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Journey to a Game Development Career

General Job Search

If you want a general idea of the jobs out on the market, gander at some of the opportunities on professional networks such as LinkedIn or Indeed. Make sure you set your location to find jobs near you.

You can also take a look at big company vacancies to get an idea of what employers expect of you. What catches your interest?

2K Games

Amazon

Riot Games

Activision

Career Examples

Next, I’m going to give examples of 3 careers at starter, experienced and veteran levels and show you how to achieve them.

Credit: Ubisoft ©

>Starter: Associate Gameplay Engineer (Full-time) @ Ubisoft 

About: At the associate level, you work on gameplay features and content under the guise of the lead gameplay engineer. You collaborate with the game design team to make their vision become a reality.

Qualifications as stated by Ubisoft,

An undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related area

C/C++ development and optimization skills

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

1-2 years of experience programming

Experience working in groups

Ability to collaborate with designers and artists

You’ll need to write a resume containing your educational background and relevant work experience. A portfolio and certificates in related subject matter are all encouraged. 

Ubisoft offers a Coding Campus for high school graduates and college students. Students must have sufficient knowledge in C++ to be accepted. This is a good way to get essential programming experience that’ll fulfill the requirements for this job and others like it.

Credit: Bungie Studios ©

Experienced: Mobile Engineer @ Bungie Studios 

About: A mobile engineer at Bungie develops apps for iOS and Android expanding social outreach and enhancing features in their games. These apps are implemented into Bungie games like Destiny. At the experienced level, one must show their passion to connect gamers around the world.

Qualifications as stated by Bungie,

2+ years of professional experience as a native mobile app engineer

Fluent in Java/Kotlin or Objective-C/Swift

Ability to independently design, write, and maintain reusable code

B.S. in Computer Science or related area

Deep knowledge of Android or iOS frameworks and mobile networking, security, peripherals, and performance capabilities

Driven to contribute in a collaborative, agile team environment.

You’ll need to produce a resume and a cover letter, with an attached LinkedIn profile and personal website all optional. The resume must have evidence of your professional experience in mobile app development for various games and autonomy with your code. Any projects you ship would be the meat of your resume in this case.

Credit: Niantic Inc. ©

Veteran: Senior Software Engineer @ Niantic, Inc. 

About: Software engineers at Niantic play a significant role in the creation of  AR games such as Pokemon Go and Ingress. At the senior level, you must have a wide array of skills at your disposal and display enthusiasm to learn about the emerging field of machine learning.

Qualifications as stated by Niantic,

Strong generalist software engineer with 5+ years of development experience in multiple backend areas.

Strong knowledge of at least two programming languages, one of which is Python or Java. Cloud platform experience preferred.

Adept working with SQL - you should be able to write complex queries in your sleep and you're excited working hands-on with data.

Experience with the full software development lifecycle, including design/architecture, testing, deployment, and documentation.

Excitement to learn ML. Experience with machine learning techniques, a strong mathematical background, or a graduate degree are benefits but not requirements.

B.S. in a STEM field or equivalent hands-on experience. A public portfolio (such as a GitHub page) is an advantage.

You’ll need to write a resume and cover letter and as mentioned above, a GitHub profile is advantageous to you as an applicant. Niantic expects far more out of their applicants than the ability to develop games. Since they are in the AR business, you’d expect a team of serious professionals dedicated to pushing the boundaries of gaming and technology.

Degree Programs

Here are 4 unique game-related college degrees from colleges in the US depending on what discipline you want to focus on. All of these are worthwhile routes to a career in game development.

Full Sail University: Game Development BS

Academy of Art: Game Development BFA

University of Southern California: Computer Science BS

Champlain College: Game Art BS

Recommendation: If you’re in college, take as many classes in C++ and game design that your school offers, whether you go to a community college, private school or large university. As per usual, the most effective way to transition into the industry is through internships at AAA caliber companies. However school is not going to teach you the tips and tricks of breaking into the industry. Code for fun. Start by developing mods or mobile games on your own but don’t seclude yourself. Consider asking your friends for help on your project or contribute to theirs. Showing your motivation towards game development and harnessing your creativity is more likely to get your foot in the door.

