Getting A Job In The Game Development Industry

By: Kenn Hoekstra

Special thanks to Pat Lipo, Kevin Schilder and Zack Quarles who assisted with the Programming and Sound Design sections of this document.

If you have any links you feel are missing from this document or anything you think would be useful to add, feel free to e-mail me and let me know.

NOTE: The use of "We" in this article generally refers to "Raven Software." I worked there for seven years, but I left in June of 2004. Apologies for any confusion this causes...

Report Broken Links HERE.

Originally Posted: 12/21/2000

Last Modified: 05/02/2004 (Check out the REVISION HISTORY for additions and changes)

Table of Contents:

- Introduction
- The Basics
- Mod Making
- The Question of Education
- Game Development Educational Programs
- Money, Money, Money
- 2D Art
- 3D Art
- 3D Animation
- Game Designer (Idea Guy/Think Tank)
- Level Design
- Programming
- Sound Designers
- Webmasters
- Writers
- Putting Together A Resume
- Where Are The Jobs?
- Interviewing Skills
- Get Your Foot In The Door
- I Have A Great Idea For A Game...
- Last Minute Advice?
- Recommended Reading (Online)
- Recommended Reading (Books)
- News Groups

Introduction:
"How do I get a job in the games industry?" I can't tell you how many times this
question has crossed by desk. It's a good question, but how do you answer it?
Every game developer I've met has a different story and I have yet to find two
stories that are exactly alike. About the only thing that ties all of them together
is a certain degree of good old-fashioned luck. Feelin' lucky? Hopefully this essay
will give you some tips to help even the odds...

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The Basics:
1. Know your games - A lot of the questions in game job interviews are about games. What were the last three games you played? What's your favorite game? How long have you been playing games? What's the worst game you've ever played?
It's a far cry from any job interview you've ever had before, but unlike the previous
ones, there's no way you can really BS your way out of this one. Know your stuff.

2. Love games - It sounds silly, but most game company job listings say,
"Qualified individual must play and love games. You can't make them if you don't
love them." It's true, too. Game development takes a lot of time and energy and
if you don't love what you do, you won't be very effective in doing it.

3. Showcase your skills and background - I couldn't go into my interview and
call myself a game developer. But what I could do was play on the fact that I had
management experience, a college education, an extensive video game and pen and
paper game background and the ability to work in a team environment. I also showed
the ability to work creatively and with structure as well as the ability to meet
deadlines. Most of all, though, I had luck. What do I mean by luck? Well, I had
Number 4 going for me:

4. Know someone in the game industry - I have to be honest with you: It really
helps to know someone in the games industry. I know that if I'd walked in off the
street and didn't know Eric and a few other people, odds are Raven wouldn't have
hired me. Game companies get thousands of job inquiries a year and it's a lot easier
to hire someone they know than it is to hire someone they've never met. This reduces
the risk of breaking team chemistry and it gives the higher ups a lot more insight
into a person than any two or three-hour interview session can.

5. Get Your Start In The Q/A Department - Most large game companies and publishers have a Quality Assurance (Q/A) department that tests games and reports bugs to Q/A leads. Can you think of a better way to get your start than to get paid to play games? From personal experience, I've seen Q/A testers get promoted to Q/A leads and then move on to become developers and/or producers for the company they work for.

6. Get your foot in the door - Along the same lines as the Q/A route, getting a
job in a company's mail room or as an administrative assistant or tech support guy
can help you get in the door, make some friends and earn you first hand experience
in seeing how the company runs. If you make the right friends and learn the right
things, you're one step closer to that development job.

7. Make Mods - This is probably the best, most common way to break in right now.
How does one make mods? Scroll down...

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Mod Making:

Perhaps the best way to get a job in the industry in today's market is to make modifications or"mods" for popular games. More than 1/3 of Raven Software's employees were hired straight out of the mod communities for Quake or Unreal engine games. More often than not in this business, it's "not what you know, it's what you can show." Keep that in mind...

It has become increasingly popular for game companies to release tools, level editors and source code for their games so players can "mod" them by changing the code, building new levels and/or make new animations or weapons or characters or special effects.

