it irks me when friends think I sit on my ass all day then fly somewhere glamorous to do even less.”

Rob Dwiar carved his own niche as a games journalist writing about landscapes in games

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Advice for new and aspiring games journalists • Beware of the rumour circuit Like most jobs where writing is the focus, it’s inevitable that you’ll start with short news stories before tackling longer pieces. But in an industry where leaks and rumours are part of daily life, you should be careful with what you report.

“A RELEVANT BACKGROUND AND LINKS TO SOME GAMES JOURNALISM WRITING WILL GET YOU INTO THE TOP 25% OF APPLICATIONS” James Grant, Gamer Network

“Early on, the thing I regret most was getting into the ‘insider’ and rumour circuit in a fairly significant way,” Donaldson says. “I reported a lot of stuff that was ultimately correct, but I didn’t always do it the right way and I also discovered that style of reporting wasn’t really for me.”

As your contact book gets bigger and you gather more experience, you’ll learn to recognise a good story, a good source, and separate the wheat from the chaff. Only with time will you find your voice and a style of reporting that suits you.

• Find your niche Almost every games journalist has one thing they really enjoy doing, writing about and sharing with others.

Ultimately, journalism is about telling stories, so find an area of interest that you can make your own.

“I started out by writing features on games that used the specific area of expertise, knowledge and qualifications

‘As Overwatch 2 gets closer, Overwatch expert freelancers will be cashing in,’ Donaldson believes

that I already had - all in landscape design,” Dwiar says. “I found a way to keep writing about two things I really, really loved in landscapes and video games, and managed to carve out a niche that no one else was really inhabiting in games writing.

“Harness any niche knowledge you have and look to own that corner.

If you can consistently offer something interesting and niche then you’ll build up a great bank of work.”

Donaldson adds: “Games are more broad and wide-reaching than ever, and that means that good coverage is hard to come by. Do you know the beat of a particular MMO or ‘service’ game inside out? Good! Publications all over are crying out for experts on things like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, Rainbow Six Siege and so on. As Overwatch 2 gets closer, you can bet the Overwatch expert freelancers will be cashing in.

“No site can have an expert for every esoteric, specific game on staff, so that’s a great place for freelance to be found.”

Video game press

• Be tenacious and proactive

the reward can often be comparatively quite paltry, so you should fight for every penny.

“A lot of people will say ‘never work for free’, but as somebody who built his career on the foundations of quality free work at fan sites and small time sites, I don’t think that’s true - but I also see a lot of people allowing themselves to be exploited. The line on this is different for everyone and will depend on your circumstances, but find yours and stand by it.”

Games journalism is highly competitive.

For every vacant role there will be dozens or even hundreds of candidates, so you’ll need to be stubborn and determined.

“Keep at it,” Dwiar says. “It won’t be easy, but remember that every extra piece of work you land or complete will build up your portfolio. Keep emailing editors to stay in the loop, and definitely go to events to meet them in person and look to cover said events in • Learn how to pitch, your own way in order to offer that to editors.” and pitch often While a lot of candidates may apply Bell says it best here: “Just do it. Shoot your shot. for the same role, don’t let this deter you Email a pitch. On a very basic level, you need from trying. There are ways to make your no experience - doesn’t take any to pitch articles application stand out, and many are to me, anyway. And people that have loads of not as difficult as you might think. experience all had to do their first pitch some “A staff writer role at Gamer Network time, right? The worst that will happen is that attracts at least somewhere in the region of I’m too busy and don’t reply. Best is that I’ll 100 applicants,” Gamer Network HR manager commission you! And even if I don’t, James Grant says. “Reassuringly for those keen I might have time to give you some advice.” to stand out, of those initial 100 applicants Pitching is a craft, it can be learned, and the about half seem to throw in an application more you do it the better without too much apparent your pitches will be. Vikki preparation. Of the 50 left, Blake has been a freelance they may have an interesting “MORE THAN ANYTHING, games writer for 11 years background, but perhaps half she knows everything there of those don’t have links to YOU NEED TO LIKE is to know about pitching. any written work or certainly WRITING, CARE “Pitching is any directly relevant games ABOUT WRITING” paradoxically both easier journalism writing samples.

Alice Bell, and trickier than you These can just be a personal think it is,” she says. “On blog - it does not have to be Rock Paper Shotgun one hand, it’s a test of published or paid for work. brevity - how effectively “So while it may sound can you truncate a 1,000intimidating that about 100 word argument into just a paragraph or two? people apply for every staff writer job, just And on the other, it’s a way of peacocking a having an interesting or relevant background little and tempting your would-be editor. with some links to a personal blog or some “It’s also as much about what you don’t do, interesting games journalism writing will get as it is about what you do. For instance: don’t go you into the top 25% of applications. Then you in with a stale list of questions or bullet points, are down to a 1 in 25 ratio, and that’s actually sit back, and expect the offers to roll in. pretty standard for any job really - and then it Think about your use of language and how just starts to come down to your actual talent you’re using it to paint this story. You need a and ability - which is fair enough. But doing definitive angle before you pitch, not afterwards, the basics and standing out is half the battle.” so if your piece poses questions make sure you can answer them from the get-go.

• Know your worth “Make sure you can summarise the meat While we explored why volunteer work of your story in a single sentence, and if is a good idea earlier, be careful about there’s a reason you’re the best person to saying ‘yes’ to free work too often. It’s a write this, tell them. Why have you contacted competitive sector, but your work has value this particular outlet? Make sure they know and you need to find the right balance. why they’re the best fit for your words.

“The first piece of advice, always, is to “Finally: be friendly, be professional, and be know what you and your work is worth,” you. If you’re trying to showcase your writing Donaldson says. “Worth comes with a lot of chops, you shouldn’t submit a dry, dull cover things - a unique angle or voice, experience, letter. Don’t be afraid to inject a little personality a reputation - but as your career grows you into it. Your words are your commodity here. should be able to command more, be that in They’re all you have to convince an editor wages or freelance fees. I think this is pretty you’re the writer for the job, so use them in the important in games media in particular as best way possible to make an impression.”

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HOW TO GET A JOB IN GAMES PR The GamesIndustry.biz Academy looks into how to get a job in games PR and how to become a publicist

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

Kingdom Hearts 3

On the surface, games public relations may look like it’s about rubbing shoulders with the right people and trying to tell your story in a crowded room - but it’s much more than that. Games PR is a drop of storytelling, a hint of creativity, a dash of sales, a bit of people management, and a lot of hard work.

The core objectives of anyone working in games PR is to cut through the noise, generate awareness for a client, and help establish media relations through powerful, creative campaigns. Ultimately, games PR helps publishers and developers to sell their products, and in doing so tackle event management, communication

roadmaps, crisis prevention, and a whole lot of spreadsheets.

Games PR has evolved alongside a changing media landscape, and the lines are now blurred. Where does PR end and marketing begin?

PR professionals don’t just work with the press anymore either; working with communities and influencers is increasingly important, and communication strategies no longer solely focus on press releases and traditional media.

As a career, games PR is also an opportunity to be at the heart of the games industry, crafting narratives that, when handled properly, will be remembered for years to come.

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Doing contracting work at events can be a good way to build a contact book

What education do I need to get a job in games PR? As is often the case with creative careers, education doesn’t matter as much as the ability to demonstrate you can do the job. However, there are some backgrounds that will put you one step ahead.

Audra McIver is the co-founder of games PR agency Plan of Attack, and she has nearly 15 years of experience in games PR. She has a degree in English, and recommends that as a great place to start.

“YOU JUST HAVE TO WEAR A LOT OF DIFFERENT HATS IN AGENCY PR, WHEREAS IN-HOUSE IS JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE FOCUSED” Audra McIver, Plan of Attack

“It is a lot of writing press releases, pitches, emails and proposals, so it’s definitely good to have a background in that,” she says. “But degrees in marketing, business or communications are all good places to start in terms of what to study in order to get into PR.” Stephanie Tinsley Fitzwilliam, founder of Tinsley PR, has a degree in communications, with an emphasis on public relations. However, she believes these qualifications aren’t strictly necessary.

“I don’t feel that formal training is required to get into public relations in the games industry,” she says.

“And that’s because some of the skills you need will just be provided as part of your training on the job.”

Gemma Cooper, communications manager at Media Molecule, adds: “Doing a public relations or communications degree may give you an extra boost, but once you’re in a role a lot of companies will offer to support you on various training courses.

There’s the option to learn about interview training, crisis management and communications while you’re in a role.”

There’s no linear path to games PR. Anita Wong, head of PR at games agency Indigo Pearl, went to university with plans of becoming a journalist, while Cooper studied geography.

Izzy Jagan, global PR manager at Square Enix, recommends “education you feel will personally aid your development.” This echoes the path taken by Ravi Vijh, client services director at games PR agency Bastion, who studied political science.

“I enjoyed learning about politics, but I knew I would never want to work in politics,” Vijh says. “What doing that degree gave me was core transferable skills I use every day doing research and being well read on your subject matter, an ability to write and communicate effectively, and an ability to think problems and ideas through and present them to a group.”

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Gemma Cooper got into PR after volunteering at events such as Dreamhack

What do I need to get noticed in games PR? • Seek work experience and entry-level positions With or without a degree, you will need to be proactive to find a job in games PR. Internships are a valuable tool, for instance, and definitely one of the best ways to gauge both your interest and aptitude for the job.

