I work in the games industry, AMAA

[Osmose]

So after two internships and more or less the guarantee of an offer, I can hopefully claim that I work in the games industry now. Or at the very least I've WORKED in the games industry.

Details / Catches: I've been a web developer on the Sims 3 website for two summers as an intern now. In that time I've lived/talked with engineers, marketers, designers, audio engineers, and producers. If you're into name-dropping, I've attended talks given by the likes of Peter Moore (former President of Sega, current head of EA Sports; he fed us pizza!), John Richitiello (CEO of EA), Ian Milham (Art Director on Dead Space), Jonathan Knight (Executive Producer on Dante's Inferno), etc. You can see that most of my experience is EA centric, although most of the people I've met and talked to have worked at other companies before EA, and the advice applies generally.

I assume most people on Charas are aspiring game creators of some kind. I don't claim to know a whole lot, but I figure I can at least help out a little with questions about the games industry, how to get in, what it's like, etc. Even as just a web developer, the culture is way different from other companies. So, ask me almost anything.

DISCLAIMER: Anything I say is my own opinion and not necessarily that of Electronic Arts. Or, for that matter, anyone else I've ever worked for. This is all me.

[FFL2and3rocks]

Can you score some free swag and send it to us?

[A Forgotten Legend]

I like the above comment.

[Emerates]

I was hoping to one day write soundtracks for videogames.  How would I go about getting someone interested and establishing myself?  Or, if I wanted to peddle my game idea onto some company for mass market, how would I do that?

I would ask a ridiculous question right now, but I'm too tired to really come up with one.  Sorry, but this chain game is over.

[HobomasterXXX]

Can I get a cool job without doing anything to get it?

No

[A Forgotten Legend]

I was hoping to one day write soundtracks for videogames.  How would I go about getting someone interested and establishing myself?  Or, if I wanted to peddle my game idea onto some company for mass market, how would I do that?

This idea is cool too.

[Prpl_Mage]

How is it different from other companies?

[zuhane]

Can I get a cool job without doing anything to get it?

No

Pornstar, model, escort?

[Prpl_Mage]

Pornstar, model, escort?

Quite on the contrary. He'll have to work pretty hard for that.

[Valiere]

Pornstar, model, escort?

Boob jobs ain't cheap, y'know.

[Ben]

Cool moose. Glad to hear you're making the 'nections. If you should ever happen to find yourself in charge of finding talented indy developers to exploit for money, There is some mad talent at some of the communities Ive been frequenting.

[Osmose]

Can I get in even if I go for college for something thats not related to video games that much, and if I have no talent or experience working with video games other than playing them?

Actually, yes. The current Chief Creative Officer of EA, Richard Hilleman, never even went to college at all.

Now, granted, you won't be starting off in a good position at all, but movement within a company once you get there is fairly common. The most common story you hear is people starting off in low QA positions (low-level testers that don't need technical skills) and moving up as needed. Now, don't kid yourself: It's not easy. But if you can land a smaller position, often you can start getting meetings with people higher up and work your way upward. It's actually feasible.

Can you score some free swag and send it to us?

Not right now, but it's certainly possible in the future.

I was hoping to one day write soundtracks for videogames.  How would I go about getting someone interested and establishing myself?  Or, if I wanted to peddle my game idea onto some company for mass market, how would I do that?

I would ask a ridiculous question right now, but I'm too tired to really come up with one.  Sorry, but this chain game is over.

On composing for video games, the biggest thing I've heard is: don't. The trend in the industry these days is to contract out composition, rather than hire a permanent composer for any one series. There may be a superstar composer leading the effort, but I've been told that the best way to get in is to become a composer for all forms of media, such as movies, tv shows, etc. And then try to get work doing video games.

Establishing yourself in general is easier: do something. Side projects are awesome things to show off. If you've composed MIDIs for an RPG Maker game you're working on, and they're good, make a website portfolio and post them. Make some great pieces and send them in if you apply somewhere. This actually applies to every position: game design interviewers would LOVE to have you bring in a prototype game you've been working on and show it off to them.

Getting your idea picked up by a game company is really hard, especially as an individual. The easier route would be to gather up some funding, and contract out work on your game. There's tons of channels for indie games, like the XBLA indie arcade, that let you get attention for your small game idea.

Most professionally made games come from people already working at a developer and pitching the idea to their boss and a few producers. If an idea is solid, it will be given a very small amount of resources to work on the idea, polish it, and usually create a small prototype. Usually this prototype is a "vertical slice": It shows maybe 10-20 minutes of the game, but those 10-20 minutes are so worked over that they could pass for an alpha version of the game. They then show the game off to executives in a greenlight presentation, at which time the executives will decide if there is enough of a game there to put it into full production. Once that happens, development will ramp up, and the originally small team will balloon as resources are brought in to develop the full game.

So, to answer your question, if you want to pitch your game idea, your best bet is to get a job at a developer and spread your idea around internally, trying to gain enough momentum for someone higher up to notice.

How is it different from other companies?

Try and think of the type of people who play video games, are excited about video games, or at least are willing to work at a company that makes video games. Those are the type of people you'll be working with.

Okay, that's a bit of a lie. Certainly there are people at game companies who are stuck up, too devoted to the corporate process, etc. But by and far the employees at a video game company are laid back, fun people. I work on the Sims 3 Web Team, and each and every employee is nearly required to be equipped with at least one Nerf gun, for safety purposes. There's video games every where you look: our area has Rock Band set up in the middle on a large flatscreen TV for TGIF (free beer every other Friday!).

There's all sorts of events to celebrate when games launch. Employee discounts, too (Regular Full Time employees get a certain amount of free games every year; they have to be published by EA, but still). You also get to learn about unannounced and upcoming titles well before anyone in the public does (and sometimes you even get to playtest them and give input to the game teams).

There's downsides, too. Even outside of the industry you've probably heard of crunch time: when a game gets close to release and you have to rush to finish it. Not being able to talk about your work with friends, dealing with the general issues that come with working at a company, etc. It's not all sunshine and candy. But it's damn close. I like it.

MOAR QUESTIONS!

[A Forgotten Legend]

Haha, Lucas.


You answered my biggest question which was asked by Emerates.  So... I got nothin'

[Prpl_Mage]

When they hire, do they hire one person to be responsible for that area or do they hire people who knows a lot of many things?

Err...
One of those things that hit me while messing around with RPGM projects. I'm good at some things but not all, and some other people are good at few things and some are limited to only one area. SO! Is it in our interest to upgrade our knowledge in our lacking departments or do you have a better chance of succeeding if you stick to what you know?

'Cuz videogame educations over here pretty much expect you to learn about everything. 3d graphics, programming, planning, storyboards, sound effects, music ect. Would be kinda nice to know if it's worth anything.

[lilsniffs3]

If you've witnessed the making of a game from start to finish, how long is the process from pre-production to the final project?