Wanna make mods? Here are some resources for you to get started...

Read this first:

http://www.boomtown.net/en_uk/articles/art.view.php?id=1145. It's an article on independent game development with links to everything you could ever want to make a game with a free engine and toolsets. Then look at:

General - Check out http://www.thefreecountry.com/sourcecode/games.shtml for a great list of free tools, game engines, source code links and other materials to get you started down the "dark path" of game modding.

Level Design - Check out http://www.gamedesign.net/ (Rust). It's the ultimate mapping resource if you want to make levels for 3D Games. They have tons of tutorials and links to where you can download level editors, tools, patches and utilities to make maps for today's hot 3D Games.

2D Art/Character Skinning - Check out http://www.planetquake.com/quake2/hosted/models_skins.shtml
to get started doing 2D artwork for Quake engine games. There are tons of links here to example skins and tutorials you can learn.

Programming - If you need to learn how to program, check out http://www.programmersheaven.com/ or
http://www.programmingtutorials.com/. If you already know how, check this site out to get your hands on some source code: http://www.thefreecountry.com/sourcecode/games.shtml

Links to mod tools for other disciplines can be found in the individual job sections below...

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The Question of Education:
"What education do I need to get a job in the games industry?"

This is a tough one. I would estimate that 80% of games industry employees have
some post high-school education. This education ranges from a few college courses,
to associates degrees to MBAs. Disciplines range from Computer Art to English to
MCS to Physics to Education. There really isn't much of a trend to be found and
there are few universities nationwide (if any) that offer game development majors
to their students. Experience, as a general rule, is more enticing to employers
than a college education is. However, institutes of higher education offer many
opportunities for developing a foundation for learning applicable skills to help
you get a job and thus, experience. For each area of game development listed below,
I will make note of which college courses are likely to prove the most useful.


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Game Development Educational Programs:

There are a growing number of places offering game development courses and
educational programs. The jury's still out on whether or not these will catch on
at every University, but if you're interested in checking out some of the more
popular programs, check out:

http://www.etc.cmu.edu/index2.php - Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center

http://www.digipen.edu/

http://www.guildhall.smu.edu/

http://www.uat.edu/multimedia

https://www.gameinstitute.com/gi/

Several More Programs Are Listed Here:
http://www.gameprogrammer.com/links/schools.html


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Money, Money, Money


Another question that seems to get asked a lot is "How much do you make?"
That's a pretty rude question, quite honestly and you probably won't have
much luck getting an answer. The truth is, there's a lot of factors to be
taken into account like where you work, how much experience you have and
what position you hold at the company. Fortunately, there's an article
about game job salaries to answer all of your questions over at GamaSutra.

Check it out here: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20010831/survey_01.htm

2D Art:
2D Artists make tiles, textures and skins for computer games. Depending on the
type of game, they can also do painted backdrops, skyboxes and any number of other
"artsy" things. 2D Artists are also called upon to do concept sketches for games
early in the development cycle.

Tools of The Trade - 2D artists generally use Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Painter
and a number of other 2D art programs. Photoshop is the industry standard right now. A lot of artists are trained on MacIntosh computers, but most software developers use PCs.

Useful Skills - Knowledge of PCs and various 2D art programs is highly recommended. Drawing skills are a must. Companies look for artists first and computer gurus second. You can teach an artist to use a computer but you can't teach a computer user to be an artist. Artists are often called upon to do concept sketches and production drawings with pencil and paper. The ability to work in groups as part of a team and work under deadline pressure is essential.

Recommended Education - Courses in computer art, figure drawing, landscapes and general art courses will be useful. A good number of artists at Raven Software, for example, have 2 year degrees from Madison Area Technical College in art or computer art.

Useful Links:
http://www.studio-erebus.com/studio/tutorials.html A tutorial on making skins for Quake engine games
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/index_va_artists.htm Various articles about 2D art
http://www.planetquake.com/quake2/hosted/models_skins.shtml Skin and texture tutorials
http://www.gamasutra.com/ Various articles from the gaming industry
http://www.3dbuzz.com/ Great bunch of tutorials for PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro, 3DSMax, Maya and a host of other art programs

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3D Art:
3D artists make in-world models for 3D games. Models can range from humans to vehicles to inanimate objects depending on the project. Some models are animated as well.