“Internships after university were so crucial for me, as it was a sure-fire way to see what the role meant first“YOU NEVER KNOW hand, the company culture, and if I WHEN YOUR IDEA, even liked the job,” Wong says. “Work NO MATTER HOW experiences are honestly the fastest way to see if the role suits you, to learn SMALL, CAN SPARK about the different tasks, and for the OFF ANOTHER company to see if you fit into the team.

IN THE GROUP” Even if you don’t make it there fullAnita Wong, Indigo Pearl time, it’s experience on your CV that another company will appreciate.”

Both agencies and internal teams tend to develop their staff from entry-level roles, so it may be easier than you think to find a first experience.

“There tend to be positions open that

don’t require a ton of experience right off the bat for junior folks looking to get a foot in the door,” Tinsley Fitzwilliam says. “Many journalists in games have made the jump to the publishing side, so if you’re not just out of college but have good writing skills and possess a knowledge of the industry landscape, that can be a value add for sure.”

• Consider volunteer work to get started Another way to get noticed is volunteering - at industry events for instance, which provide networking opportunities that can lead to paid work. Gemma Cooper did just that, building her career from volunteer work in esports.

“Eventually I was a contractor for some major esports events, including Dreamhack, EGL, Insomnia and Gfinity, and I’d managed to make a small network of industry contacts as a result,” she says. “I applied for a placement at Warner Bros during my second year of university, but knowing that I was likely up against candidates who were studying for marketing and communications degrees. However, Warner seemed to be impressed with my background in esports, so I got the placement.”

Video game PR

What qualities and skills do I need to work in games PR?

• You need to be able to manage your stress levels

PR can be a harsh job. You will need to perform under pressure, on multiple tasks at once, and you will not always be rewarded for your hard work. When that happens, you’ll have While junior games PR roles don’t always to keep things (and yourself) under control. require experience, there are specific skills “You really need to be able to let things roll off your back, because sometimes there will that will go a long way. Fundamentally, PR is a people business, so you need to enjoy meeting be stressful situations, and clients will be upset about something that’s outside of your control,” and talking to people from all walks of life.

“If you really don’t like people, PR probably McIver says. “Especially on the agency side, is not for you,” McIver says. at any given time you have clients that love you and you “I do know people who have clients that are upset work in games PR with you. You have to try to who are not super social.

“EVEN A WEEK OR TWO You can still do an excellent not internalise it so much, OF WORK EXPERIENCE job, but I think it might because it’ll drive you crazy.”

DURING A SUMMER WILL be a little bit more trying Cooper adds: “When PROVIDE A PLATFORM” things don’t go your way, it’s on you on a day-to-day important to be able to pick basis if you’re more of Ravi Vijh, Bastion yourself up, dust the negativity an introverted person.” away and embrace and learn Networking and from what went wrong.” talking to people doesn’t always mean having face-to-face meetings, but Izzy Jagan points • Understand the difference out that simply networking on social media is between in-house no substitute for the “genuine relationships” and agency PR that all good PR professionals should try The qualities required to work in games to nurture. That applies to the people you PR may vary depending on the role. That is reach out to as part of your job - games particularly true of the difference between journalists, for example - but also to your own in-house teams - at a publisher or a developer, team, as PR is very much a team game. for instance - and PR agencies. According to “If you’re a team player and you can McIver, people used to working in-house can adapt well to change, it will help massively find it difficult to switch to the agency side. as sometimes things may not always go the “You just have to wear a lot of different way you want them to,” Cooper says. “You hats in agency PR, [whereas] in-house is need to rely on your team to support you probably just a little bit more focused,” she through the more challenging elements.” says. “On the agency side, it’s a little bit more rough and tumble because you really • You need to be passionate have to think on your feet. You’ve got several and well informed different clients, and all of those clients should While many aspects of games PR can be taught ideally feel like they are your only client.

They all have to be equally important.” or improved, there is one thing you can’t learn: a genuine interest in the games industry.

Cooper has worked in development “It sounds like a given, but if you’re really studio PR, games agency PR and publisher into video games and you read the news PR, and has found it “incredibly interesting” to see how different they all are. and you play games, you have a better “In studio PR, I was crafting and creating handle on what’s going on,” McIver says. the PR communications plan for the entire “That’s always very important, especially in this ever-changing industry.” game, globally - but I could do this by just Wong points out that it’s not only about popping upstairs and looking at the state of the game and altering my communications playing games, but also knowledge of depending on its strengths and weaknesses,” developers and studios and streamers. she says. “By contrast, at a PR agency Enthusiasm is not easily faked. You will need to read about games, talk about games, write you are sometimes far removed from the about games, sometimes even games you don’t game and rely on your own skills and like - you can’t do all of that without passion. contacts to pitch in and sell the products “Be well read, and these days well to external media and influencers. watched,” Vijh adds. “You need to understand “At UK-based publisher Bandai Namco, the media landscape, the hot topics of the I was, the main contact between media and moment, and how best to communicate influencers for the entirety of UK and Ireland, those to different audiences. By reading but I didn’t often go to the development different publications and watching different studios. The qualities needed do vary between YouTubers, this will help provide that picture.” the three, but I think it’s entirely possible to adapt to all of them - as I have done.”

• You need to be a team player with strong social skills

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What are the common misconceptions about games PR? If you’ve been focusing on a specific career, it’s easy to have an idealised vision of it that is very different from the reality. That’s why our interviewees have recommended internships - you get to experience what it’s really like.

For games PR, one of the most common misconceptions is that the job is about travelling the world, playing games and going to parties - a misguided perception that is also common in games journalism.

“You don’t get to play a lot of games,” Jagan says. “It’s lots of admin, but the fun parts make it worth it. I got to work on my favourite game of all time, Kingdom Hearts, for example - but it also took me about five days to do the report.”

Vijh continues: “There is glitz and glamour in PR, but there’s also a lot of hard work. There is a lot of creating reports, scanning for coverage and creating documents. It is all worth it when a campaign comes together, but be prepared for an element of grind.”

It’s worth noting that not all campaigns will be successful, and you can be sure to take some of the blame when that happens. The big announcement you spent late nights on because the studio sent you assets at the last minute and you had to start from scratch? The developer may feel you didn’t get enough impressions, or the press is unhappy because you sent it at the wrong time - that’s if they pay attention at all.

“It can be a very fulfilling job, but if you’re launching a game and it doesn’t review well, or if you’re having trouble getting editors to even look at it, that can be very frustrating,” McIver says. “You’re doing the work, you’re putting in the time and effort, and that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will get the results.

“That can be difficult, and a lot of times when something like that happens, PR really takes the blame for it. Even though it isn’t really our fault, someone’s got to be the fall guy and that’s always gonna be the publicist.”

Not only does games PR not always reap the benefits of their hard work, they might encounter negative

Visit events like EGX to start making contacts in the industry

PR agency Indigo Pearl

perceptions of the profession from clients, journalists, and even players.

“The most blatant misconception on the client or player side is that we control everything the media writes, or that we can just pay the press or entice them with a crappy bag of swag,” Tinsley Fitzwilliam says. “On the press side, there’s often a misconception that everything we say is a lie, which flies in the face of the fact that, if you are going to be successful at this job, you can’t lie. The public always finds out about lies. Always.”

Video game PR

Advice for new and aspiring games PR professionals • Reach out to people in the industry If you’re considering a career in games PR, who you talk to is as important as what you do, and a healthy combination of both is the best path to your goal.

“Creating a Twitter or LinkedIn [profile] and starting to make connections with people online is a good place to start,” Cooper says.

“But if you can afford visiting an event like EGX or Rezzed, they’re fantastic places to start making connections. Chat to everyone on the booth, and make sure you visit the careers area and chat to professionals as much as you can - get their email addresses and follow up and connect with them.

“You can also email developers and studios near where you’re based and ask if they offer work experience or placements - a surprising number of places now do.

It’ll be a challenge, there will be ups and downs, rejections and disappointments, but it’s incredibly rewarding when you see your name on the credits once a game is out.”

• Work hard, be nice Indigo Pearl is one of the most successful games PR agencies in the UK. The company’s official motto is “work hard, be nice,” and that mentality will stand you in good stead.

This means remaining nice even in difficult situations, even with people you dislike. As our interviewees touched upon already, PR is a people business, so keep that in mind at all times.

“You should never burn bridges because you never know what’s gonna happen,” McIver says. “You should always, always think about the way you present yourself, and think about the way you present your company and your clients.

And... just don’t be a jerk! That never ends well.

“Swallow your pride sometimes and go with it, because you never know where people will end up in the games industry in particular. It’s grown a ton but it’s still rather small - people know each other.”

• Be open-minded, curious and speak up Games PR is a creative job in more respects than people think, so finding ways to feed your creativity will help your ideas to stand out.

“Be curious,” Wong says. “And read a lot read games websites of course, but also read ‘irrelevant’ things. Read current news, read about new gallery openings, pay attention to the latest trends in films or books. You never know if it’ll spark off an idea for the right venue for your next event or the next big campaign idea.”

When you have that big campaign idea, don’t let your experience stand in the way of letting people know what you’re thinking. According to Wong, it’s important to learn as much as possible early in your career, but companies also thrive on fresh ideas from new talent. “[When I started] I would stifle an idea because I’d think it was impractical or I was too inexperienced,” she says. “But you never know when your idea, no matter how small, can spark off another in the group.”

“IF YOU REALLY DON’T LIKE PEOPLE, PR PROBABLY IS NOT FOR YOU” Audra McIver, Plan of Attack

For Jagan, a persistent issue early in her career was imposter syndrome: “I didn’t really believe that I ‘belonged’ there, or that it was my place. As a queer woman of colour impostor syndrome is real, but I would go back and tell myself that I deserve to be here.

There is a space for you, and there are ways you can make your mark - whether it’s allowing a competition form to include more gender boxes than male and female, or integrating diversity into a wider PR campaign.”

• Know your strengths and how to sell them Speaking up and trusting your ideas goes hand in hand with being aware of your qualities, and making use of them to land the right job.

“Consider your strengths as a person and think about how that can be of value to a team,” Tinsley Fitzwilliam says. “When I was younger, I focused my interviews on how the job was going to benefit me and how it fit what I wanted, instead of considering what I was good at and how that could help the team be more successful.”

Vijh interviews applicants on a regular basis, and he has invaluable advice about the core strengths that will help you to land your first job.

“I’ll ask questions aimed at finding out whether the person is process-driven, if they are creative, are they prepared to listen, how well they can communicate. These are tangible skills which are hard to demonstrate on a CV but vital to succeeding in a PR role.

“If I look at the people we’ve taken on in the past 18 months, one was on a PR apprenticeship, one came from a large agency outside games working in a different sector, two were former journalists, and one simply got in contact with me through LinkedIn with no experience whatsoever, just a passion and knowledge of esports. If you have passion, you can always find a way in.”

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HOW TO GET A JOB AS A COMMUNITY MANAGER IN GAMES As communities keep growing and companies look to engage with them more genuinely, we look into how to get a job in community management

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

Community managers are the unsung heroes of the games industry.

Whenever something goes wrong, they’re on the front line, the point of contact for all frustrations from a community that can be prompt to escalate things to an absurd level.

When this happens, behind the scenes, a team of community managers will try their best to keep it together, remain civil, and provide as much information and reassurance as possible.

Community management bridges the gap between a company’s corporate structure and the gamers the industry serves. A community manager is not only the public face of a brand, but also the point of contact that connects a development team with its players, with the end goal

of making better games, for everyone.

Community management is not quite PR or marketing, and its accessibility tends to make it a prime position for junior staff. Much like QA, it is still widely seen as a point of entry into the industry before doing something else. But the field has evolved drastically in the past decade due to the increasing power of social media platforms and live games, and it’s now also a career of its own.

Community management roles are popular - while there are a lot of vacancies at any given time across a wide variety of studios, competition remains fierce. However, there are ways to better prepare for this role if you’re considering it as a career, and stand out from the crowd.

Listening to your community and its feedback is a key aspect of the community manager job

Video game community manager

What education do I need to get a job in community management?

• Studying communications and media is the traditional way in Should you decide to go down the higher education route, many degrees can lead to a job in community management. Communications or digital media degrees are a natural fit for this career, which is what Mike Adebajo, senior social media associate at The Pokémon Company, did.

“Certainly, studying Digital Media and going to university really helped,” he says. “At the time, the course allowed me to understand how social media was becoming the best way to target and engage with your audience, and that companies were very quickly coming to realise this. I think those three years really helped me to understand the commercial world and its demands.”

To get a foot in the industry, Adebajo took a job at Sony as part of the EU PlayStation Store team, before he found an entry level marketing job at Square Enix. Eventually, he was approached about an internal community role. However, despite having a relevant degree, he still believes that community management is quite unique in that you don’t necessarily need to study in a field that’s related to it.

“It’s a job that largely demands passion for video games for you to hopefully thrive in the role,” he continues. “I think you can do that with any degree under your belt. I know several community managers who largely studied subjects such as history or mathematics, but are keen gamers and decided this was the job for them.”

Case in point would be Oliver Hindle, community director at Mediatonic, who went to university to study music technology.

“I kind of fell into doing [community management],” he says. “In order to promote my music, I learned how to edit videos and created them to promote my songs. I did that for quite a few years and built up a decent size community and lots of connections with other YouTubers. One day, I had an idea for a video where I would sarcastically

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pretend to give a professional lesson on how to draw... But I’d draw really badly.

It ended up going viral [and] I was able to very quickly grow this new drawing channel to 150,000 subscribers.

“I went on to finish my degree in Music Technology and didn’t really fancy being a full-time YouTuber. I saw a job advertised at Bossa Studios to be a community and marketing assistant that could also edit videos. The job listing basically covered everything I’d already been doing for my own content but for a gaming studio, so I applied.”

• You don’t need a degree, but training will go a long way The other side of the coin is simply that you do not need higher education to get into community management.

Ibrahim Bhatti, Square Enix’s senior influencer relations manager, started his career in QA 15 years ago, and later applied to be a community moderator.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say [education] is a must, as there are so many different opinions on how community management is done and no two companies are the same,” he says. “As a result, the role can be tailored by the individual community manager and the company they work for. That said, a certain level of training should be maintained in terms of the fundamentals of community management, whether it be the use of tools, etiquette or best practices.”

“A CERTAIN LEVEL OF TRAINING SHOULD BE MAINTAINED [ON] THE FUNDAMENTALS OF COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT”

Ibrahim Bhatti, Square Enix

That training can be provided directly by the company you’re joining. That was the case for Antonela Pounder, now director of global community at 505 Games.

“Formal training was offered to me soon after joining 505 Games, which was amazing,” she says. “This was hugely beneficial in getting me up to speed with aspects of my role that I

Oliver Hindle, Mediatonic

hadn’t explored in previous companies I worked at. I don’t think formal training is crucial to becoming a community manager, but it’s important once in the role to stay on top of trends that can play a key role in our success.”

When Bhatti started as a community manager back in 2009, there was no formal training, and he agrees that a framework should be provided to newcomers.

“I learned the job as I went along, and turned to my peers in the industry for advice,” he says. “As a result there was no structure to what I was learning and how I was progressing.

Formal training at least sets the bar to a sufficient level of understanding of the role and what’s expected.”

That training can also be provided through external initiatives. Hindle did a few training days via The Chartered Institute of Marketing, while associate community manager at nDreams Daniel Crosgrove took part in Activision’s ambassador program. The latter is essentially voluntary moderation from players within the community, providing valuable experience to those wishing to make a career out of community management.

“While I was studying Computer Science at university, I started moderating forums and online chatrooms for a large video game series in my free time,” Cosgrove says. “This led me to reconsider my chosen career path of programming, and made me focus my co-curricular efforts to become a community manager. I signed up for Activision’s Ambassador program to get one-on-one support experience in the games industry which was invaluable for building up my communication skills.”

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What do I need to get noticed in community management?

• Build up a social media presence The most obvious thing to do if you want to get hired as a community manager is to be active on social media and engage with your existing network.

This will prove to future employers that you know the tools of the trade and can manage a community of your own, albeit a small one.

Pounder started in the industry as a tester at Ubisoft Reflections, until someone at the company recognised what she did in her spare time on her own social media channels and offered her the opportunity to take up a community management position.

“Utilise all these amazing social channels that are available and get involved in community related activities where you can,” she says. “For example, look for opportunities where you can contribute in the form of moderation and open/closed betas. Run your own blogs, build up a social presence, and look to engage with brands online.

“If I was on the lookout for a junior community manager, I’d want to see

how proactive they’ve been, because they’re not going to have that industry experience. Having a big social following isn’t key for me, but seeing someone actively go out of their way to get involved in communities and play a positive role within them is invaluable.”

Victoria Tran, community director at Innersloth, and an advocate for ethical community management and leading communities away from toxicity, adds: “If programmers and artists have game jams to gain experience, community managers have forums, events and Discords. If someone is going to trust you with their community, they want to know you are able to handle people, problems when they arise, and understand how it feels to have power in a group.”

Being actively involved in existing communities and volunteering to moderate them, or trying to grow your own audience, are crucial to get you noticed and gain experience.

“It’s one of those weird jobs where the experience you need is often doing the thing itself,” Hindle says. “You could start streaming or creating content yourself and practice managing and growing a community around your own content. It’s also worth considering treating your own social media channels as a personal brand and trying to grow your following that way. Being able to

Listening to your community and its feedback is a key aspect of the community manager job

Daniel Cosgrove, nDreams

grow your own social following can teach you a lot of things about what kinds of content works, what doesn’t, and how to reach new audiences.”

And this doesn’t have to be focused on games necessarily, Adebajo adds: “It could be a blog about photography, for example - just something to show that you understand the digital world and speaking to a specific audience.”

And remember: everything you say on the internet is permanent.

If you want to get into community management, keep it clean.

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You need to set the right boundaries with your community from the beginning

• Build up transferable skills Your own social media presence is something that you’ll be able to bring to the table when meeting a potential employer.

But having relevant work experience will also go a long way - and once again, it doesn’t have to be in games. You can find skills that apply to community management in many public-facing roles, and internships are also a great way to gain experience.

“OFTENTIMES, IT’S GREAT TO HAVE YOUR OWN THING. WHAT MAKES YOU SPECIAL?” Victoria Tran, Kitfox

“Building up experience in consumer facing roles will prove highly advantageous if you want to become a community manager,” Pounder says.

“This can be achieved through retail, customer support, or any other role that involves speaking to the public.”

Looking at other entertainment industries for opportunities might also be a good way in, Bhatti says.

“If you can’t find work in video games, try to branch out into other entertainment industries like film or TV - anything that has relevance to pop culture. Skills learned in these fields can easily be transferred into the video games industry. I would also say that working in an agency would be a much quicker way of learning as it’s usually a fast paced environment but as a result can be quite stressful.”

