Working World

After a long hard day slogging at your job, do you reward yourself by logging in as a Level 80 Druid in World of Warcraft, or engaging in battle in the streets of Paris in Call of Duty? You might just be in the wrong job! Why not take a pastime you enjoy and make it a career you love?        

The video game industry is a dynamic, challenging one that is growing by leaps and bounds as market trends change and graphics become increasingly sophisticated (Remember Pong, anyone?). It takes a small army — from designers and animators to programmers and testers — to take a concept and build it out into a fully-formed, playable release; training in video game development will get your professional game underway.

Finding the Right Mode

If this is a career you are interested in, you gotta bring your A-game! It takes a certain character with the appropriate skills, depending on the role within the game production.

• Video game designers are responsible for creating the experience of a particular game, and ensuring the game is fun. They do this by figuring out the mechanics and look of the game, the levels, objects, actions and enemies, and how the player interacts with the many elements. Designers need to have some programming and drawing skills.     

• Animators bring to life the characters and environments so drawing, animating and software skills are needed, while programmers create the hard code so that a game will function.     

• Producers monitor and manage the flow of the project, being mindful of deadlines and budgets, using management and accounting skills.

• Testers review the different components of the game, and look for bugs; testers are the lucky folks who get paid to play the games. While every specific skill is needed to complete projects, all of the different individuals must be able to work as a team in different capacities.

Xperience Points

Course training for this profession can vary; associates degree programs are available, while many attain a bachelor’s degree or even a master’s degree, depending on the skills they are learning and how comprehensive they are willing to go. Locally, The Los Angeles Film School offers a
program in game production that is even shorter than the typical two years required for an associates degree. Their program is designed to give students in-depth and hands-on experience with every single facet of the game production process — ‘from concept to controller.’

“Ours is an accelerated program, and it’s very intense,” says Robert Bryant, Program Director for the Game Production and Computer Animation departments at The Los Angeles Film School. The upside is that a student can graduate with an associates degree in 18 months. Because month-long classes are taught on a year-round calendar, enrollment takes place at the beginning of any month. A student doesn’t have to wait until the traditional September or January enrollment windows.

A general education in video games is a good foot in the door. Candidates can continue further training or learn on the job if they want to specialize. A program like the one taught at The Los Angeles Film School will provide a solid foundation in a competitive industry. “My proudest moment was when I got a text from a recent graduate that his development team — Pygmy Games — published their final project game on online game portal Kongregate.com. They’re actually making money from their student project!” gushes Robert Bryant.

1-Up Extra Life and Gold Coins

Want a profession that will continue to be a definite hit? Look no further. There are millions of passionate gamers who are always thirsting for more, so this billion-dollar industry is constantly developing new titles to satisfy demand. Kat Littel, a student in The Los Angeles Film School’s Game Production program, knows that his career prospects are bright. “Video games are the future of electronic entertainment. It is hard thing to go to a house in the U.S. and not find a video game-ready device – cell phones, PCs, consoles, and handles are the flagships carrying video games into the future, so they are not going anywhere but up.”

Salaries are hard to pin down for this profession — it is a relatively new industry with varying business models; salaries also differ greatly due to the company, job title, region and experience level. According to the Game Developer Salary Survey published in April, 2010’s Game Developer Magazine, programmers topped the list with an average salary of $80,000, followed closely by animators at $70,000. Game designers averaged in the low 60’s and salaries for producers averaged in the mid 70’s.

Starting salaries for most jobs hovered in the $40,000 range, except for beginning salaries for programmers, which began in the $50,000 range. Testers, the fastest way to break into the business, begin in the low $30’s; with experience, that figure could climb into the mid 50’s.

Whether you measure your currency in coins, dollars, gold, bucks, bouillon, diamonds or gil, those salaries are a major score!

Your Quest Begins

As games expand into all types of formats, from computers and consoles to smartphones, this profession is expanding beyond traditional users and tapping new players, providing a solid market and thrilling opportunities for years to come. Make your fantasy a real-life adventure and consider a career in video games! It’s on like Donkey Kong!

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Holly Strother is a writer and graphic designer living in Los Angeles. While not a hardcore gamer, she is a tad addicted to Words With Friends on her iPhone. Her ongoing strategy is to crush opponents with two-letter words and some esoteric vocabulary. (Take that StephenB526!)

Photo credit: Level scene above created by AFS student Kat Littel.