Tools of The Trade - 3D artists use 3D Studio Max, Maya, Lightwave and SoftImage to make and animate models. These art programs tend to be expensive, so self-taught modelers are hard to find. Skills with Character Studio and Photoshop are also recommended.

Useful Skills - Knowledge of PCs and 3D art programs is highly recommended. Drawing skills and a general art background are also desirable. Once again, artists can be trained to use a computer program whereas it's more difficult to teach a PC user to be an artist. The ability to work in groups as part of a team and work under deadline pressure is essential.

Recommended Education - Many Universities offer 3D art classes for computer modeling and animation. General art classes are also recommended.

Useful Links:
http://www.webreference.com/3d/ Various tutorials in 3D art and animation
http://www.loonygames.com/content/2.13/totb/ A modeling tutorial from Id Software's Paul Steed
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/index_animation_and_modeling.htm Various 3D art articles
http://www.planetquake.com/quake2/hosted/models_skins.shtml Modeling tutorials
http://www.gamasutra.com/ Various articles from the gaming industry
http://www.cfxweb.net/kboy3ds.php Various 3D Tutorials for 3D Studio Max
http://www.3dbuzz.com/ Great bunch of tutorials for PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro, 3DSMax, Maya and a host of other art programs


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3D Animation:
Animators bring humans, enemies, creatures and vehicles to life in 3D games. They build the model in a 3D program like 3D Studio Max, Maya, Lightwave or SoftImage and keep it within the polygon limitations of the game engine. Once a suitable model is created, animators create and apply the animations to it.

Tools of The Trade - Animators use SoftImage, Maya, Character Studio or Lightwave to animate characters in-game.

Useful Skills - Knowledge of PCs and 3D art programs is highly recommended. Detailed knowledge of the human figure and its movement is also a must. General computer knowledge and a general art background is highly recommended. The ability to work in groups as part of a team and work under deadline pressure is essential.

Recommended Education - As with 3D artists, many schools offer courses in computer art and animation. An example of one such school:
http://www.uat.edu/multimedia

Useful Links:
http://www.webreference.com/3d/ Various tutorials in 3D art and animation
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/index_animation_and_modeling.htm Various animation articles
http://www3.autodesk.com/adsk/ Autodesk...makers of 3D art programs. They have workshops and training sessions, too.
http://www.gamasutra.com/ Various articles from the gaming industry
http://www.3dbuzz.com/ Great bunch of tutorials for PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro, 3DSMax, Maya and a host of other art programs
http://www.about-arts.com/animation/ An online directory of Art and Animation resources


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Game Designer (Idea Guy/Think Tank):
The job title "Game Designer" is probably the biggest misnomer in the game development industry. I get e-mails and phone calls all the time from people asking how they can become a Game Designer...the idea guy and think tank behind every aspect of a game. They claim to have this "great idea" and want to know how to get a job turning that idea into reality. I have to say right now that THERE IS NO SUCH JOB IN THE GAMES INDUSTRY!!! The only way to have this job is to do one of two things:

1. Start your own game company or
2. Work in the games industry for ten years or more and work your way up to the Presidency of an existing game company.

That's it. Game companies have more than enough "idea guys" and game ideas in general than they ever have time to produce games. They certainly aren't going to pay someone to sit around and come up with ideas all day. It's just not going to happen. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, here, but it really needs to be said. It's hard enough to get into the games industry in the first place. It's impossible to find the "dream job" of Game Designer without paying your dues, fronting major funding for a company so you're in charge or finding a Genie in a lamp who will grant you three wishes. Sorry, but that's the way it is.

In my experience, everyone at the company can contribute ideas to a project. Most companies have design by committee in the early phases of development, then more specific decisions are made along the way by project and department leads as well as producers.

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Level Design:
Level designers create the game world and its architecture inside a 2D/3D level editor. Most game engines come with their own editor, so the training doesn't necessarily transfer from one game to another.