To be a good community manager, you need to be passionate about managing a community as much as you are passionate about games, so looking at what’s being done in unusual places may be a good way to learn a thing or two about what the job entails “With Fall Guys, we’ve had a lot of success by taking inspiration from fast food brands and from influencers, for example,” Hindle says. “I personally feel that the games industry has fallen behind a little bit on social media. We’re usually at the forefront of anything related to technology, but there are huge brands like Wendy’s and KFC that are doing a better job at engaging and building communities on Twitter than some of the biggest video game accounts.”

Antonela Pounder, 505 Games

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What qualities and skills do I need to work in community management?

One thing you need to keep in mind before entering the world of community management is that the skills required will vary a lot depending on the job.

“Community managers come in all different flavours, and it’s up to you to decide what you’re most interested in,” Tran says. “AAA companies and indie studios often require very different skills sets, so it’d be good to check past job descriptions for whatever side of the industry you’re aiming to get into. For instance, indie studios often require more diverse skill sets, since community managers can end up handling all kinds of things like social media, copywriting, video editing, live streaming, customer service, marketing, PR, events, and so on.”

In addition, some of these skills - empathy, people skills - may not be straightforward to learn, so it might take some Victoria Tran, Kitfox trial and error to get there.

“The hardest thing to teach someone is soft skills, and as a community manager, that’s what you’ll be using the most,” Tran continues. “The ability to navigate and mitigate other people’s emotions is not easy, and often you’ll run into stressful situations that require various judgement calls. There’s usually a workaround or fix when you’re trying to fix bugs in a game. But when you’re working with various people from all around the world?

There’s no one size fits all approach.”

• You need to have good communication skills It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the primary skill needed to be a community manager is to be a good communicator.

“You will definitely need some experience that demonstrates emphatic communication skills and a deep knowledge of social media,” Cosgrove says.

“The core of the job revolves around getting information out to relevant players, so strong written and verbal communication skills are a must.”

This will also require a bit of patience and being able to “keep your cool,” as Bhatti says. You will sometimes face unhappy players or need to re-explain things multiple times. But being a good

“YOU WANT TO EXCITE AS WELL AS INFORM, SO YOU USUALLY HAVE TO THINK OF CREATIVE WAYS TO DO THIS” Mike Adebajo, Pokémon

communicator is not important just with your community.

“Also with your colleagues in communicating your ideas and plans, and how they’re in sync with the overall goals of the project,” Adebajo says.

“You’re usually the person who knows and understands your community the most, so it’s key that you can communicate what you think would engage with them. “ Finally, when it comes to external communication, never forget that you are the face of the company that hired you, so you need to act as such.

“You’re the mediator and advocate for your studio, so it’s important to have things like empathy, good listening skills, and adaptability,” Tran says. “Can you not only communicate with people in tense situations, but also rally them around a fun and positive space?”

• Be organised but flexible It’s easy to look at a viral tweet from a brand - such as Fall Guys’ skeleton or Big Yeetus - and think it all came up organically within the past few hours. But more often than not, social media strategies are carefully planned, as Hindle shared in an article for the GamesIndustry.biz Academy detailing the social media strategy for Fall Guys.

“It’s a role where you 100% must plan ahead,” Adebajo says. “It’s very rare that the content you publish is spur of the moment and I certainly got caught out early on for not preparing items weeks if not months ahead.”

Listening to your community and its feedback is also a key aspect of the job - so while organisation is crucial, you also need to be ready to drop everything and think on your feet when necessary.

“Being personable, able to multitask, and keep a cool head under pressure are key to the role,” Cosgrove says. “Being able to adapt to change quickly is a big bonus. The online discussion space is constantly changing so being able to keep up with the latest trends will give you a huge leg up in the industry.”

Watching the community grow and seeing friendships created is one of the most rewarding feelings that every community manager has in common

Video game community manager

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• Be creative

• Showcase your technical skills

Coming up with ideas to engage with your community is no easy task - there’s only so many times you can use a meme, and you need to constantly bring something new to the table.

“Creativity is a big one, whether it be through words or digital content that you share with your audience,” Adebajo says. “In gaming especially, you want to excite as well as inform, so you usually have to think of creative ways to do this.”

When on the lookout for community managers, Pounder says she’s interested in finding people who can “think outside the box when it comes to social activations.” She wishes she had personally been braver with the content she published when she started in community management.

“I should have taken more creative risks,” she says. “I played it quite safe initially, but that was down to a lack of experience and confidence more than anything else. Being given the credentials to a well-known company’s social accounts is incredibly daunting as a newbie. It took some time for me to push myself out of my comfort zone

Having highlighted the importance of soft skills, Tran says that some technical skills are also required to be a good community manager.

“Analytics tracking (and the ability to understand them), social media platforms, video editing, paid social ads, and so on,” she says. “All of these and more could fall under the umbrella of community management, depending on what the studio needs. Oftentimes, it’s great to have your own thing.

What makes you special? Do you have a ton of streaming experience? Did you do journalism? Are you the best video editor? Can you do graphic design? All of these will help.”

Since some community management roles will have you create content yourself, Adebajo adds that it’s good to be proficient in specific software programs.

“I was lucky enough to have gained a lot of the skills during my time at uni, but I would certainly advise to get some working knowledge of programs such as Photoshop and Premier Pro,” he says.

Mike Adebajo, The Pokémon Company International

and have some fun on the platforms. “[Now] I’m interested in finding community managers that [are] willing to take risks and can confidently flesh out a plan capable of generating growth, positive sentiment and incentivise conversions. The individual needs to be able to think about everything they do from a creative but also analytical standpoint.”

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What are the common misconceptions about community management?

The most common misconception when it comes to community management is that all you do is sit on Facebook and Twitter all day.

It is obviously not the case.

“While talking with the community is definitely a big part of the job, especially around game launches and key marketing beats, it is rarely the only thing you will do in a day,” Cosgrove says. “A large portion of my time is spent doing research and analyses, writing reports, working with the rest of our publishing team on marketing plans and tracking data.

If you’re looking to start as a CM just to chat with people online, you’re probably getting into the wrong job.”

Posting content on a social channel is usually the end of a “long pipeline of work,” Adebajo points out, adding that community management is a very data-driven job and by no means the “easy job” people seem to think it is.

“There’s a misconception that we do what anyone can do but there’s a lot more to it than that,” Bhatti says “We become experts in being able to create a strategy that can also have an impact on the marketing strategy.

There will be constant challenges, but at the same time, through hard work and patience, the job is also very rewarding.

Seeing your ideas come to fruition and watching the community grow and seeing friendships created is one of the most rewarding feelings that every community manager has in common.”

Growing and building a genuine community is challenging then, and Hindle adds that it’s not as simple as looking at what others have been doing.

“I’ve seen studios copy each other’s techniques but without fully understanding the strategy behind it, so they don’t yield the same results. I think you have to really understand the game you’re working on, the audience for that game, and then be able to tailor your content specifically for them.”

Another misconception mentioned by Hindle is that community management

Higher education isn’t necessary to become a community manager, but training will go a long way

is just a stepping stone onto other roles but there are natural progressions within the role without having to take a side step in another field. Hindle himself progressed from CM at Mediatonic to community director, while Pounder started as brand community manager at 505 Games and is now director of global community. But if you do want to branch out, being a community manager provides great opportunities for career progression.

“Being a community manager puts you in a great position to specialise into many roles across the games industry,” Cosgrove says. “If you want to stick down the community and PR route you can progress towards a more mediafocused role such as communications or PR manager, or if you are more marketing-minded it’s possible to move towards a marketing or brand management position. Being an internal CM also opens you up to seeing what roles are available within a development team, which is another progression route you can choose to take.”

Video game community manager

Advice for new and aspiring community managers • Go to events and network Like many jobs in the games industry, networking is key to becoming a community manager and finding potential employers.

And even without physical events, there are ways to reach out.

“Companies often run cool activations where players can get involved and, for aspiring community managers, you should absolutely utilise these opportunities,” Pounder says. “They can help more than you might think. One of our Discord server moderators - an aspiring CM - reached out last year to tell me he secured a full-time role as a community manager for a well-known studio.

His perseverance and efforts paid off.”

Cosgrove adds that, if he could go back to the start of his career, he’d try to do more face-to-face networking.

“I’d have tried to get myself out to events as frequently as possible, as these are great places to build interpersonal skills and do direct one-on-one community engagement.” he says. “When the world sorts itself back out and everything starts to go back to normal, go to gaming events like Develop, EGX or PAX. These are great opportunities to observe, network with and talk to community managers.”

• Learn to set boundaries Learning to deal with criticism and unhappy members of the community is something that aspiring community managers should try to do as early as possible. Don’t try to please communities at all costs - you need to set the right boundaries from the beginning.

“When I was new into community management, I didn’t react well to

“YOU’RE THE MEDIATOR AND ADVOCATE FOR YOUR STUDIO, SO IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE THINGS LIKE EMPATHY” Victoria Tran, Kitfox

“EVENTS ARE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO OBSERVE, NETWORK WITH AND TALK TO COMMUNITY MANAGERS” Daniel Cosgrove, nDreams

dealing with negative sentiment, but I soon realised over time that acknowledging their concerns is more beneficial than just ignoring them,” Bhatti says. “Even if you aren’t telling them what they want to hear, the community does appreciate that you as a company are listening to them.”

Recounting the mistakes she made during her early days in community management, Tran says she tried too hard to be a “people pleaser.”

