What's the best course to do to get into the Games Industry? And what is the Games Industry like, is it enjoyable? These were just some of the recent questions we got asked by a local school kid. So with over 10 years industry experience with some of the biggest names in the business, Wee Man Studios CEO John Owens gave his thoughts:

I converted from a Computer Science course at Queen’s University Belfast to a game specific one (one of the first as it was a while back) and found it excellent. The big difference was that you were always working on things you were interested in rather than “other” things.

Unfortunately I can’t recommend you anything now as the courses have changed so much over the last decade. However, Wee Man Studios has worked with and spoken to students on the game course at Queen’s and they regard it very highly.

Before embarking on any course, you should:

• Find out where did the students go after graduation? i.e. how many went into industry?
• Examine CV’s of course lecturers to make sure they have the experience to teach the course (ie have they worked for a games company, what games did they work on?)

 

A lot of courses are conversions of existing computer science courses and as a result are taught by lecturers who have little interest and experience in the field. You may want to avoid them.

As for the curriculum, given the amount of middleware solutions now available, most programmers spend a lot of their time on gameplay and special fx (vfx) programming. Maths is always good to have (essential really) however I would look for a course with some art modules, for example the history of CGI and using photoshop/max etc. You may not need to use them on the job but it always helps to know how they work. In addition having an artists’ eye will benefit any effects programming you may do.

Regarding how enjoyable the job is....

There’s a question. It can be incredibly rewarding however it can also be very challenging when compared to other professions. Even within Computer Science it's not very well paid and there’s little job security. Plus a lot of industry people burn out by their 30s and feel they no longer can do it with families and other responsibilities. It’s certainly not the job to take if you aren’t passionate about what you are doing.

Finally if you are more interested in designing and making games - rather than programming - then you should get into the production side of things as quickly as possible. In most cases they’re the ones in control of the overall game design. They also manage the projects, speak to the press etc. An analogy would be that producers are the video game equivalent of directors in the movies whilst programmers are more like the camera men.

Good luck in your exams and with whatever choice you make.

 

[Editor Comment: I would also urge you to check out the NESTA report into the UK Games Industry and to check out the Games Industry websites, forums, publishers, developers and associations. Also try and get experience (eg student placement, internships, developing your own game, etc) as early as possible, as it will give you an idea of the different roles available and help you to get a job at a later date.]

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