Tools of the Trade - A 2D/3D level editor is used to create world architecture that the designer textures and populates with models, enemies and scripts. Editors vary from game to game.

Useful Skills - A general art background is very useful. Knowledge of architecture
and design concepts is also useful. General programming knowledge is recommended for the scripting aspect of design. Knowledge of one or more sets of editing tools that have shipped with various PC games over the years is essential.

Recommended Education - There really isn't much I can equate to level design educational courses. The level designer is a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. I'd say that general art courses, drafting courses and programming courses would all be useful to a level designer, but there's no substitute for downloading and using tools on the Internet for a good self-education.

Useful Links:
http://www.gamedesign.net/ The most comprehensive level design workshop on the Internet
http://www.cliffyb.com/art-sci-ld.html The art and science of level design (By Epic's CliffyB)
http://www.planetquake.com/quake2/hosted/editing.shtml Tons of map editing articles
http://www.gamasutra.com/ Various articles from the gaming industry

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Programming:
Programmers are a significant part of every gaming company. They work the magic in the mystical lines of code to make games work. No Programmers = No Game

Tools of the Trade - Right now the most common programming language is Visual C++. Programmers write their code in C++ and check it in and out of our database with SourceSafe or PerForce. Programmers have their hands in every aspect of a game's development so they end up using a variety of software packages to work the magic.

Useful Skills - Besides an extensive knowledge of game programming, various programming languages and mathematics, here's a list of other desirable traits in programming candidates:

--Planning: If you can't plan a project properly, it really won't get done on time or the way you intended. This is something that is taught in both a trade school/Computer
Programming curriculum and a B.S./Computer Science type of program. It is one thing that can often be difficult for a self-trained programmer to do.

--Working in a group: The days of the lone wolf programmer in large game companies
are long past. Working on a section to better the whole of a project requires the
disciplines of code modularity, as well as communications and leadership. This usually can be learned from any large project. These are usually more prevalent in a
theory-based/B.S. curriculum, although any gaming project you and some friends can whip up on your own can often substitute.

--Algorithms and Data Structures: Basic coding stuff. The most basic procedures and
data organization methods are of course crucial to any large-scale project. If a person
isn't familiar with the most basic of them, he really can't be given much responsibility
for code planning. The basics are taught in any self-respecting degree program, although again a theory-based/B.S. curriculum is going to go more into depth on these, guiding a student towards creating his own algorithms and doing more research.

--Initiative and Drive to Learn: Although the past points have been biased towards school, there are too many people that just go for the degree, and don't gain much towards becoming a game programmer. Little of what is taught in most computer classes is directly applicable to creating a game in itself. B.S./Computer Science programs are actually the worst in this respect, due to the large amount of theory taught compared to a small amount of application coding. It takes a willingness to apply these things to games, and a drive to learn new ways to make those games better. This is often what coders who did not go to college have in spades.

--Experience: In the end, however, true coding experience can carry a lot of weight.
Someone in school often needs a dose of what real, practical coding is like. This
can come from getting a student programming job, or by using some of that initiative
we talked about above and creating their own work, their own game, whatever interests them. When we seek someone that we say has a "solid" C/C++ programming background, usually it means that the person has been using it in a real project of some sort.

--Can finish what one starts: This is the main reason we are interested in long
projects. For every one resume from a candidate that worked a long project from
start to finished, we receive a dozen from people that started one thing, jumped
to the next, got bored, went on, etc. Long projects take a lot of planning at the
beginning to make sure they reach the end, and once the initial excitement wears off,
the project doesn't go away.

--Love of games and creative programming: We value this most of all. I think it is a
tragedy when a non-game person is hired over a die-hard game lover. This doesn't mean that you really HAVE to describe your first experience with an Apple II... If someone can show their ability to be creative and hopefully USE that creativity in some code work that they've done, then that's a very good first step.

Recommended Education - Strong background in C, C++ and mathematics is highly recommended. CALCULUS-LEVEL MATH TRAINING (and hopefully Linear Algebra/Matrices as well) IS CRUICIAL for working in any three-dimensional framework with spell effects, monster AI, collision detection and just about everything else. People without this background are going to have (and have had) a really difficult time working on 3D games.