“That made a bunch of valued members leave after an argument I didn’t handle well. I accidentally forgot to BCC a bunch of people in a huge community email. I wasn’t good at setting boundaries for myself and almost burnt myself out. But I don’t see it as necessarily bad things - mistakes are normal, and what matters is what you do with that mistake moving forward.”

• Do your research Before starting a job - or even before getting an interview for a position - you should arm yourself with as much knowledge as you can about what will be asked of you, and the tools you’ll be using.

“Research into different online platforms such as social media pages like Reddit, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but use it to gauge what reactions from fans are like and, importantly, look at how companies talk to them,” Bhatti says. “There is no right or wrong or blanket social media strategy as every community and brand is different, but understanding what

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works and doesn’t for a particular brand and audience is key. Just like there are different genres of video games, there are lots of different audiences within a fanbase.”

That research also extends to the companies you can work with - finding the right environment for yourself is crucial, and having a good culture fit with your studio is imperative to being a good community manager “Obviously this can be beyond your control at times, but there is no way you can properly advocate for the studio if they are not treating you with the respect you deserve or treat you as a scapegoat,” Tran says. “Yes, I know we’re all excited to break into the industry, and that’s great. But be aware of how the people there are treating you, and if things start to feel wrong, don’t be afraid to leave it or look for work at a different studio. Community managers do tend to get attached to the communities they work with and become afraid of leaving it, but you need to put your mental health and wellbeing first before you can help anyone else.

“The network of community managers in games is so strong.

More often than not we’re always willing to help each other out, so don’t be afraid to reach out if you need it, whether that’s for advice or needing to vent.”

Ibrahim Bhatti, Square Enix

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HOW TO BECOME A VOICE ACTOR FOR VIDEO GAMES The GamesIndustry.biz Academy explores what it takes to work as a voice actor in the games industry

NIALL O’DONOGHUE Contributor

Voice acting has become an increasingly important part of game development, elevating many games into truly memorable experiences. It can seem like a dream job from the outside, letting you be your own boss, working on a variety of exciting projects. But while many voice actors love their work, the dayto-day reality is a bit less glamorous.

“I feel like my job is 20% performance,” laughs Aimee Smith, a voice actor based in Australia.

Smith, a former primary school teacher, started voice acting in 2011 as a hobby and has been working as a professional voiceover artist since 2019, with credits in games like Cloudpunk, Smite, Freedom Planet and Mobile Legends.

“Ultimately, this is still a business.

You are spending so much time emailing back and forth with clients, updating profiles on different websites, updating your website,

invoicing, marketing - there’s so many elements to this job.

I spend a lot of time at my desk, actually.”

Actors for video games work with voice directors and game developers to bring interactive narratives to life, working out of their homes or in recording studios. You’ll need to find work through auditions and outreach, before delivering high-quality performances during long recording sessions. Voice acting is a highly collaborative process which can require a basic knowledge of sound editing and sound engineering for those working out of home studios.

Smith primarily focuses on video games, sessions for which run for roughly two hours. Doing one such session every few days will pay for the rest of her week, which is spent marketing for other leads and sending approximately ten auditions out every day.

“You’re constantly having to chase down: what’s my next lead?

What’s my next job interview?

What’s my next audition?” says Ashe Thurman, a US-based voice actor and director who develops games under the banner Pixels and Pins Studios.

Thurman, who originally studied computer science and mechanical and electronics drafting at university, has acted in games such as Paladins, My Time at Portia and Paranormal Files: The Tall Man. They wryly note that “the job of a voice actor is looking for work:

Kirsty Gillmore

actually doing the work is just gravy.”

However, this day-to-day experience is a bit different for UK-based voice-over artists, who more often book work from their demos rather than auditions, our interviewees say. Additionally, voice actors in the UK may not necessarily operate out of home studios, although home studio usage has increased due to the pandemic.

Voice-over artists can work across a wide variety of mediums, including commercial and corporate work, audiobook narration, e-learning projects and voice acting for animations, anime and video games - it’s rare for actors to exclusively focus on the games industry. Still, if you’d like to bring game characters to life, we’ll dive into the nittygritty to find out what it takes.

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Kirsty Gillmore was voice director for Destruction AllStars

What experience do I need to become a voice actor?

• Initially focus on training and gaining experience “If you want to get into voice-over, wherever you are in the world, start with training. Train to be a voice actor, particularly if you have absolutely no acting background or presenting background.”

That’s advice from Kirsty Gillmore, an experienced voice and casting director, sound designer and voice actor based in London, who has worked on games such as Destruction AllStars and Baldur’s Gate 3. Gillmore advises actors to improve their skills and gain experience before investing in expensive equipment or a home studio.

Gillmore points to workshops, amateur theatre groups, workout groups where actors practice scripts together, web panels and improv workshops as just some examples of where to get started.

Thurman also emphasises that any acting experience is good experience and cites voice acting boards, social media and forums as good places to get involved with original projects. They also encourage anybody still in school to take advantage of their school’s theatre programs.

“It’s really good to have some kind of [coaching, workshop or one-on-one session], because you don’t want to risk picking up bad habits,” Thurman says.

“If you’re only ever practicing yourself,

you have no one to give you feedback on whether what you’re doing is effective or not apart from your booking rate.

If you’re booking a lot, then OK, maybe you are doing something right. But maybe you could be doing something better.”

• Learn how to take direction Performing with others gives you experience of being directed and receiving feedback, something Gillmore says is crucial for voice directors.

“If I can’t get a performance out of an actor because they don’t know how to apply what I’m asking them to do, they don’t know how to reflect that in their performance, then that’s not very useful to me,” she says. “You don’t make video games in isolation and [for] the vast majority of high quality video games out there, you will need to be directed.”

Actor, comedian and voice-over artist Inel Tomlinson, with credits on games like We Happy Few: Lightbearer, The Solitaire Conspiracy and Fable Fortune, has an extensive background in television, stage and radio. Tomlinson studied Drama and Theatre Studies at Middlesex University, subjects he taught as a former secondary school teacher, and feels that all of this experience has been extremely helpful for him as a voice actor.

“It’s all about being able to take direction, to change things on the fly, being able to work with other people really

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quickly and [adapting super fast,” he says.

Mikee Goodman is a musician, voice actor, voice director and owner of voice-over agency Charactoon Voices.

Goodman was one of the voice directors on Disco Elysium, which features various musicians among its voice cast, including Tariq Khan and Lenval Brown. Goodman is fully open to non-trained actors as a director but acknowledges that trained actors can bring more security to a project, saying “You’re not always going to get Tariq Khans - it’s very rare actually.”

“If we know that someone is trained, we know that it’s going to be a shorter session, you usually know what you’re going to get,” he adds.

• Don’t focus on your demo reel when starting out Tomlinson, Thurman and Smith all created their own demo reels - short audio clips that showcase an actor’s repertoire - when starting out, but have since all gotten professionally produced demos. However, Smith discourages new voice actors from focusing on their demos at all when starting out, instead encouraging them to learn what vocal types they can do well, what sort of work they can book, and whether or not they even enjoy voice acting. “[My first demo] was not very good: it would not fly today because I was very, very new,” Smith says. “If you don’t have any experience voicing in video games or you don’t have any coaching or things like that, do not get a demo to start with because you’re going to find, when it comes back to you in two weeks, four weeks, whatever, you should already be better by then… that’s a complete waste of money.”

Gillmore agrees, saying that a professionally recorded demo should showcase the different acting styles you have in your repertoire - games acting is often more dramatic and naturalistic than anime and animation acting, for example - and should have a variety of believable character voices. Additionally, a demo should not have intrusive sound effects or music. However, as a casting

and voice director for games, Gillmore mainly books people off their auditions rather than their demos.

What equipment do I need to get started?

• Treat your surrounding environment first, then upgrade as you go Thurman used their Twitch streaming equipment when they first started voice acting from home, but it quickly became apparent that this setup wasn’t cutting it.

The solution was a closet in their spare bedroom, padded out with blankets to form an improvised recording room.

While Thurman has since moved onto a custom-built recording booth and upgraded their equipment multiple times, they encourage beginner voice actors to focus on treating their surrounding environment first.

Smith started out by using her computer’s in-built microphone in an untreated space. She upgraded to a USB microphone a few months later and booked paid work such as Freedom Planet, but says: “If I did this today, I’m almost entirely certain I wouldn’t have been cast.”

However, when you’re starting from scratch, the solution can be as simple as a duvet.

“You can certainly start off with a USB microphone, pop filter attached, sitting under a blanket and with any recording software, and reinvest your money Ashe Thurman into equipment as you go further - once you figure out if you even enjoy it, once you’ve had the time to [play] and figure out your bookable vocal types through jobs and classes. It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Smith says.

•

Learn basic sound engineering and sound editing

Outside of performing, voice actors working out of a home studio need the software and basic sound engineering and editing skills to polish their recordings. If something goes wrong with an actor’s home setup during a remote recording session and they’re unable to fix it, it could put a studio or director off from hiring them in the future.

Video game voice actor

“It really makes my heart sink when I hear actors with home studios go: ‘I’m not very tech-y, I don’t know anything about it’, I’m like: why do you have a home studio then?” Gillmore says.

“If you really don’t know how to work the equipment then you should just not do it, and just hire a studio when you have jobs that you need a home studio for.”

Thurman uses the audio editing software Adobe Audition in their current work but started out using the freely available Audacity, which has more limited functionality.

“You can start with Audacity for free to get the handle on how audio editing and recording works and then you can pick whichever software works best for you,” Thurman advises.

Thurman also has experience with game development, voice direction and voice casting and feels that all of these skill sets cross-pollinate.

Making their own games has also been handy for their acting portfolio.

“Making my own games has been the biggest factor in having games to direct. I can just be like: I made it myself, I can do what I want, I’ll cast myself as a part, yay!” Thurman says.

How do I prepare for video game auditions?

• Know your ‘toolbox’ inside-out When auditioning, Smith keeps a checklist in her mind of what qualities a studio is looking for in a character.

Additionally, both Smith and Thurman have a ‘toolbox’ of character archetypes they can adapt and modify on short notice.

“Obviously, you still want things to feel as fresh as possible with every audition and we all try really hard to do that. I just don’t think it’s possible and plausible for every audition, so sometimes just having that baseline, knowing that you’ve done a similar character like this in the past, helps,” Smith says.

“I’ve got my angry little 14-year-old boy, I’ve got my nerd girl, I’ve got my kinda-goofy weird scientist character,” Thurman agrees. “I’ve got my characters, I know what I can do, I know what I’ve been booked to do before.”

Ashe Thurman did voice work on Evil Mojo and Hi-Rez’s Paladins

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Mikee Goodman was one of the voice directors on Disco Elysium

Mikee Goodman

Voice acting can be an extremely competitive field and it’s important for actors to develop a thick skin when dealing with rejection.

“You can’t take it personally,” Thurman says. “Say 500 people audition for five parts;

well, you’re with the other 495 people who didn’t get the part.

You’re in good company.”

Although it might be tempting to try and impress casting directors, it’s crucial that actors don’t audition with a vocal type that they cannot sustain for an entire recording session.

Additionally, if you’re one of the lucky ones who gets the job, it’s important to be professional and easy to work with Gillmore describes working with difficult actors as “tiring, time consuming and frustrating.”

• Make your tape short and sweet When it comes to self-taped auditions, it’s important to make your tape clear and concise. Gillmore advises actors to follow instructions clearly, read through lines fluidly one

character at a time and don’t do more than two takes unless you really feel like you can offer something particularly special.

“Always bear in mind that casting directors are incredibly busy and a lot of the time they might not even listen past ten seconds. It usually will take five to ten seconds for me to go: ‘Is this person in the right ballpark for what I’m after?

Are they interesting enough to make me want to listen more?’” Gillmore says.

For Goodman, it’s important that an audition tape is labelled correctly, showcases the actor’s voice without lots of special effects and demonstrates that an actor is in flow as a character.

“I really like it when someone just records one take and it’s good, because then I know that they’re just in a flow and that they can do it,” Goodman says.

Video game voice actor

What skills do video game voice actors need?

•

Be adaptable and versatile

When compared to other narrative mediums, many video games stand out for their nonlinear storytelling. As a result, adaptability is an important skill for game actors. Voice recording sessions are often done in isolation, with actors having to imagine the other characters in a scene whilst jumping around different timelines and emotional states on the fly.

Gillmore gives an example: say your character enters a crypt and starts a conversation with your brother in one version of a scene. You might then be directed to do it again but with the knowledge that your brother has betrayed you, or that you’ve just completed a combat encounter and are out of breath. Versatility is also important, allowing actors to potentially be hired more often.

“Being able to do lots of accents and different characters is really, really helpful in video games and animation,” Goodman says. For example, he finished a recording session early for the upcoming video game Road 96 and was subsequently asked to voice multiple additional characters to fill in the slot.

Physical acting experience can also be helpful, both for motion capture performances and voiceover work in general. For example, Gillmore notes that you can hear when a voice actor is physically smiling.

• Practice sight-reading For Tomlinson, practicing sight reading - being able to perform a previously unknown script on the spot - is “imperative” for all actors. This helps them learn how to flow through different tenses, moods and emotions cohesively whilst improving their ability to “quickly make choices on the fly.”

Tomlinson is a Twitch streamer and often sight-reads aloud when playing story-based games, both to entertain his viewers and to practice. “[Sight-reading] can be quite difficult, particularly for people that are dyslexic like myself, so I tend to practice as much as I possibly can,” he says.

Does my location limit my opportunities as a voice actor for games?

• It does for certain projects, but not for many others Some game studios prefer to use commercial recording studios located near their headquarters, particularly for AAA games. Being based outside of hubs, like London in the UK or Los Angeles in the United States, can limit certain opportunities for voice actors.

However, Gillmore says that AAA games are not the be all and end all, noting that

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“there are plenty of amazing indie games being made out there and indie is a very wide spectrum.”

“There are studios all around the world and there’s plenty of projects that I’ve directed where we’ve done it through home studios,” Gillmore continues, pointing to Destruction All Stars as an example, the cast of which included international actors working remotely.

“We were massively invested in the characters and we wanted talent to reflect them and that means going internationally,” Gillmore says, noting that this is the case for lots of games she is involved with. “If a client wants a specific sound, then we will look for wherever that person is.

It definitely doesn’t discount your opportunities; it probably does limit them a little bit, I would say.”

Smith has found geographical limitations to be an obstacle. While Australia has lots of smaller independent games studios, there aren’t many AAA studios, and there is a lower density of animation studios compared to the US. Smith has also found it difficult to get represented by certain US-based agencies due to her living overseas, limiting her opportunities to pursue certain roles. COVID-19 has made remote working more common, opening up certain opportunities for Smith, but she hasn’t felt a huge impact overall and fears that things may start to revert back to normal as restrictions ease.

• An agent can boost an actor’s career, but the road to representation is long As an actor, finding an agency to represent you can be helpful for booking work, but it can take years to get onto an agency’s roster. While Gillmore does use agencies when casting actors for games, she also casts some roles through other means like open calls and knows several self-represented voice actors who do high-end voice-over projects.

“I wouldn’t recommend people starting out to hit agents as their first port of call: build up your experience, build up your credits to start with. Build up your body of work so you can go to an agent and go: here I am, I am a viable product,” she says.

Tomlinson got his first voice-over agent in his mid-20s and feels that representation is important in the voice-over industry.

“Unless you’re involved in that circle, it’s very hard to get in and I wish it wasn’t like that,” he says. “A lot of the time, it means that a lot of people just don’t get roles because their agent doesn’t know the right people, and I hate that.”

Tomlinson encourages actors to lean into what’s unique about them to stand out from the crowd: for example, he has quite a characterful voice, which he showcased in his reel when approaching agencies. He also encourages actors to be their own number one cheerleader by promoting their portfolio online.

“Say: ‘Yeah, I’m sick, check it out’ - it works, ” Tomlinson laughs. “If you don’t do it, who’s going to do it?”

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How do voice actors develop sustainable businesses?

• Maintain a website and social media profiles Tomlinson has managed to book work through websites like Twitter in the past, noting that independent game developers often advertise roles online, and says that being active and visible online can help actors with networking. He also feels that having your own website showcasing your portfolio and clips is important.

Goodman adds that putting yourself out there and getting to know people at events, like game expos, can be helpful for actors: he’s met people who were later signed for Charactoon in this way. He also repeats a piece of advice given to him by a friend: “You’ve got to get the tap dripping before it flows.”

Gillmore describes it as a red flag if she can’t find any presence of an actor online.

For example, she remembers receiving an excellent audition tape for a character with an Irish accent in response to an open call.

Although it wasn’t a dealbreaker for her client, Gillmore wanted to double “BEING ABLE TO DO LOTS OF check if the actor ACCENTS AND DIFFERENT was natively Irish but couldn’t find CHARACTERS IS REALLY any information HELPFUL IN VIDEO GAMES about them online.

AND ANIMATION” After Gillmore failed Mikee Goodman to receive a reply over email, she was unable to cast the actor in the role.

“If you are auditioning in different accents, I want to know what your base voice sounds like,” Gillmore says, using personal sites, agency sites, Soundcloud profiles, Spotlight profiles for UK based actors or social media links as examples.

• Know your rates As a freelancer, it can be difficult to know exactly how much you should be charging for your work. Tomlinson, Thurman and Smith all point to rate guides available online, provided by organisations like the Global Voice Acting Academy, the Voice Acting Club, Gravy For The Brain and - in Australia - the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance.

However, all three have personal rates which they adjust based on the nature of the project: for example, they might

charge less for working on a low-budget indie game. For Tomlinson, there is a danger that people who are desperate to get into the voice-over industry will undercharge without knowing the proper rate for their work.

“It undercuts everybody when that happens because if companies can get away with charging lower rates, it means everybody starts paying lower rates in order to get people in,” he says.

Work can also be found through pay-toplay sites, where actors pay a subscription fee to gain access to more exclusive auditions.

Smith uses the pay-toplay website Voice123 to book some work, but warns that these sites can be controversial and/or dodgy.

She only recommends actors go down this avenue when they’re able to obtain paid work by themselves elsewhere.

Acting for free is also an option starting out to build up your experience and portfolio. Thurman did lots of their original work for free when starting out and will still do so occasionally for certain developers or projects, but feels that it’s important to know where to draw the line.

“You have to decide for yourself: what’s your worth? What do you have time for?

What’s the possible non-monetary value of this work?” Thurman says.

“I have a limit and I will literally always put my paid work above free work: I have to, that’s just all there is to it.”

•

Remember why you’re doing this in the first place

Although aspects of the job can be intense, everyone interviewed for this article speaks passionately and enthusiastically about their work. Smith admits that certain elements of the job do become less exciting as time moves on - she doesn’t necessarily jump for joy every single time she books a gig, for example, and says that some people might dislike the business side of the job. However, she feels that becoming a voice actor is the best decision she’s ever made.

