Category Game Industry

Links and articles about the game industry: how to get game jobs, how to manage your role, etc.

Industry Insight

• The Belly of the Whale: Living a Creative Life in the Game Industry - by Bob Bates<
  >GDC 2010 lecture about how creative types can survive and thrive in the game industry. Highly recommended by many Polycounters.
• How NOT to hire an artist - by Jon Jones<
  >Response to the inflammatory article How to hire an artist by Christopher 'xdragonx10' Gregorio.
• The Co-worker - by Adam Bromell<
  >Polycount News article about what makes a good team co-worker.
• Why is it hard to find a job in game industry?<
  >Discussion on LinkedIn about what it takes to get that first game industry job.

Art Disciplines

• Percentage of environment artists .vs. character artists at most studios Polycount forum thread
• What's the difference between a level designer and environment artist? Polycount forum thread

Education

The basic argument in the Polycount community is between going the self-taught route or going the formal education route. The best path seems to depend on what kind of person you are: self-motivated or authority-motivated.

Beware of education scams! Schools often cost a lot of money and promise easy employment afterwards, but unfortunately the reality is not so forgiving. See the Polycount thread Profit Schools - Can we condemn them publicly?. There are many threads debating game art education, you can do a forum search for education to find them.

Portfolios

• has links to tutorials and advice about creating an artist portfolio for a career in game development.

Resumes

• Getting Your Résumé Read - by Joel "joelonsoftware" Spolsky
• Sorting Resumes - by Joel "joelonsoftware" Spolsky

Job Searching

Most game developers get their jobs by word of mouth, this industry puts personal contacts first and foremost. Networking is key; keep in contact with your friends and former co-workers.

• For job postings, see the Polycount forum section Work Opportunities.
• For advice about joining a mod team, see the Polycount forum threads Game and Mod Development Article and Some mod guidelines.
• For some frank advice about job searching, see Industry tips: How to find a job in the game industry - by Christopher Natsuume
• For info about how companies weed out applicants, see The Phone Screen - by Joel 'joelonsoftware' Spolsky.

Interviews

• 10 Tips for Your First Interview - by Dave Sanford<
  > Time-tested interview strategies:
  1. Research
  2. Practice
  3. Clothing
  4. Get there early
  5. Observe
  6. Know thyself
  7. Handshake
  8. Listen
  9. Finishing
  10. Follow up
• Four Steps to a Better Job Interview - by Brad Karsh<
  > Four simple things to improve your interviews.
  1. Relax, not a battle of wits.
  2. Job description = questions that you'll be asked.
  3. Have answers about why you did certain things.
  4. Have questions about them.
• Ten Tips for the Interview Follow Up - by Carole Martin<
  >How to avoid a non-response after your interview.
• The Polycount thread job interview, 2-3 hours, why so long?<
  >Game developers talking about the interview process they do, or have been through.

Art Tests

Game companies often ask their art applicants to complete an art test, to gauge their talent relative to that company's particular needs.

• To see some example art tests, see the GameArtisans thread Art Test Master List
• LinkedIn has a great discussion "Large art tests as the first stage of candidate selection. Acceptable?" (registration required) with seasoned artists weighing in on their art test experiences: unpaid vs. paid tests, how long is too long for a company to ask you to spend on it, plagiarism horror stories, non-response after submission, etc.

Salary Research

Do the research to figure out what a fair offer is for your skill level and geographic area.

• 2009 Game Industry Salary Survey - from Game Developer magazine (mostly USA) See also 2008, 2007, 2006.
• Senior Artist Salaries at Computer Software companies in United States - from Glassdoor.com (USA) Customize your search, and enter your salary data for full access.
• 3D Artist Salaries in the United States - from Payscale.com (other countries available)
• The Foreign Labor Certification Data Center - Online Wage Library (H1B Visa Applications) - from the US Department of Labor (USA)
• Wages In The VFX, Animation, And Games Industry - by 'VFX Soldier' features a spreadsheet of wage data mined from the H1B Visa database.
• The 2009 UK Games Development Salary Survey (UK)
• The Polycount thread Freelance rates query has info about how to calculate your freelance rate.
• Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines is an excellent resource for freelancers (and salarymen too). Pricing guidelines, legal info, copyright law, sample contracts, how to negotiate, and more. Highly recommended!
• VFXWages - a global database of hourly monetary rates of people in the film and television visual effects, animation, motion graphics, and gaming industry.

Negotiation

Salary negotiation is an essential skill that will be put to the test when you interview.

• Salary of a game programmer (artist, designer, or producer) - by Christer Ericcson, Sony Computer Entertainment
• Industry tips: How to not ask for money - by Christopher Natsuume
• Know Your Rights - The Myth of Pay Privacy - by KC Labor (USA)

Employee Rights

• National Labor Relations Board (USA)
• Directgov Employment Terms and Conditions (UK)
• Know Your Rights - by KC Labor (USA)
• The Polycount thread Discussing issues at work, grounds for firing? has information about workers discussing their compensation with one another.

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