--Intro to Algebraic Programming Languages (hopefully C): Even if you think you know
all there is to know about C, there still is a lot to be learned about coding style
and the like that are utterly valuable if you are coding for anyone other than yourself.

--Calculus and Linear Algebra (matrices): This is usually needed for a computer
science degree, and it's very useful in itself. You don't have to love math, but
if you hate math, you're in trouble.

--Data Structures: The single most important class for any coder to take. Not just
take, but to learn everything they can about. This is the bread and butter of
everything we do.

--Algorithms: This is an interesting exploration of problem analysis and formulation
of solutions to a given challenge. Sometimes you don't even touch a computer, but
it's very useful.

--Computer Graphics: Obvious usability. If your school has a good bank of graphics
classes, you are lucky indeed.

--Research projects: These are some of the best school jobs, especially if you can't
get a coding job outside of school. You're going to do much better being part of
a big project than working at a restaurant. Then, in addition you have something
to show besides your degree.

Useful Links:
http://www.programmersheaven.com/ Like it says...a programmer's heaven
http://www.thefreecountry.com/sourcecode/games.shtml (tons of free stuff from engines to source code)
http://www.programmingtutorials.com/ Want programming tutorials? You got 'em.
http://www.eng.uc.edu/~jtilley/tutorial.html Son of programming tutorials...
http://www.gamasutra.com/ Various articles from the gaming industry
http://www.jakeworld.org/leftframe/tutorial.htm tutorials from Jake Simpson.
http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/webmonkeys/book/c_guide/
http://members.tripod.com/~johnt/c.html
http://www.hull.ac.uk/Hull/CC_Web/docs/cnotes/contents.html
http://www.digipen.edu/ (DigiPen)

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Sound Designers:
Sound Designers compose and implement music and sound effects into games. If you hear anything while playing a game, odds are a sound designer is responsible for it.

Tools of the Trade - Sound Forge, Cakewalk, Vegas, Awave Studio, Protools
and other sound library collections and software. For music composition and recording, Raven uses a multi-track recording program called Cubase VST made by Steinberg. For sound effect recording and editing, we use Sound Forge 4.0 and Vegas, both made by Sonic Foundry. We keep a fairly large CD library of various sound effects for recording and editing. We have a couple of microphones and portable DAT player for recording our own sound effects. We use an Ensoniq TS-10
and Kurzweil K2500RS for composing music. We also have a rack of equipment for recording including Tascam DA-30 MKII DAT, Emu Darwin digital recorder, TEAC CD player, Mackie mixing board, studio monitors, amplifier and headphones.

Useful Skills - Knowledge of computer and sound hardware (and how to hook it up) - synth modules, controllers, mixers, etc... Must have an ear for music. Must have knowledge about video games and their sound limitations. Knowledge of different instruments and their attributes/limitations is also useful.

The ability to compose in a wide variety of music genres is pretty helpful since you never know what the game may call for. An understanding of all the equipment required to make good audio recordings is necessary. You must know what gear is needed, what it does and how to use it. Sound effect design requires some basic skills with digital and analog audio recording. It also requires a certain knack to have the right creative ideas about how to make an effect. Much of this comes from experience. All audio work is eventually put into a format that will work in a computer, so a comfortable knowledge of computer use is recommended. Eventually, it helps to learn more about how the game engine works with audio in order to become more innovative in sound design.

Recommended Education - Any music and/or theatre class, be it appreciation or performance. It helps to take voice lessons...singing exercises sight-singing-ear-training skills. Take a dance class or two - it will help with your rhythm abilities... especially tap! Listen to as much music and as many different kinds of music as you
can. As always, playing games and paying attention to their music and sounds is great experience.


Hands on experience with music gear through a recording studio or something similar would be very helpful. Some basic education in computer audio through classes or texts would be good.

Useful Links:
http://industryclick.com/magazine.asp?siteid=15&magazineid=33

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Webmasters:
Webmasters design and maintain websites on the Internet for game companies. The increasing amount of game information that's passing on the Internet is creating a demand for more full time website work.