“You definitely still have those little milestone moments that make you feel like you want to pinch yourself and you’re like: I cannot believe that this is my job, I cannot believe that I’m still doing this,” Smith says.

Inel Tomlinson

Video game voice actor

Tomlinson loves being involved in the games industry, saying: “I’ve grown up playing games all my life and it’s played an integral part to who I am.” However, he would like to see increased diversity in video game characters in the future.

“We’ve still got major issues in this industry, but it’s getting there,” he says. “I feel it’s as slow as the culture around it is. The same types of games are always the biggest selling types of games and if that stays the same, then the games are going to stay the same. You get certain types of characters that come along with that.

“The indie scene has really championed diverse voices in the gaming industry, in terms of the types of games that we’re getting to play now, the types of places that we’re getting to see in games are changing, and in terms of the characters that we get to see.

Aimee Smith

“In turn, we’re seeing new actors coming in, we’re seeing new voice-over artists getting their time to shine. It’s nice, I like that - it means there’s more work for everybody. The more it expands, the more it diversifies, the more work for everyone.”

Aimee Smith worked on Ion Lands’ Cloudpunk

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AN INTRODUCTION TO GAMES USER RESEARCH We talk to veteran user researcher Steve Bromley about what the job entails and what you can do to become one

MARIE DEALESSANDRI Features editor

“MAKING SURE THAT YOU’RE AWARE OF THE COMMUNITY, AND YOU’RE ACTIVELY REACHING OUT AND TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ALL THE HELP THAT’S OUT THERE, IS REALLY IMPORTANT” Steve Bromley

Playtesting is hardly a new discipline in games. We actually dedicated an in-depth guide to the job (see page 46).

But over the last 15 years, the field has matured, leading to the emergence of more specialised areas including user research, that coexists peacefully alongside other forms of playtesting.

“What games user researchers do is they essentially professionalised playtesting, so they take the expertise from academia, or broadly science and user experience, and they use that to design high quality studies where the results are reliable, and we’re able to make important gameplay decisions based on the results of the studies that we run,” explains Steve Bromley, freelance games user researcher.

Bromley has worked in the field for over a decade - at PlayStation for five years on titles such as Horizon: Zero Dawn, and with indie developers.

He’s also created a games user research mentoring scheme, which has partnered over 100 students with companies such as Sony, EA, Valve, Ubisoft and Microsoft, over the last five years.

“User researchers run playtests to make sure that players are experiencing games in the way in which the designers expect them to,” he continues. “When designers are making their decisions they have an understanding about what they think players are going to do and understand, what they think they have to tell players, whether players will notice the right things. But it’s not possible to tell if that really works without actually getting it out in front of players.”

User researchers are not here to tell developers how the game should be modified based on the audience’s reaction; their aim is rather to make sure the vision and the result are aligned. User research is also different to QA - it’s not looking at whether the game is technically broken.

“I think people get worried when they hear about testing things that our objective is either we’re going to make the game easy because [players] say it’s too hard, or we’re going to change the spirit of the game. They might get it confused with market research or focus groups where you get a whole bunch of players in a room and you say ‘do kids like skateboarding games this year or do you like games about hedgehogs?’ and then come back by saying ‘oh, you should make a game about hedgehogs because kids love hedgehogs this year.’

“Neither of those are what we’re doing. Instead, we’re very careful to understand what the designers are trying to do, and then make sure that we are only saying: are you doing the thing you’re meant to do? We’re not trying to change the designers’ vision.

So if your game is meant to be hard, if it’s something like a Bloodborne or Dark Souls, we understand it’s meant to be hard, and then we’ll check [whether] the game is the right kind of hard, rather than saying: this game is too hard, let’s get rid of it. And again, if you want to make a game about skateboarding, that’s cool, we’re not going to tell you ‘don’t make a game about skateboarding,’ it’s not our

User research

job to say what the design should be, it’s just: has it been done correctly?

Have you made what you think you’re making?”

What does user research entail in the day-to-day?

On a day-to-day basis, a user researcher is either planning, running, or debriefing a study. These studies can happen at any time during development, though Bromley notes it’s usually in the latter half of the process that his services are typically needed.

“What a study involves at the beginning is working with our design colleagues, producers, and other people who are making these decisions, to understand both the current state of the game and what questions they have,” Bromley explains. “What are they unsure about? What have they recently been working on that they’re not sure if it works or not? And define some objectives, so what do we want to learn from this playtest or this study?”

principles so that we’re not biasing the players and we’re getting realistic behaviour that you would see in a real player at home,” Bromley explains.

“Then we’ve got a lot of raw data, all those observations we made in our session, interview notes, all the telemetry from the game itself, and we’ll have to crunch that data into some conclusions, because everyone else is much too busy and working on actually making the game to look at raw data.”

Typically, user researchers would

“CAN YOU TALK TO A PLAYER IN AN UNBIASED WAY? SO YOU’RE NOT GIVING YOUR OWN OPINIONS, OR YOU’RE NOT LEADING THEM TO ANY ANSWERS?” Steve Bromley

then write a report or a presentation, or prepare a workshop that explains the potential problems with the game, and things that players didn’t understand, helping designers to make the right decisions, whether that’s changing a tutorial that didn’t successfully teach players how to use an item, or remapping a level so it’s clearer where players need to go.

“Essentially, [it’s about] helping a team make that step to want to know what’s wrong and to think about what they should do about it,” Bromley says.

Steve Bromley

From that point on, the study needs to be designed carefully against the objectives mapped. There are a wealth of different study formats, from one-to-one sitting with players to watch them play and observe whether they are understanding or not, interviews to see what they’re thinking, or more analytics-based approaches.

The latter for instance could use telemetry and measures from the game to see if players are completing the level in the amount of time you expected, if they’re failing the amount of time expected, and looking out for whether the experience they are actually having is the experience the designers think they should be having.

“We have to ask [players] questions, we have to set them tasks, we have to be careful to apply those scientific

What education and experience do you need to become a user researcher?

A lot of user researchers come from an academic background, and often have studied a type of social science like psychology, or “something where you have to interact face-to-face with real people, and run a study,” Bromley says.

“I didn’t know games user research existed and I happened to be doing a postgraduate course in human computer interaction, which is about usability and how people understand how to use software,” he continues. “And I was very lucky in that there was a games usability lab in Brighton - where I was studying and one of the lecturers owned that lab, so I got first time experience through that.

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“But beyond my own experience The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell. working that lab, it is very common “Understand how games actually get for [user researchers] to have done an made, and then also do some learning undergraduate or a postgraduate degree about how to run a usability study,” in some sort of science, and have been he continues. “There are a couple of interested in: how do I design a study? good books for that - Just Enough And can I interview a person or do a Research [by Erika Hall], and Don’t test on a person, and then look at how Make Me Think [by Steve Krug].” you can apply those [learnings]?”

Bromley himself also wrote Combining this social science a book on this topic, called background with an interest for games, How to be a Games User Researcher. how they’re made, and what constitutes “Doing that reading to understand good game design, is usually how how [to] run a study, doing some reading people join the industry as user about game design, actually reaching researchers, Bromley adds. out to indie developers - that makes Education aside, knowing where you a fantastic candidate so when to find work experience in that field these jobs come up you’ve got all the is a common question Bromley faces practical experience and theoretical when running his mentoring scheme. knowledge to be greater doing it.”

“There’s a couple of things that we recommend. One thing is: being a user What skills do you need to researcher in any field is a good way to transition because a lot of those skills about be a good user researcher? how you design a study are applicable.

But for games, one of the activities we set Being a user researcher means spending people to think about getting experience for a lot of time talking and interacting real is working with the indie community. with people. So at the top of the “There are a lot of places like the desired skills is this social aspect and Reddit playtesting forum or Itch. an ability to communicate effectively. io playtesting forum where there are “Can you talk to a player, can you have people who have made games and they a conversation with them, but also doing are looking for playtesters for feedback. that in an unbiased way? So you’re not They don’t necessarily know that user giving your own opinions, or you’re not leading them to any answers, but creating research exists, or that you can do this a space where they feel comfortable in a scientific and a measured way, but giving their opinions, and explaining the fact that they are asking for help and what they think, and if they get stuck they have a game that is in development they don’t feel like they’re being stupid. means they’re in the right state where “That social side also applies to the they can benefit from your help. teams you work with, so you have to spend “And so we often recommend that a lot of time talking to games designers people who are interested in this field to understand what their reach out to indie game’s intention is and, developers who also, at the end of it, are interested in “UNDERSTAND HOW you’ve got to convince getting feedback GAMES ACTUALLY GET them that maybe it’s not on their game and MADE, AND THEN ALSO working, so you’ve got to explain: hey, I’m not have those conversational just going to be a DO SOME LEARNING skills to work around that.” play test participant, ABOUT HOW TO RUN A An analytical mind is but actually I can USABILITY STUDY” also very important. You apply some of this Steve Bromley need to be able to convert experience I’ve an idea such as “I’m not got either from sure if my tutorial works,” academia or I’ve presented by the developer, into tasks you done some reading around it, and I can can set for a player, questions to ask them, give some advice based on usability best and figure out a way to know whether practices, and use that as an option to run a study. I think that’s invaluable experience.” they understood everything properly.

