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By Posted in Careers 8 Comments
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.
Profile photo of Brian Gish, tools programmer
“You have to prove you’re passionate about the games industry.”

Meet Brian Gish, Video Game Tools Programmer

Brian Gish has been programming video games for a decade, but not in the way you might think. He’s more of a “behind the scenes” coder. It’s Brian’s code that enables the artists, designers, and game programmers to do their jobs quickly and efficiently – and that means players get more game, and better game, for their buck. Brian is a Tools Programmer.

Today we’re talking to Brian about his experience in this little-known but critically important job. We’ll find out how he got started, why he loves it – and why you might, too.Read more »

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This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.
david_c_galloway_game_systems_programmer
David’s been bending computers to his will for 30 years. What’s his secret?

Meet David C. Galloway, Video Game Systems Programmer

David Galloway began his game programming career on the Commodore 64 home computer, and has created game play code for top-shelf franchises like Assassin’s Creed and X-Men.

But his real super power is in building game system code – the core programming that drives a game engine. From math libraries, to 3D animation systems, to the code that empowers Atair to free climb across Cyprus, David writes the code that turns lifeless polygons into living, breathing 3D worlds. Read more »

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By Posted in Careers 21 Comments
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.
Profile picture of Dan Posluns, Video Game Programmer
Dan’s got a trick for getting the attention of the big game studios. How does he do it?

Meet Dan Posluns, Video Game Programmer

Dan Posluns began his adventure in the cold northern lands of Canada, but journeyed to the USA to pursue a career programming video games. He’s worked on top franchises such as Spore, The Simpsons, The Sims, and LEGO Star Wars, and has written code on multiple platforms including handheld and mobile. He speaks with us today about what it takes to become a game developer, and how you can start your own quest programming games. Read more »

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By Posted in Careers 4 Comments
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.
Jason Bay poses with a zombie by Rich Werner, 2D Artist
This is me, posing at PopCap’s Seattle offices with one of Rich Werner’s zombies. “Braaaaaiiiins!”

Meet Rich Werner, 2D Artist/Animator behind “Plants vs Zombies”

Rich Werner has been using his art to make games come alive (or at least, undead) for over 15 years. He’s well-known as the artist behind Plants vs Zombies, an award-winning franchise that’s sold millions of units across a dozen gaming platforms.

Rich left his job at PopCap Games in 2012, and set out on his own to spawn a new breed of indie games. Today we talk with him about his role as a self-employed video game artist, and what it takes to succeed as a 2D Artist – whether you want to work inside of a game studio, or out on your own.Read more »

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By Posted in Interviewing 5 Comments
This article is part of our Video Game Job Hunt Guide. Read the full guide to learn how to write a strong resume, build a winning portfolio, ace your job interviews and more.
JC Connors, Senior Video Game Manager
JC Connors has interviewed hundreds of up-and-coming video game developers. Do you have what it takes to make the cut?

J.C. Connors has been running large game studios for many years. He’s interviewed and hired literally hundreds of people, so we’ve invited him to share his best advice on how to ace your interview. His guest post below is full of high-value tips and insights, so if you’re interviewing for game jobs, keep reading!

J.C. Connors: Interviewing for game companies can be daunting. It’s a bit like being a guest star on a long-running sitcom: Everyone you are about to meet has worked together for the past five years, knows each other’s quirks and passions, cares deeply about their team and creative process – and you’re the newbie who only has an hour to impress everyone.

In the last few years, the game industry has become more competitive than ever. Big studios are shutting down, developers are focusing more on quality, and schools are graduating more talented engineers, artists, and designers than at any time in the history of video games.Read more »

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By Posted in Careers No Comments
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.

Meet Merric Shank, Video Game Associate Producer

Merric Shank, Video Game Associate Producer
This dapper fellow explains why “soft skills” are a hard requirement for managing a game team.

Merric started out as a video game tester, and eventually grew his career into a Senior Producer. We’ve asked him to reflect on the several years he spent as an Associate Producer (abbreviated as AP or sometimes PA) to give you some insight into what it takes to land that job and build a successful career.

It’s worth noting that this advice applies to a PA job at a game developer, which is different than a PA job at a game publisher. There’s definitely some crossover, but a PA at a game developer works much more closely with the game team every day and often serves as the development team’s project manager. Read more »

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By Posted in Careers 14 Comments
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.

Meet Nathaniel Hubbell, Video Game Special Effects Artist

Nathaniel Hubbell, Video Game Special Effects Artist
Nat takes bare-bones games and fleshes them out with stunning visual effects.

When it comes to animation, Nathaniel is a consummate “jack of all trades.” Whether it’s his work on big-budget franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Spore, or X-Men, Nat has leveraged his skills in animation, rigging and special effects to make amazing visuals that shock and awe gaming audiences everywhere.

Today, we talk with Nat about what it takes to become a VFX (Visual Special Effects) Artist in video games, and what you can do to get started down his path.Read more »

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By Posted in Careers 56 Comments
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.

Meet Darby McDevitt, Video Game Writer

Darby McDevitt, Video Game Scriptwriter
Darby makes his own luck by working hard and saying “yes” at every opportunity.

Darby McDevitt is a scriptwriter for the hugely successful Assassin’s Creed series of games. But he doesn’t only write for games. He’s also released several prose fiction works, has been published in national literary journals and anthologies, and has released several music albums. He’s also written, produced, directed, or designed the audio for a number of successful films.

That should give you a hint about how Darby approaches his career: passionately. The best way to get good at something like writing for video games is to do it, and do it a lot.

Darby talks with us today about how his passion for learning new things and taking on more responsibility got him into the game industry – and continues to open new doors. It’s a lesson he hopes you’ll take to heart.Read more »

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By Posted in Careers 31 Comments
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.

Meet Caleb Parrish, Video Game Environment Artist

Caleb Parrish, Video Game Environment Artist
“Be prolific. Draw every day. And play beautiful games before the fun ugly ones.”

Caleb has been creating gorgeous interactive environments for over 15 years. He’s shipped 10 games as a key art team member, and contributed to many more as a consultant and technical art resource. Caleb’s work includes titles from blockbuster franchises like Spiderman, Assassin’s Creed, and Spore, and he specializes in making art look amazing even on resource-limited mobile devices.

Although his credited work is largely as an Environment Artist, Caleb is also a talented digital painter. (There’s a link to his breathtaking online portfolio at the bottom of this article.) He accomplishes all this by living his own advice about drawing every day and being prolific in your work.Read more »

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By Posted in Careers 20 Comments
This is one of more than 30 interviews with professional game developers. For more, visit Which game job is right for you?.

If you’re passionate about video games, you’ve probably wondered what it would be like to design your own. But what is it really like to become a game designer? What does a game designer do all day? What skills and talents does it require, and how can you get started?

To answer these questions and more, we asked professional game designers including: senior game designer Kelly Toyama (Riot Games, Monolith, Wizards of the Coast), multi-talented game designer/artist/programmer Mandi Burley (Glu Mobile, Disney Playdom), senior game designer Kim McAuliffe (Project Spark, SOCOM4), and design director Hal Milton (Marvel: Avengers Alliance, D&D Online, Ultima Online).

Below you’ll find their their unfiltered thoughts on how you can prepare yourself for a game design education. Follow their advice, and one day you just might follow in their footsteps.

Read more »

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