Tools of the Trade - An HTML editor and/or software packages like Macromedia Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks. FTP software and art programs like Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro are also frequently used.

Useful Skills - A general art background is very useful for creating your own site
graphics. HTML coding ability is handy, despite the various GUI programs on the
market today. Writing skills are essential for professional updates, stories and
website content.

Recommended Education - Courses in English, Journalism or a related field would be quite useful as would courses in Art, HTML, Programming and various software packages.

Useful Links:
http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimerAll.html HTML beginner's guide
http://www.macromedia.com/ Macromedia...makers of Flash and Dreamweaver
http://www.register.com/ Register.com offers domain name registration, web hosting and whois lookups. Register for a website today!
http://www.cheap-domainregistration.com/ Register a domain name for only $8.75


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Writers:
What do writers do? Well...they write! But it may not be what you think. Most writing work at game development companies involves technical writing as opposed to creative writing. Writers are needed to write game manuals, hint guides, character dialogue and various game documentation that may include maintaining a game's design document.

(Note: The key word is "maintaining." Companies generally don't employ writers to write a design document from scratch. They ask the writers to take notes in meetings and compile information from the project leads.)

In my experience, few companies emply full-time writers. Most writers at game companies also serve in another capacity, such as artist, designer or administrative assistant.

Tools of the Trade - Microsoft Office, Scriptware or Final Draft Various Text Editors and Word Processing Tools, the Internet

Useful Skills - A general writing background coupled with extensive game knowledge is essential. Experience with technical writing as well as creative writing is recommended.

Recommended Education - Courses in English, Journalism or a related field. General computer skills. A course in Microsoft Office from a technical college would also be useful.

Useful Links:
http://www.writers.com/ (A great general writing resource)
http://www.writersmarket.com/ (If you want to get your work published, this is the place to start)

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Putting Together A Resume:
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I still prefer the paper resume to the online resume, but
maybe it's just me? I will say that it's a lot easier to ignore or delete an e-mail than
it is to throw away a professional envelope and document without reading it. My advice?
Send both... Send an electronic resume (In Microsoft Word) or a link to your resume
website and follow up with a printed resume to show you haven't forgotten how the
postal service works.

Along these same lines, you may also want to burn some of your levels, artwork,
models and/or 3D Animations onto a CD and include it as a "demo reel." It saves
us the trouble of downloading your work or grabbing it via FTP. Having a resume in
one hand and a demo reel/CD in the other is a great start to the hiring process at
any company.

Useful Resume Links -
E-Resumes (http://www.eresumes.com/)
Job Smart (http://jobsmart.org/tools/resume/index.htm)
Free Resume Tips (http://www.free-resume-tips.com/)
Monster Resumes (http://resume.monster.com/)
Accent-Resume-Writing (http://www.accent-resume-writing.com/) -- Do it yourself! -
Write a professional quality resume by copying from resume examples for 150+ occupations. Also use their free resume writing and cover letter writing tips and critiques.
Resume Writing Tips - http://tips.sample-resume-writing.org/


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I Have The Skills And Resume...Where Are The Jobs?:
Looking for a job? There are tons of game companies out there as well as game job websites and job placement agencies. Here are some links to get you going:

Game Dev Map - A world map of game companies by city:
http://gamedevmap.com/

Game Companies:

Raven Software (http://ravensoft.com/jobs.aspx)
Pi Studios (http://www.pistudios.com/jobs.html)

3D Realms/Apogee (http://www.3drealms.com/gethired.html)

Valve Software (http://www.valvesoftware.com/jobs.html)
Gearbox Software (http://gearboxsoftware.com/index.php?p=employment)
Ensemble Studios (http://www.ensemblestudios.com/Careers/Default.aspx)
Activision Inc. (http://www.activision.com/en_US/corporate/hr_main.jsp)
Electronic Arts (http://jobs.ea.com/)
Human Head (http://humanhead.com/headhunt_jobs.html)
Monolith (http://www.lith.com/jobs)
Eidos (http://www.eidosinteractive.com/corporate/index.html)
Id Software (http://www.idsoftware.com/)
Sega (http://www.sega.com/)
Nintendo (http://www.nintendo.com/)
Atari (http://www.atari.com/)
Blizzard (http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/)
Bungie (http://www.bungie.com/)
Epic Games (http://www.epicgames.com/epic_jobs.html)
Capcom (http://www.capcom.com/jobs/)

