# Grad School? Video Game Industry Questions.



## Kavik (Apr 3, 2014)

*Background*: I recently graduated with an undergraduate degree in Film and Digital Media. I originally went for this major because I've loved working with fictional stories since the moment I could first form a coherent thought, but I didn't want to be an english major.

I don't have a passion for film itself. I'm not looking at on set jobs where all the action is, it's more the pre-production stuff like writing mixed with management. The industry is cutthroat. It abuses interns for free labor, treating them like crap, and it takes a long time to get a paid job or be accepted into a union. The people in the industry are prickly and jobs are very unstable unless I go into graphics design for big companies and make advertisements.

Advertising is huge but I scrunch my nose every time I think about it. I wouldn't care about the end product. Any story telling in them is limited to stupid slogans, jingles, or corny jokes to try and grab people's 'dog caught between squirrels running past and a conveyer belt of beef' attention span. 

*The problem*: I'm thinking of going to graduate school for the gaming industry as a Production related major. I'm not sure about the attitude, structure, or politics within the business world of gaming. However, I'm more familiar with this market than films. I've played games since the gameboy color came out and I've keep up with game development across multiple platforms. I've seen the industry change drastically and see where it's going in terms of graphics, hardware, story telling style, and various evolving business strategies such as free-to-play and DLC. 

I'm not very familiar with the technical side. I don't know how to write a program, create a 3D model, or dig into the core workings of computer software. I'm not sure how big a problem this is.

I'm looking at Project Manager related jobs that may lead to other production jobs, maybe even a producer one day. They're the sorts of jobs that mix business with creativity, like what I was looking at with film, just with a very different yet similar industry. I consider the film and gaming industries bitter rivals where games and the internet are encroaching on an old craft (films) and the very old industry is acting like a self entitled old man yelling for the new kids to get off his lawn. 

*The questions*: 
1) What is the general air of the video game industry? Cut throat, laid back, stiff, elitist?

2) Are all levels of employment seen as free/cheap labor and throw aways like in the film industry? 

3) Would a graduate degree matter? For a management position?

4) Would me being a female be a hindrance to getting hired? (The market still heavily caters toward male gamers with the over-saturation of FPS games. Female representation in the industry is so piss poor that I can't get a good idea of female treatment within the job circle. While over 40% of gamers are female, I know the people who make games are predominantly male.) 

5) How much job stability could be expected in gaming? Are management positions generally free of the free-lance/contractor syndrome?


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## Coburn (Sep 3, 2010)

1. As someone who has many friends who majored in film and currently work in Hollywood, I totally understand where you're coming from. Film is great, but the lows are looowwww.

2. Have you considered just applying for gaming companies? I had female friends back in college who interned for companies like Blizzard, and their intern pool is where they did a lot of their hiring from. Those companies also seemed to be a little bit more entrenched in the business world, so you get the fun gaming element without the craziness that is Hollywood. 

Also, if it helps any, the majority of them were film majors who were just obsessed with video games. So I think the major is pretty translatable. 


Just as a general rule of thumb though (having suffered through a couple years of cheap labor interning myself), it's hard to get away from being an unpaid intern these days. Unless you go to work for a company like Apple or a small business that's afraid of being sued (in which case they'll pay you minimum wage), you're not likely to get pay when you first go out into the big wide world. 

Most businesses aren't total pricks about the system like the film industry is, but it can still be a little bit rough on the finances. 

I would say if you can manage a couple months without pay, pick a company in an industry you want to build connections with. That will be the biggest thing to help you long-term. It's amazing how far one good connection with someone can take you. 

As to grad school...from what I understand, grad school works best if it comes after a couple years of working in an industry. Practical experience is valued, and a lot of companies prefer to hire people with graduate degrees who've spent a few years working a given industry. 

The other issue with going straight to grad school in the business world is that sometimes you can come out being overqualified for basic entry level jobs. Yeah, it's really stupid, but I've seen it happen. You come out, and suddenly companies say "oh, well you've got a masters. so you're gonna want $XX number of dollars an hour or $XXX,XXX salary to start. oh, but you don't have work experience...um, you're overqualified for our entry level job. no thanks."

This can get bypassed if you have connections or really good internships, but is IS something to be aware of. 

I'm not entirely sure how this might all tie into the gaming industry...but I know someone who is interning for Nintendo. I'll see if I can ask him and get his insight. 

Sorry if I'm rambling. Just felt a film connection and wanted to help out.


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## Kavik (Apr 3, 2014)

@Pilot 

I have been going on gaming company websites like Bioware, Activision ect. and browsing their job openings. There aren't any current intern openings and it seems most, if not all, only take interns if they're still students. Maybe I should apply for them anyway? 

The job openings themselves seem above my league or that I don't have the right tools to perform them from where I am right now. I'm having trouble finding entry level jobs and I get the feeling I don't know what to look for. I don't know if I can just email a giant corporation and say 'hey, I want to work or intern for you guys. Here's my resume and a few things I'm good at." Even if those things aren't specific. 

