The games industry is a hot career path right now—it’s exciting, it’s new, and a lot of young people love games. Who doesn’t want to be paid well for something they adore?
Okay, so it’s not all rosy. Anyone in the know will tell you that working on games, while it can be lucrative, is very tough—we’re talking ridiculously long hours during crunch time, minimal job security, and a lot of training. That doesn’t mean those dreams are out of reach, of course. First of all, developing games is only one facet of the games industry—there’s also journalism, art, music, PR, and more. I mean, one of my best friends has made a career out of composing orchestral covers of video game music—it’s not what you might think of first, but he’s very happy doing what he loves, and music in games is what he loves best.
I reached out to the industry professionals I know for advice they would offer teens who came to them with questions, and here’s what they had to say.
@KyoungKeezy Don’t be afraid to try something even though you’re not very good. You’ll get better the more you practice.— Allan Schumacher (@AllanSchumacher) July 8, 2014
@KyoungKeezy if you go to college, don’t major in games… study something else, bring that into games or bring games into that — Robert Yang (@radiatoryang) July 3, 2014 @KyoungKeezy play and read as much as possible — CMRN KNZLMN (@ckunzelman) July 3, 2014
@KyoungKeezy @ckunzelman *stage whisper* “RUN” — Caelyn Sandel (@inurashii) July 3, 2014
@KyoungKeezy Coding is not the only way! Games need writers, managers, spokesmen, artists, designers, etc. Apply your strengths to game dev. — Jonathan Wai (@jonthewai) July 3, 2014
@KyoungKeezy @ckunzelman Develop lots of sincere and deep interests and skills in realms outside of games, and bring that with you. — Jess Haskins (@jess_haskins) July 4, 2014
@KyoungKeezy Delve into freely available tools and make a lot of stuff, and keep making a lot of stuff. Also, make more stuff. — Jos Hendriks (@Sjosz) July 7, 2014
@Sjosz @KyoungKeezy That’s what I’ve heard when I’ve asked. @GameSchoolPrep has a good starter list of free tools: http://t.co/SJJv1CbInu — Sara Stern (@se_stern) July 7, 2014
@KyoungKeezy @se_stern That, and being courteous, curious, professional, and persistent about it. Making games /= playing games. — Jos Hendriks (@Sjosz) July 7, 2014
@KyoungKeezy @se_stern I am where I am today because I tinkered with the Unreal toolset in my spare time as a kid. No courses, just making. — Jos Hendriks (@Sjosz) July 7, 2014
@KyoungKeezy Hmm, well, I would point them to some free and simple to use game making tools. Like twine, and making card games
— Mattie Brice (@xMattieBrice) July 8, 2014
@KyoungKeezy If they are old enough, to follow their favorite creators on social media and look for game curations — Mattie Brice (@xMattieBrice) July 8, 2014
@KyoungKeezy It depends on ultimately what they want, there’s a wide variety of things they can do!
— Mattie Brice (@xMattieBrice) July 8, 2014
@KyoungKeezy For a game music career, it’s essential to become obsessed with every kind of music: vg music, classical, jazz, soundtracks. — Braxton Burks (@braxtonburks) July 7, 2014
@KyoungKeezy Amassing a ton of influences helps internalize music that become part of your musical “palette,” diversifying your sound! — Braxton Burks (@braxtonburks) July 7, 2014
I asked about voice acting, and Sumalee Montano had this advice:
@KyoungKeezy That’s a longer answer than I can tweet…but in a nutshell: Study acting. Some people think it’s just about doin a voice.
— Sumalee Montano (@suemolly) July 9, 2014
@KyoungKeezy you know where your skills lie, work on developing them. Writing programs and workshops, writer’s groups. Quite a few of the.. — Karin Weekes (@KarinWeekes) July 9, 2014
@KyoungKeezy editors I know have degrees and/or backgrounds in journalism; j-school really teaches you how to write efficiently. To practice — Karin Weekes (@KarinWeekes) July 9, 2014
@KyoungKeezy making games with branching dialogue, I’d suggest playing around with http://t.co/TkU159uC5l ; you can look at what others — Karin Weekes (@KarinWeekes) July 9, 2014
@KyoungKeezy have created and get a feel for creating dialog and plotlines, yourself. Good luck and have fun! — Karin Weekes (@KarinWeekes) July 9, 2014
Finally, my advice: never assume you don’t have the skills. I never learned programming, I’ve never been particularly adept at computers (I’m about average for a millennial, at any rate), and I spent my whole life believing that there was no chance I could be involved with video games beyond playing them. And guess what?
I was dead wrong.
Sure, it’s important to discover the skill sets necessary for the field you want to enter, but it’s just as important to explore different access points. I may never be a skilled programmer, true—but that doesn’t mean I can’t make and write about games to my heart’s content.
Thanks to all those who responded to my inquiries! And one last thing–don’t be afraid to ask for advice when you need it.
