Whats the best way to get a job in game design
My dream job is to work on video games, preferably independently but experience at a major game studio would help. I was wondering what are the best things I can do right now to help me get a job at a major game studio? #games #computer-games #game-design
2 answers
Mark’s Answer
Make games.
Start now.
While you're making them, look for any entry point into studio you can: internships and QA testing positions are usually easy to get into, but it's a more direct route if you can get into the design department right away. To do that, you will need to demonstrate your skill, and to do *that*, you will need to show competent, interesting work. That's why you need to start building games now.
How do you do that? Join you local chapter of the IGDA (Independent Game Developers' Association). Sign up on Gamastrura, itch.io, and any other game development site you can find. If you can, learn to code (Udemy is a great resource for that). If you have no interest or aptitude for coding, the grab Fusion or GameMaker or Construct2 and learn that, or download a game that supports modding and join the respective community. Find a team that wants to build something, then build it. Or, if you get proficient at building your own games, join game jams.
To sum up: there's no "best way" to get a game design job. Ask 20 designers and you'll hear 20 different "How I got into games" stories. But most of those stories will have one thing in common: they all started building games as amateurs long before they landed their first professional gig.
Mark recommends the following next steps: