Experiences with the Gaming Industry

[Karthik Reddy]

Recently I applied for a job at a gaming company. I was called in for an interview. The people there were friendly and nice and the place was great. After the interview, during a presentation for the company they said that almost none of them played any games and had no interest in games. I was surprised and asked how they go about developing a game. They told me that marketing came up with the ideas for a game and they just implement them. I asked them if there were any original ideas by the development team themselves. They just said no and that it was always market research.

I know a company has to make money and probably a lot of companies do this but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. They offered me a job there which I am probably going to turn down.

Just wanted to ask you guys what you think about this and if you had similar experiences.

 

[Newtonyd]

What gaming company is that? Or, if you can't name it, then how big is it?

 

[Karthik Reddy]

I rather not say. They primarily develop mobile games but it is a pretty big company. They have offices all over the world. I applied for a job at their Indian office

 

[Evil Smurf]

I doubt everyone develops games like this.

 

[Phlakes]

They primarily develop mobile games

Yep, there's your problem. Mobile gaming is in the unique position of already having a massive audience and the knowledge mainstream gaming has gathered up to this point, so there's a lot of this business going on. But it probably won't last.

EDIT: And was it Gameloft? Because that would be double the "there's your problem".

 

[Karthik Reddy]

Yep, there's your problem. Mobile gaming is in the unique position of already having a massive audience and the knowledge mainstream gaming has gathered up to this point, so there's a lot of this business going on. But it probably won't last.

I guess so but still I wonder if other big studios also have this "business" frame of mind.

 

[Bellvedere]

When I was in first year uni I worked in a casual sales position in a game retail store in Canberra (Australia). We have two game studios here 2K Canberra (now called 2K Marin) and Micro Forte. While I was there used to regularly see guys from 2K and a couple of co-workers went to the AIE and had had some association with some micro forte guys. Anyway they were really nice folk, used to give us free junk and chat for a bit. The people that I met we're definitely very interested in games and passionate about what they did.

Hopefully that makes you more optimistic about game developers.

 

[ThriKreen]

I guess so but still I wonder if other big studios also have this "business" frame of mind.

It varies - there are some focus tests that influence some game design decisions but the overall game concept itself is usually handled by whatever direction the project director has in mind. But that would also vary depending on if it's a yearly thing of an established franchise (i.e. most sports games, Guitar Hero, CoD, etc.) or a new IP.

But yes, the two hints: mobile + market research, sounds like a place that just tries to capitalize on trends and milk it til they no longer see a RoI, then they switch to the next trend and repeat.

Not really a place you want to work at - However if it's the only job you have available around, I'd suggest you take it and build up your game developer experience. Studios really want experienced devs and the less ramp up time you have, the more attractive you become. And use the money to pay off any debts like tuition, but save up the rest and don't spend it. You'll never know when you'd get laid off out of the blue or need to quit when you've had enough.

On the same note, in your off-time work on your own stuff from what you pick up, and be careful to not even take code snippets from work (otherwise they can try to claim ownership if you make a breakout hit). It'll suck for awhile, believe me, because you WILL end up mentally and physically wiped from work sometimes, and having to drudge up the enthusiasm and energy to keep working at home is hard. But the payoff is you end up with (hopefully) a good portfolio and game demo and advertise to a traditional game studio. Or it DOES become a breakout hit and you go indie.

Good luck!

 

[bug_of_war]

Recently I applied for a job at a gaming company. I was called in for an interview. The people there were friendly and nice and the place was great. After the interview, during a presentation for the company they said that almost none of them played any games and had no interest in games. I was surprised and asked how they go about developing a game. They told me that marketing came up with the ideas for a game and they just implement them. I asked them if there were any original ideas by the development team themselves. They just said no and that it was always market research.

I know a company has to make money and probably a lot of companies do this but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. They offered me a job there which I am probably going to turn down.

Just wanted to ask you guys what you think about this and if you had similar experiences.

First off, DON'T KNOCK BCK THE JOB. It will look good on your resume for future companies you apply for. Trust me, any experience will always put you in front of no experience. Secondly, you should know right now that it's not just mobile games that have little to no original products. Many big developers have a huge backlog of ideas for games that will never get seen because of various reasons. Extra Credits explained it a lot better than I could, so it may be worth your time to go over to Penny Arcade and check out their channel.