For those of you who are planning to take a gap year, here are some online programs & classes to consider

Game Design and Development Specialization from Michigan State University

Udacity Nanodegree: Become a C++ Developer

Udemy: Learn to Create An RPG Game in Unity

What Should I Learn?

Any of the following programming languages and tools are beneficial to the game development process. What matters is not that you’re skillful in one area and weak at others. Your combination of skills makes up your professional identity, giving you an established role in a diverse workplace.

C++

Javascript

OpenGL

LUA

Python

Unreal Engine

Unity

Blender

...and many more!

[gdmonastery]

The Modern Solution Against Cheating

An active discussion amongst prominent game developers is the implementation and effectiveness of anti-cheat software. Anti-cheat software is meant to prevent players from gaining unfair advantages in online multiplayer games. The software purges the cheating tool from the system and the player is booted from the game. 

What follows is an account ban...supposedly. 

As online multiplayer games grow in popularity and draw huge crowds for Esports competitions, it’s more important than ever to monitor player bases for cheaters and hackers. Game developers hope to prioritize fairness and balance in online multiplayer, otherwise competitive gamers will spend their hard-earned money elsewhere. 

Various forms of anti-cheat have been used in games for years yet due to the overwhelming amount of media attention on the subject, it’s become a controversy in 2020.

Casual gamers and journalists are skeptical about how anti-cheat software affects system functionality and if it actually weeds out real cheaters. AAA first-person shooter titles such as VALORANT and DOOM: Eternal have been subject to criticism by fans because of their anti-cheat software. Marty Stratton, executive producer of DOOM: Eternal and Paul Chamberlain, the anti-cheat lead for VALORANT, recently took to Reddit to clarify what their anti-cheat software does and responded to fan feedback. 

The Spotlight on Riot Games

VALORANT comes installed with a program called Vanguard. Vanguard contains a system driver entitled vgk.sys, certifying the trustworthiness of the program to the computer. The system driver starts up when the Windows operating system starts up. People can uninstall Vanguard at any time, however the driver doesn’t have any program to communicate with. When this happens, VALORANT is unable to launch so some gamers find themselves uninstalling and reinstalling the program in-between play sessions. 

Chamberlain AKA Riot Arkem believes that having Vanguard set up this way makes it more difficult for people to “bypass anti-cheat systems.”1 Past anti-cheat software would traditionally start up when the game is opened up and close as is the case with Rainbow Six: Siege and Apex Legends.2 The issue being cheaters could modify or disable that without a hitch. Additionally, Riot Games plans to make it virtually impossible to override Vanguard through the use of machine learning.3

Some of the biggest criticisms Vanguard has received so far are that it interferes with system resources and it invades your privacy. Tyler Wilde, a journalist for PC Gamer, claims that Vanguard blocks hardware-specific programs. For example, he failed to run Core Temp, a program which measures CPU (computer processing unit) core temperatures.4  Skill doesn’t necessarily correlate with hardware capability, but it does increase the quality of the game. If Riot wants to maintain consumer satisfaction, they must be transparent about their definition of “cheating.”

Another question that arises is if a cheater does get banned, would Riot Games want to know? Some are fearful that Vanguard snoops your data and spies on you, like this commenter on Chamberlain’s post. 

Credit: Intoxicus5

Of course that’s an extreme example, but the sentiment is valid. Chamberlain ensures that Vanguard is “designed to take up as few system resources as possible and it doesn’t communicate to our servers.” The problem is players are going to need more confirmation from Riot that they have concerns of their audience in mind. Riot Games is open to other solutions if Vanguard ends up being more of a nuisance than a benefit. 

System Restore

Denuvo’s Anti-Cheat Solution was briefly integrated into DOOM: Eternal’s multiplayer mode. Stratton expressed that “players were disappointed on DOOM 2016 with our delay in adding anti-cheat to protect that game’s multiplayer.” After the first update, gamers quickly noted “performance degradation and stability issues.” They attributed those issues to the anti-cheat software. Since id Software was receiving so much negative feedback, they had to remove the software. In other words, undo the update.

