Do you enjoy working in the video game industry?

I've loved video games my entire life, so going to work every day to make games is my dream job. It's a bonus that I make a pretty good living from it. ;) I'd say if you are passionate about video games and creating experiences for others to enjoy, then yes it would be a very enjoyable occupation.

Hi Alexis!

The games industry can be a challenging place to work, but it keeps you motivated, engaged, and always rewards hard work. In the grand scale of everything, our industry is still a very young one and therefore constantly evolving and raising the bar. Because of this we're encouraged to constantly improve and hone our skills in our chosen fields.

This industry is a great one to work in. We're pioneers in gaming, technology, and entertainment. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that!

It can be a challenging industry, but I love it for two reasons:

1. 
   

   You are always learning. Game mechanics always evolve, as does the way we make games and measure success. No matter how far along I am in my career, I am always being challenged to learn and do something new.

   
   


2. 
   

   Your products make thousands (if not millions) of people happy. These days game makers get direct feedback from their players, either through social media or game analytics. You know what people like, you know what people hate. Best of all, you can make changes to always improve the player experience.

   
   

Like many of the creative industries (television and film included), working in the games industry has occasional work "crunches" in the development cycle—but overall the work can be very fun and rewarding. There are many different roles one can have in the games industry other than game designer, so be sure to take a look at game company websites and see who they're hiring and what kind of skills are needed for those roles.

How much you enjoy the job—in any career path—is really dependent on who you're working with and the culture of the workplace.

I agree with everything that Wes said. I get to work in the video games industry, drawing and painting for a living. And I know that what I am producing entertains millions of people on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong, we definitely work hard, but it's still fun.

I can't imagine working in any other industry, and so many of us feel really lucky to work in an industry that's an extension of our hobby. That means you're surrounded by passionate people who you're continuously learning from, you never know what each day will throw at you and the result is a game that hopefully you enjoy playing, as well as millions of others around the world.

I guess working in the game industry sounds cool, and it actually is cool - but maybe in a slightly different way than some people imagine. A lot of my friends ask me if I get to play games all day - well, no :) We actually have to work. Like write code, fix things, go into meetings… But the people around are really cool, the overall atmosphere is cool and playful - so you can definitely tell we're a gaming company. And honestly, nobody will frown upon you if they see you playing one of our games during work hours for a little bit - you just need to remember to get your work done too ;)

I'm working in Customer Support side. We are supporting players with tier issues, are in close relationship with the Studio Team, create content for players. Also we are playing games as it's part of our job to do so. Like Helena said, we are still working but atmosphere and ppl are really enjoyable!

I really enjoy working in this industry for two reasons:
First, everyone here has a passion for what we make. Nobody "ends up" in Games. Everyone means to be here, and they want to be here because they love Games. That gives the workplace a great passion, whereas many other places are just a job.
Secondly, every day is different. When you are building something together, you're working towards that long term end goal and pretty much if you do the same thing twice then something went wrong. So many jobs out there are the same work day in day out, performing the same rote tasks, and that's just not true for Games.

Hope that helps!

Yes -
and hopefully if you are passionate and hardworking you will work alongside intelligent and creative people who also believe that to make fun you have to have fun.

Yes. But it's not easy.

Playing games is great. Making games is great.
But the hours can be long,the work can be stressful and you don't always get to work on the types of games you like.

But if you're passionate about games and willing to get stuck in with whatevers needed then you should find it extremely rewarding.

It's great, but it's hard work, and it never stops being a learning exercise, so you've got to keep pushing yourself to learn and do more or you'll become irrelevant. It's the sort of job that you only find boring if you allow yourself to get lazy.

Absolutely! It is stressful and time consuming, but you're making games and getting paid for it! It is incredibly enjoyable to put out a product you've sunk a lot of time and effort into and get feedback from players about how much fun they are having.

Kinda tricky question but with every job, its got positives and negatives. You just don't work in this industry but have passionate about games and new technologies but yeah at the end of the day its fun being part all the glitz and glamour

Working in this industry is great. Everyone is super passionate and skilled and if like me you enjoy seeing people enjoy their work and produce amazing things, it's a great industry to be in.

Hi Alexis,

I might not be the perfect person to answer your question, since I've only been working in the video game industry for about 8 months.
But in short: Yes, I like it. I like it a lot. If you have a passion for games like I do, it's an awesome experience to work on video games yourself. Even better is how like-minded all your colleagues are. You're all having fun, working together on that game you're working on, to try and make sure it's the best as it can be.

When you hit your first release milestone, it's quite stressful at first to see all those gamers get their hands on the stuff you've been working on that long. But the feedback that you get from your players is awesome (if you ignore the trolls). All this makes the experience of working in the video game industry so rewarding, that I can't see myself in any other industry at the moment.

I personally love my job and enjoy working in the game industry. I do get to play games at various times, however, it would be only to test for functionality and impact to our players.

I won't sugarcoat it, there are times where this job is extremely stressful, with deadlines, unexpected impacts, meetings, etc. However at the end of the day, when the fires are put out, there is a sigh of relief and satisfaction knowing that you've done great things to help potentially millions of players around the world continue to play our games.

The video game industry has always been a dynamic place to be in. As an industry it is constantly evolving and experimenting new ways to entertain newer audiences and further charm its existing players. Having been in the industry for the past 8 years, I rarely remember having lived a time where work was repetitive or routine. In a week there is so much stuff that happens that returning from a short holiday can dawn a feeling of tides of time having passed while you were away!

However, if you feel that entertaining players is what your heart would derive satisfaction out of, the Video Game Industry is the perfect place to be... Good luck! :)