Hey everyone my name is Joshua i live in the UK and recently started learning C++. What i would like to know is whether game companies require programmers to have degrees or would a good demo be enough. I''m currently due to start applying to uni but am not sure if i want to go.

Some games companies do want you to have a degree, or industry experience, but not all of them.
But ( in my opinion ) if you have only just started learning to program it is not very likely that your demo will be good enough to land you a job in the games industry, by the time you leave college in 6 months. Going to university will give you time to work on your programming skills and build up a portfolio of work to send to prospective employers. There are several uni''s in the UK that actually run computer game programming courses, which you might find more interesting than computer science or some other computing course.

Hi, I'm from the UK. I strongly suggest going to University. I've just finished a degree in BSc Computer Games Programming at the University of Teesside. They also offer other games related degree you might wan't to check out.

University of Teesside Homepage
University of Teesside School of Computing & Mathematics

[edited by - Naku on October 19, 2002 11:03:33 AM]

Hey guys,
I was wondering the exact same thing but I live in Ireland and I dont think there are any game programming courses here. So Would it be okay If I did something like a computers programming degree? And then maybe something like a post graduate degree in game programming?
would it be better to study somewhere else and do a game programming course?
Thanks for any help,
Matthew

I can say with certainty that where I work they usually do not hire anybody except they have at least a bachelors degree. Master''s degrees are prefered. Besides this people must show a resume that shows that they really like games - we have rejected applications from ph.ds because they lacked interest in games.

However, if you have made something exceptional that may compensate for a degree. For instance, if you are known in the mod community for make excellent mods or you have made some awesome demos (good enough to win awards at demo parties) that may be good enough.