In truth, the performance degradation had to do with a “code change” around “allocation of VRAM.”5 Regardless, this update puts Id Software at a fork in the road. Either they have to cater to those who prefer single-player experiences or those who prefer ranked play. 

Why is Anti-Cheat Trending?

Since VALORANT is free-to-play, the stakes lie with the gamer. Most incoming VALORANT players are League of Legends fans. They have been anticipating a new game from Riot for more than a decade. Betting on hardware and software life expectancy is a risk many gamers don’t want to take. While a vast majority of VALORANT players won’t question Riot’s decisions, some will question how Vanguard will affect the playability and the longevity of the game.  We’ll wait and see what Riot has in store for VALORANT.

On the other hand, the developers have more stakes in DOOM: Eternal’s anti-cheat solution. Unfortunately, the damage has been done. As of June 1st, the game still has a very positive rating on Steam, but they’ve lost the trust of many fans. Take some time to read the review below if you like.6

Credit: Izgorn

If id Software had kept the anti-cheat software in place, they would’ve had to better communicate to their audience that they’re compliant with consumer law and don’t mean harm. Fans were not made aware of id was doing until media outlets, like PC Gamer, got a hold of it. 

At least we know that they’re willing to think more on what the best solution is to the problem. If their game catalog is any indicator, they are not known for building a negative reputation amongst their fans.

Sources

“R/VALORANT - Comment by u/RiotArkem on ”Anticheat Starts upon Computer Boot”

Interestingly, u/DolphinWhacker points this out

Paul Chamberlain, quoted in "The Controversy over Riot’s Vanguard Anti-Cheat Software, Explained.”

Wilde, Tyler. “The Controversy over Riot’s Vanguard Anti-Cheat Software, Explained.” PC Gamer, 8 May 2020

“R/Doom - Latest Information on Update 1 & Anti-Cheat”

Click on the statistics for May 16th to find the review: https://store.steampowered.com/app/782330/DOOM_Eternal/

[gdmonastery]

Start Here

Do you have what it takes to design or develop a video game?

That’s where GameDev Monastery comes in. GameDev Monastery features current issues within the game developer discourse community as well as resources to guide you in pursuing your dreams.

Disclaimer: This is a product that came out of an upper division writing class in my university’s writing program.

First, let’s ask the burning question. What is a game developer? A game developer designs, codes, and playtests games for a living.

For the record: this blog is geared towards game programmers, but artistic folks are more than welcome to join in on the conversation and listen to my career advice!

In college writing, you may get exposed to the idea of a discourse community. Since I’d rather not bore you with a definition, imagine the following scenario. 

A high school boy comes across a dazzling beauty during his spring break. The image of this girl leaves him awestruck. In this moment, he gained the perfect inspiration for a dating sim. So he enlists the help of three classmates, an artist, a writer and the mysterious girl to make this dating sim a reality. The team sets their sights on Japan’s biannual comic market aka Comiket.

The point is the group of people, no matter how big or small, hope to achieve the same goal. 

Credit: Saenai Heroine no Sodetakata, A-1 Pictures ©

Ever since my childhood, the industry has evolved in ways many people couldn’t have imagined. It’s on track to grow into a $159.3 billion dollar global industry, a 9.3% increase from 2019*. Innovations in VR (Virtual Reality) technology, AR (Augmented Reality) technology, streaming and Artificial Intelligence will increase the immersion and memorability of your favorite games. Video games are becoming more like the playgrounds and sandboxes we dream about as kids. They're lifelike! There’s a lot that goes into developing, producing, publishing and selling a game. Each profession is significant in their own way, like a character class in an RPG (role-playing game). 

GameDev Monastery focuses on the current challenges that expert developers are facing, such as implementing anti-cheating tools into competitive games. You’ll find information on college programs that explore the artistic and technical aspects of game design. Finally, you’ll get a glimpse of three careers in game development from starter, experienced and veteran level positions and their application requirements. Think of it like the difficulty selection screen for the single player campaign of your favorite game. Also, there might be easter eggs along the way. 

Players, press start!

*Newszoo. 2020 Global Games Market Report. Newszoo, April 2020