A Great List of Hundreds of Game Companies (with links)
http://www.pcgameworld.com/companyindex.php

A Google/FRAPR Map of Game Development Houses by Location: http://www.frappr.com/gamesdevhouses

Job Search Websites:
Monster (http://www.monster.com/)
Flipdog (http://www.flipdog.com/)
Game Jobs (http://www.gamejobs.com/)
Game Developer Magazine Listings (http://www.gamasutra.com/jobsearch)
GamesIndustry.biz Job List (http://jobs.gamesindustry.biz/)
All Star Jobs (http://www.allstarjobs.com/)
Games-Match (http://www.games-match.com/)
Computer Jobs Finder (http://www.computerjobsfinder.com/)

Game Company Recruiters:
Interact Jobs (http://www.interactjobs.com/)
Barbara Walter/Walter and Company Recruiters (http://sandiego-online.com/forums/careers/)

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Interviewing Skills:
If your resume generates interest at the companies you've applied to, odds are you'll
be contacted and asked to interview for the open position. Here are some useful links
to job interview resources on the Internet to help you prepare for the big showdown:

Useful Interviewing Links -
Monster Interviews (http://interview.monster.com/)
Interview Coach (http://www.interviewcoach.com/)
Job Link USA (http://www.joblink-usa.com/interview.htm)
InterviewStrategies.com - (http://www.interviewstrategies.com/)

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Get Your Foot In The Door:
A lot of game companies I know have positions for beta testers, quality assurance people, office managers and interns. You can also find an "in" by getting a job doing technical support or network administration. Getting your foot in the door at a game company is a good way to meet developers, establish a track record, make contacts and prove yourself to the powers that be. Internships are a great way to get free (but usually unpaid) training that you can put to use getting a job at a later date. A lot of QA testers move up in the ranks to lead positions and even as high as the producer level. It's a great way to get started. It's a rough road, but there are always opportunities to
be had if you can get yourself in the right place at the right time.

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I Don't Want A Job, But I have This Great Game Idea:

For the most part, you're never going to be able to get a "great game idea" made into
a game by a company you don't work for. In fact, if you send an unsolicited idea to a
game company, legally it becomes their intellectual property. As a general rule, don't
send in your ideas unsolicited.

The best policy is to ask the company if they want to hear your idea first. If you just
type it up and send it off, you can pretty much kiss your idea goodbye. Take steps to
trademark or copyright your idea and/or see a lawyer first if you are really REALLY
serious about making "the next big thing." I could bore you with my story about getting
screwed over by Pac Man cereal, but I won't. I'm too bitter to go into detail...

To be honest, it's very VERY difficult for someone outside a game company to get their ideas past said company's front door. For that matter, it's not all that easy to get
a game company to look at your ideas if you work for them! There are a number of
reasons for this:

1. The "Legal Reasons" that everyone speaks of revolve around legal possession of
an idea. Let's say that a company had a similar idea a year ago and they've spent a
million dollars or more developing that idea up until this point. The company says,
"Sure, I'd love to hear your new, innovative game idea." It turns out the idea is the
same as the one the company has been working on for the past year and, when the game comes out, you have a "he said/she said" lawsuit on your hands over whose idea the game was in the first place. That is a hassle that no company wants.

2. A lot of people don't understand the fundamentals of the games development
business. They don't understand technology limitations, development times, financial
concerns or any of the other headaches of developing a new product. Their idea proposals say things like, "You would recreate New York City to scale and have 4 million unique looking and sounding individuals that you can interact with and you can have 500,000 of them on the screen at the same time when you join them in Times Square for the New Year's Eve ball drop. That's when the aliens attack and severely damage the city, so all of the buildings have to be half-destroyed as the city is plunged into chaos and eternal night. Then you and your band of 10,000 resistance fighters lead the charge with 50 different weapons and squad based tactics and the game would toggle between first person, third person, top down and map views and on and on and on and on and on..." You see what I mean? A vast majority of game idea submissions suffer from this problem.