That really sucks about grad school. I was thinking that if I went I could make connects and gain the tools I need, including finding internships. I'm not sure if the potential harm of having the degree would outweigh the possible benefits. It could be a toss up.

If you did get your friend's insight that would be very much appreciated. All that you said was helpful and something to think over. Thank you.


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## AriesLilith (Jan 6, 2013)

I'm not sure if this can be a useful tip, but here it goes: I'm a programmer/developer and usually what I'd suggest to someone who lacks experience or even a degree is that they can try to build something like a website or app to show their passion as well as capacity. What's better to prove that you can learn and your passion than something tangible?

So perhaps you can check what the job positions for gaming industry usually are looking for when it comes to technical or soft skills sets, and develop some of them. I guess that even in game development they need designers, story tellers, developers, testers and many other roles, so you can find out which role interests you and do something that shows capacity for it.

Also, picking something where your talents and existing skills can be applicable can be nice. Your digital media skills sounds like something that gaming industry needs, and then you might figure out complementary skills to be developed.

Perhaps create an online portfolio of some videos (make up some games and create awesome videos trailers for example?) can help impressing potential employers?


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## Kavik (Apr 3, 2014)

@ AriesLilith

I'm currently looking at the path to becoming a project manager. What I consider my talents as of now are 1) I am confident about my creative writing skills 2) *I am good at manipulating the "box" into anything and every thing 3) identifying problems and seeing how to fix them (technical and creative)

*I consider there to be 3 types of creatives: those who create "boxes"(worlds/lore/characters/programs/objects ect) but don't know what to do with them, those who take those boxes and bring them to fruition, and some people who can do both in a master of non type or is simply freakishly talented and can do both very well. 



> So perhaps you can check what the job positions for gaming industry usually are looking for when it comes to technical or soft skills sets, and develop some of them. I guess that even in game development they need designers, story tellers, developers, testers and many other roles, so you can find out which role interests you and do something that shows capacity for it.


That's a good idea. Mostly, I probably need to look at programs and learn how to use the current engines. 




> Also, picking something where your talents and existing skills can be applicable can be nice. Your digital media skills sounds like something that gaming industry needs, and then you might figure out complementary skills to be developed.


Film has some things in common with gaming. The talents can be applied to cinematics and trailers since they are essentially mini films or scenes. I've played with making up gaming trailers before by using in-game footage, though the videos are too long to be real trailers and are spoiler heavy.

*Example:* I made this a few years ago during freshman year before I considered becoming a film major. I tried to tell the story of my character which I heavily modded by combining others' mods and playing in a mod that let me mess with the core programming. An example is the head. I had to play with numbers to get the forehead to squish in so it wouldn't stick out of the weird hair mesh combo I did. I figured out the long hair had to be attached to the shoulders as 'armor" and there is an actual second mesh of hair mixed in there to create a long hair effect which was originally impossible in the base game.) 

I enjoyed making the video and seeing what I could do with mods people had created.

Looking back on it there are things I would like to change and improve on for the sake of visual flow.


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## Ahiko (Dec 20, 2011)

I'm more familiar with the engineering side of the video game industry, with friends who worked with Blizzard, ArenaNet, Oculus. I'm sorry I can't relate more to the film/media degree side, but I do have one friend and she's so far been floating on and off with freelance work.

My responses will be mostly the engineering side, but hopefully it gives you some insight.



Kavik said:


> 1) What is the general air of the video game industry? Cut throat, laid back, stiff, elitist?


Cut throat and elitist, hands down. They work on very strict deadlines. It's not uncommon for them to work 80+ hour weeks when they're meeting deadlines. That is with no overtime pay since you're most likely paid salary.



> 2) Are all levels of employment seen as free/cheap labor and throw aways like in the film industry?


Not sure about this.



> 3) Would a graduate degree matter? For a management position?


Experience first then degree. I am noticing that in higher profile companies, MBAs and Master's degrees are becoming the standard in the workplace, but that's with at least 3-5 years of proven experience under their belt as well.



> 4) Would me being a female be a hindrance to getting hired? (The market still heavily caters toward male gamers with the over-saturation of FPS games. Female representation in the industry is so piss poor that I can't get a good idea of female treatment within the job circle. While over 40% of gamers are female, I know the people who make games are predominantly male.)


Being a female helps a *tiny* bit. Companies are interested in "diversifying", so being female helps. Just don't bank on it. In this industry, they don't really care for your gender or what you wear, so long as you can show results.



> 5) How much job stability could be expected in gaming? Are management positions generally free of the free-lance/contractor syndrome?


The gaming industry is very unstable, especially with smaller studios. It's also very competitive to get into the larger ones. I can only imagine management positions being at the forefront of being the first to be cut if results aren't being met. Not sure about the freelance/contractor syndrome.


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