5 Video Game Careers That Don’t Need a Degree

If you search for open jobs in the game industry, you might be disappointed to see that most postings seem to require a college degree. But in fact, many game jobs — from testing, to art, to production — actually do not require a degree. And some others only require a degree “equivalent,” which means you may not need a degree if you have experience in a related area.

Here’s a list of the top video game careers that don’t require a degree. They’re all entry-level jobs, so the pay is lower than average for the game industry. But everyone needs to start somewhere! You may start out as an “associate,” but with any luck you’ll move up quickly in pay and title, once you get a little on-the-job experience. After that, the sky is the limit.

Game QA Tester (Starting pay: $35,000)

Game Testers (also called QA Testers) are responsible for playing the latest under-construction version of a game, then reporting anything that looks bad or doesn’t work right (a “bug”) so the development team can fix it. That’s why it’s called quality assurance — you’re assuring that the game is high quality before it’s released to players.

Game Tester jobs do not require any kind of degree, and most don’t even require any past experience. But there’s a trade-off: game tester jobs pay among the lowest salaries in the game industry. However, many game developers (including me!) started their careers as game testers, and then moved to higher paying jobs after they got some industry experience. You can also choose to stay in the testing career, and earn more money as you gain experience, or even become a manager for other testers.

For example, an actual job posting for a Game Tester job at Rockstar Games asks for knowledge of Rockstar’s recent titles, but few other “hard” qualifications, and no degree requirement:

• Knowledge and experience of Rockstar’s recent titles
• Competent gaming ability
• An interest in and understanding of the video game industry
• Good general PC knowledge, including experience with Microsoft Office suite
• Good standard of written English

Game Community Manager (Starting pay: $35,000)

In the game industry, the Community Manager is a lifeline between the game’s development team, and the game’s community of passionate players. They work hand-in-hand with the players, the developers, and the game company’s business people, to help give players a voice in the creative process.

Some companies require their Community Managers to have a degree in a field such as Communications, or English. But most companies don’t require a degree. They may only require familiarity with the company’s games, plus some sort of proof that you are good at communicating with a community of people — for example, if you’ve volunteered as an admin or moderator for an online gaming group or message board.

For reference, an actual job posting for a Community Manager job at Wizards of the Coast asks for experience managing game communities, plus a passion and enthusiasm for communication and moderation, but no degree requirement:

• 3-5 years experience managing game communities
• Proficiency in social media management and reporting tools (such as Sprinklr)
• Experience with content management software a plus
• A dedication to fan communities and video gaming
• Creativity, passion, and enthusiasm for community management
• Experience monitoring, reporting, and managing community sentiment
• Knowledge of voice, tone, and other buzzwords for how we speak with our fans
• A mind for developing communications tools to help moderation teams interact with our fans in positive ways

Associate Producer (Starting pay: $43,000)

Every game team needs someone to help guide and focus them, so they can concentrate on doing great work. That person is the game’s Producer.

But as game teams have exploded in size — sometimes several hundred employees on a single game — additional help is needed. That’s where the Associate Producer comes in. From scheduling, to running meetings, to coordinating contract workers and game freelancers, the Associate Producer (AP) helps the Producer manage a team day-to-day. The largest game teams may even have multiple APs.

Because this is an entry-level position, most AP jobs do not require a degree. Some may require specific training, such as Scrum Master certification. Others might ask for some “hands on” experience, which you can get by working on indie game projects, or even by managing projects outside the game industry.

For example, an actual job posting for an Associate Producer job at ZeniMax Online Studios does not require a degree, but asks for hands-on experience, and familiarity with some of the common project-management software and methods, but no degree:

• 1-2 years of hands-on production or project management experience
• Proficient in Agile Development methodologies including Scrum, Kanban, and Lean
• Proficient with JIRA and Confluence
• Multi-platform online development experience
• Goal oriented and results driven
• Professional communication and interpersonal skills, including conflict resolution
• Must be able to keep focus on multiple tasks and effectively set priorities between projects

Associate Game Artist (Starting pay: $42,000)

There are at least a dozen different art specialties in the game industry — which makes sense, when you consider that everything you seen in a video game, from characters, to vehicles, to trees, to the heads-up display on your screen, was made by an artist. Game teams employ more artists than any other type of game job.

With the high demand for art jobs on game teams, you might be surprised to learn that the art field is probably the most “merit based” field in games. In other words: If you can make the art, you can have the job. Nobody really cares if you have a degree. (How do they know? They’ll take a look at your online art portfolio.)

For example, an actual job posting for an Associate 3D Character Artist at Bungie game studios requires some of the basic foundational skills and 3D modeling tools, and a passion to create great games, but no degree requirement:

• A well-rounded understanding of human anatomy, form, shape, structure, and silhouette
• Knowledge of 3D Max or Maya, Photoshop, Zbrush and/or Mudbox
• Ability to learn high to low poly pipelines
• Strong communication skills, and the ability to work well in a team environment
• Ability to take feedback
• Passion and desire to create great games

Game Journalist (Starting pay: $46,000)

As games have become a multi-billion dollar industry, nearly all news and culture websites publish video-game news and game reviews. Whether they’re writing about new games, e-sports, business, or game industry drama, one thing is for sure: video game journalism is here to stay.

For reference, an actual job posting for a Games Staff Writer at Kotaku requires writing skills, a passion for video games, and ability to hit deadlines, but notably does not include a degree requirement:

• An ambitious, bold writer who cares about video games
• Someone who has the ability to work well both independently and as part of a team, and to juggle multiple simultaneous projects with varying lead times
• Used to having deadlines and hitting them
• Has knowledge and familiarity with online publishing tools
• Maybe even can make a Photoshop or clip a great video….not essential, but it can’t hurt

How to get some game experience

Now that you know several game jobs that don’t require a degree, you might be wondering how to get the experience required to land one of these jobs.

You’ll need to take a different approach depending on the type of job, and most jobs have many different ways to get “educated” and get some initial experience. Check out these articles and podcast episodes to learn more:

• Do video game studios hire entry-level applicants? “Hiring managers in the game industry do look for entry-level applicants, and they do hire people who don’t have any professional experience. And it’s not even rare. It’s common. And there are some good reasons for it. “
• How can I get my first game job if companies require experience? “It can be done! All you need is a solid strategy for getting just enough experience to convince a hiring manager that you are worth a shot. Then, once your foot is in the door, you’re good to go. Because once you get that very first game job, you’ll have that professional experience on your resume. After that, your career is ready to take off.”
• 10 proven ways to break into the game industry: “You can get into game development. All you need is a solid strategy. Here are 10 strategies you can use to break into your first job at a video game studio, along with examples of pro developers that have done it. It worked for them, and it can work for you.”