“Being able to apply that analysis to Bromley also recommends doing some break a vague objective down into concrete reading about game design, such as

User research

“BEING A USER RESEARCHER IN ANY FIELD IS A GOOD WAY TO TRANSITION BECAUSE A LOT OF THOSE SKILLS ABOUT HOW YOU DESIGN A STUDY ARE APPLICABLE” Steve Bromley

tasks is a really core thing that you have to do,” Bromley continues.

“And then doing that same analysis on the other side. You’ve run your study, you’ve got a lot of data, and again, no one’s going to pay attention to all that data. Using your analysis skills, you have to turn that raw data into ‘Here’s five really interesting and really well explained points that someone’s going to listen to and do something about’.”

What’s the state of recruitment and opportunities for career progression?

User research roles come in a mix of in-house and agency opportunities.

Bromley points out that it’s “reasonably difficult” to find a job at a junior level.

“I think once you’ve hit mid-level or senior, there’s loads of positions, because it’s a growing discipline that isn’t yet considered a core part of how people make games. So only the largest studios have teams, and smaller studios - if they have anyone - they’re only going to have one or two very senior researchers, they’re not going to be looking for people at junior level,” he says.

“That obviously makes it very challenging, and that’s why we recommend, as well as getting that academic and theoretical experience, actually doing some work with indie developers. And a lot of people won’t do that or won’t take it that far, so [if you do] it means that you are an exceptional candidate when you turn up to the interview; you are a lot more likely to get that junior role because you have done so much to prepare for it.”

In terms of career progression, you can of course make your way from junior,

to mid-level, to senior user researcher, and stay in this branch. The difference between the different levels of seniority is that you tend to “take more ownership of more of the project,” Bromley says.

“At your early stage, you might just be running a few tests at the end of the game, and as you grow in experience and your relationship with your teams grow, you get to have more influence over earlier in development, and run those studies earlier as well, which I think is really important,” he adds.

User research can also give transferable skills that make it easier to branch out in other roles.

“Some people use this to transition into an accessibility focused role, if you’re interested in making sure that people with different access needs or different disabilities can play games.

“And I’ve seen people going into more general production roles, because being a user researcher means you have to understand what everyone else is working on, so that you can run your studies. That can help make you a very good producer because, again, that needs an understanding of all the disciplines and bringing all of that together.”

If you want to learn more about production, the GamesIndustry. biz Academy has a guide on the topic on page 64.

Concluding our chat, Bromley points out that the user research community is a small one, but it’s very active. So if it’s a field that interests you, reach out to peers.

“There’s a group called The Games Research and User Experience Special Interest Group and they have a very active Discord, they put on events, conferences and networking things,” he says. “It’s really nice because there’s not that many user researchers out there and so you do get direct exposure to people working at all the big companies, the current discussions are happening in the industry, and a lot of support if you are joining the industry to do things like reviewing CVs or reviewing portfolios. For example, the mentoring scheme is part of this community.

“Making sure that you’re aware of the community, and you’re actively reaching out and taking advantage of all the help that’s out there, is really important.”

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HOW TO SUCCEED AT A GAMES INDUSTRY JOB INTERVIEW Amiqus’ Louise Wardale shares advice on how best to prepare for an interview

Get the basics right

LOUISE WARDALE

Talent partner Congratulations! You’ve got an interview! That is an achievement in itself, so be proud that your CV has stood out from the many that the recruiter will have received.

First up, it’s worth remembering that your interviewers are rooting for you. They want the next person who comes through the door - or logs on to a video call to be the person they hire.

They’re not there to trip you up or make you feel awkward.

They want you to succeed, as much as you want to.

However, the key to success is in preparation and planning.

Here are our top tips…

“EVEN THE MOST SEASONED PROFESSIONAL FEELS NERVOUS IN AN INTERVIEW FOR A JOB THEY REALLY WANT” Louise Wardale, Amiqus

If your interview is ‘in person’, make sure you know the correct address and how to get there on time. If you need to travel, allow plenty of time for trains being cancelled or traffic jams. You don’t want to turn up late and/or flustered.

Prior to the interview, don’t be afraid to ask for a dress code.

It sounds simple but some places have different ideas of ‘smart casual’ and you want to make a great initial impression to them - as well as feeling as confident as you can.

Ask if you need to prepare anything. This makes you look invested in the role and avoids you feeling caught out.

With video calls still being utilised by many at present, make sure that you have the right link and that you have installed any software that’s required. If it’s a Teams link, for example, you might need to register beforehand, so that you’re not late to the interview on the day.

Also, check your background and lighting - a good tip for presenting yourself on video is to position your laptop and camera higher than desk height (on some books maybe), which is a more flattering angle.

Make sure that the name the interviewers will see on the screen is your real name, rather than a nickname you used during virtual quizzes with friends. And finally, please don’t forget to charge up your laptop.

If you’re in a virtual interview remember it’s still an interview, so body language is very important no slouching in your chair, sit up, make eye contact and look engaged. It’s easy to forget when you are not physically walking into a formal interview setting, such as a studio or an office space.

If you need to ask for any reasonable adjustments to be made for the interview process - such as a list of questions in advance or a floorplan of the studio you’re visiting, remember that it is your right to do so.

Games studios are making good progress in ensuring that their workplaces are welcoming and inclusive for all, so don’t feel that you will be ‘marked down’ in any way.

Find out as much as you can about the people who will be interviewing you - do some research via LinkedIn and the ‘About Us’ section of their website.

This should help you feel more comfortable, but it may also give you the opportunity to make a better connection with them if you feel that you ‘know’ them.

Finally, make sure you’ve done your research on the studio and its games. This is vital for preparing for the ultra-popular interview question: “Why do you want to work here?”. The interviewer will want to see that you’ve done your homework. Read the job spec again and review your CV and covering letter to remind yourself of what they know about you already.

Job interview tips

During the interview Smile! The interviewers will know that you’re nervous and the good ones (most of them, in our experience) will try to put you at ease. If you’re meeting in person, we’d normally recommend a good firm handshake, but during these COVID times, it’s probably best to avoid that. And I’m not sure that many of us are comfortable yet with the elbow bump…

Answer each question as well and as thoroughly as you can and speak clearly. Pro tip: there are often delays of a couple of seconds during video calls, so use this time (even if there aren’t any delays) after each question to take a breath, think and answer.

If there’s a question you find challenging and you need to think about the answer, don’t rush - ask if you can have a minute. If you haven’t done something before, consider how you might approach it rather than say you don’t know - you will get kudos for attempting to answer.

In the unlikely event that there’s a question you really can’t answer, say so, rather than stumble. You can always offer to follow up with them after the interview, if you think you can do that.

But overall, show positivity and enthusiasm for the company and the role. Your interviewers want to see that you really want the job.

“ Do you have any questions?”

In many ways, this is the trickiest part of any interview. You want to show how keen you are to be selected for the position, and how interested you are in the studio. But often your mind can go blank. So, make sure you have questions ready in advance, and really think about what you want to know.

Remember an interview is a two-way street. Potential employers should want to get you excited and answer your questions about the company and role, so ask away!

Here are some ready-made questions that you could ask:

- “ What will be a typical working day for me?”

If the interviewer hasn’t talked you through this, it will be genuinely useful for you to visualise processes and how you’ll be working, if you are successful in landing the role. This is particularly important if this is your first job.

- “ What would be your ideal candidate for this role?”

This may give you a hint about whether or not you are being considered.

But if the interviewer mentions any particular skills or attributes that you have, this is an opportunity for you to highlight them again.

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If there’s anything that you feel you didn’t answer to the best of your ability or there’s a question that you forgot to ask, put them in a follow-up email.

This shows you’ve thought about the process and are keen on the role.

What to avoid

- “ What will be my biggest challenge in this role?”

Here are a few things we recommend you not do:

Again, this will give you some valuable insights into the pressures you will face in the job. But it will also suggest to the interviewer that you’re ready to take on challenges.

- Being late:

- “ How will my performance be measured?”

- Bad-mouthing previous employers:

This tells your interviewer that you are results-driven and happy to learn and progress. Which leads us to…

This is never wise, as it just leaves the interviewer wondering if you would do the same to them and if you might have been the problem in your previous position. Also, the games industry is a very close-knit community. It’s very possible that your interviewer worked at that studio in the past or has friends there.

- “ What training and development programmes are available?”

If a recruiter makes a good hire, they want to keep that person.

Therefore, demonstrating that you want to grow and build your career within that studio will be a plus point.

And from your perspective, it’s good know that you will be able to further develop your skills within the company.

- “ What have you most enjoyed about working here?”

This will give you the opportunity to connect with the interviewer on a personal level - and will also give you some insight into the company culture within the studio.

And here are a couple of ‘don’ts’ when it comes to asking questions…

- It’s a cliché and probably a little unfair, but don’t ask how many days of annual leave you’ll get. Yes, you have every right to know, but if the interviewer hasn’t covered this off in the interview preamble, a better way to ask would be to enquire about benefits in general.

And make sure it’s not your first question.

If you’ve been dealing with a recruiter for the role, then you can ask them.

- Don’t ask a question that can be answered easily by doing some research on the company.

- And try to avoid asking a question that’s been answered earlier in the interview.

Or if you’ve been unavoidably and unexpectedly held up, ring ahead and let them know. And apologise.

- Panic: Even the most seasoned professional feels nervous in an interview for a job they really want; it’s a natural feeling.

But a good recruiter knows that - and will try to put you at ease. If you’ve only had a handful of interviews, or it’s your first, tell them that. Similarly, if you are very nervous, tell them that too.

The recruiters have done hundreds of interviews, so will understand and try to make you feel more comfortable.

Good luck!

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