3. Another reason for not accepting game ideas is a question of who takes the risk?
The game company is spending 2-3 million dollars on the development cycle for the game and, in turn, they are taking all of the risk. Why, then, should they pay someone from outside the company for their game idea when they aren't taking any of the risk?
Generally speaking, every game company has more ideas of their own on the back burner than they will ever have time to produce and thus, there's no reason to accept
outside ideas.

Think of it this way: Everyone at one time or another has tried to write a novel or has had a "great idea for a novel." How many book publishers will take an idea for a novel if they have to do the writing or pay someone to do the writing? None. Therefore, the
people with the ideas have to write the books. How many of them start writing? How
many of them actually FINISH the novel? When they're finished, how many get published at all? And of those that are published, how many are published without changes made by the publisher? See what I mean?

Think of game companies as established entities in the entertainment business. Generally speaking, game companies think they know everything there is to know about gaming because they've "paid their dues and worked their way to the top." Just as you won't sell a Star Wars sequel to George Lucas or a Spec Ops book to Tom Clancy, odds are you won't sell your big idea to a game developer. Sadly, it's just the nature of the business.

Now, if you DO want to get your idea made into a game, there are a couple of things
you can do:

1. Get a job at a game company. If you're on the inside, your chances of getting your
idea noticed or accepted are much greater because most of the legalities disappear. This isn't a guaranteed "in," though. I worked at Raven Software for more than seven years and none of my "great ideas" were made into games. I assure you it wasn't for a lack of trying.

2. Get a team together and make the game yourself. If not the whole game, make a
solid, working demo. This will show publishers that you're serious and it will give
them something concrete to look at. Game development is a very visual business and
it's a lot easier to judge a game idea from a demo than from a piece of paper or a
wordy verbal description.

3. Write up a complete design document for your game and then hire a literary agent to "sell it" for you much like you would a novel or screenplay. The more official your proposal, the more likely it is to be heard.

It's a great misnomer that game companies (or any companies for that matter) employ
"idea people" or "think tanks" to push the company in bold new directions. Hard work
and contribution to a greater goal or the greater good of a company is the only way
to get anything done in the business world. That goes for your own company or any
company you're working for. Unless, of course, your family owns the company...
Then all bets are off on the "hard work and contribution" part.

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Last Minute Advice?:
I can't stress enough how important luck and knowing someone in the business are to
getting a job in the games industry. It really is a crapshoot to forsake all things
and go for it, so have a backup plan. Gaming is a recreational thing, so play games
and work on them in your spare time while you're waiting for your big break. Modify
games like Quake II, Half-Life, Age of Empires, DooM and other titles that have tools
and editors widely available for them and use your creations as an electronic resume.
Become active in a gaming or mod community and learn from the people there. Treat
every opportunity as a learning experience and use the Internet and its resources
to their fullest capacity. Persistence is the key to getting a job in the games
industry. Persistence and a little luck go a long way. Good luck in your search...

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Recommended Reading (Online):
GamaSutra (http://www.gamasutra.com/) From the staff of Game Developer magazine
GameWeek (http://www.gameweek.com/) Tons of information and links
Developer's Corner (http://www.thedc.com/) Got questions? Ask 'em...
LoonyGames (http://www.loonygames.com/) Tons of articles and useful information
GameDev.net (http://www.gamedev.net/)
Digital Game Developer (http://www.digitalgamedeveloper.com/)
International Game Developers Association (http://www.igda.org/)
MyVideoGames (http://www.myvideogames.com/) [Insight into the gaming culture]
Adrenaline Vault Developers' Corner (http://www.avault.com/developer)

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Recommended Reading (Books):

Game Design: Secrets of the Sages

Designing 3D Games That Sell!

Game Development & Production


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News Groups:

News Groups are a great place to go to find others, like yourself, who are interested in game development. Here are some of the more useful ones out there to get you started:

alt.games.programming
comp.games.development.design
comp.games.development.industry
comp.games.development.programming.algorithms
comp.games.development.programming.misc

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