How to Break Into Game Design

To aspiring game designers, the field may seem very difficult to break into. It might feel like you need to have years of experience and know somebody who knows somebody who can help get you an interview. But getting your foot in the door at a video game design company does not have to be difficult. You just need a strategy to get your talent seen by others.

Here are a few ways to prepare yourself and actions to begin to take in order to get your name and your work out into the game design world.

4 Ways to Get Discovered as a Game Designer

1. Make Games

The only way to get experience making games is by actually doing it. If all of the game design studios you are applying for are asking for samples and you do not have them, you need to change that. Start programming games and releasing them as apps. Once you work through that development cycle, you have experience in the game design industry. All of these experiences can be included in your portfolio and you will have a lot to talk about when you land an interview with a game design team.

2. Create a Community

Besides joining other discussion boards, start your own website or blog dedicated to gaming and game design. Invite members of the community to post and interact on the site. Make sure that you diligently monitor what as being shared on your blog in order to keep it a positive space. As more people feel comfortable participating, your blog or website may attract the attention of someone who runs at their own gaming site or company.

3. Post Your Work

If game design is your chosen field, you are probably already spending a lot of time on discussion boards related to the industry. You read about how professional game developers do what they do and about how the audience is reacting to the games that they make. Professional game designers definitely spend time on these boards as well. They want to look through the feedback in order to better their craft.

Knowing this, you should spend time developing your own game and posting parts of it on these message boards. Ask for feedback yourself and continue to post revisions of the work that you do. Instead of lurking and reading what other people say, be an active participant. By engaging with other people on the board you may end up networking with professional game developers who are in a position to hire someone new.

4. Get Your Foot in the Door

If you cannot get hired right away as a game developer, there may be other ways for you to work at a game company. You could get hired on as a video game tester. These entry-level jobs do not require specialized training so just about anybody can apply. New testers learn about how to do quality assurance and help the video game development team create products that are well organized and fun.

The experience you get in working with the team will help you learn a lot about game development and because you are already working at the company, you may be able to apply for development positions early. You could also consider getting an internship at a game studio or even taking on a non-development position such as an assistant or working in a call center. Just being known by the people who hire can be enough to help you land your dream job.

When you earn a degree like the Bachelor of Arts in Digital Design with an Emphasis and Animation from a college like Grand Canyon University, you are able to get a solid start in the gaming world. Your degree will require you to create a portfolio and will give you the experience that many game design studios are looking for. Learn more about how a college degree can give you a leg up in the video game design industry by joining our degree program today.