Hey my fellow Grovers,

I am seeking outside opinions from computer programmers, specifically ones who program video games. I am currently in school full time, working full time, and probably getting grey hairs from the stress.

But my question is how did you break into the industry?

After all the schooling that you went through how soon did you find a job after comencement?

Are the hours and pay good?

What types of companies do you work for?

Does your job allow you to work at home some days?

Thanks to all who can hook me up with some info.

But my question is how did you break into the industry?

It helps to live in an area where there are tons of game dev studios. Other than that, being a game junkie, going to tradeshows like GDC in San Jose (which has a job fair by the way) and E3, meeting people, getting to know more people, posting your info on industry forums, and sending out resumes to many companies. Having game programming experience helps, even if it's shareware games. And enlisting the help of a headhunter or recruitment specialist doesn't hurt. Mostly, it's the desire to make games.


Are the hours and pay good?

LOL, if you like the crunch time before milestones, tradeshows, etc. It's not uncommon to work six-seven days a week if you have a lot of ground to cover. Sometimes you know a particular project will last six months, so it's no use to think you're going to only work 40 hours a week. Salary-wise, sheesh, I can't remember details, but senior programmers in my geographical area make between 70-90K with options of course (vesting time varies a lot from company to company).

Heheh, given the cost of living in this area, that money goes out the door quickly.


What types of companies do you work for?

Hmmm, just going on what I know about the San Francisco Bay Area... the major studios focus on console games. Sony is located in Foster City, for example. Sega and friends all have offices here. Blizzard has its north studio here. LucasArts is in San Rafael, about 20 minutes from SF. Then you have all the smaller studios from San Francisco down to San Jose, including Silicon Valley. The atmosphere here is fairly laid-back, and you know programmers just wear whatever to work.


Does your job allow you to work at home some days?
Sometimes.


If you're interested, you should take a look around Gamasutra at http://www.gamasutra.com/ and see if there is more info about breaking in.

Lots of info on that kinda stuff available .. people that hire into the industry look for people that really want to write games, so even though you're in school find some time to sit down and write a game. Other than that, some links:

http://www.flipcode.com
http://www.gamedev.net

My university has a student game developers club, the url is here:

http://www.studentgamedevelopers.com