Quote: Original post by Buster2000
Lots of companies have HR departments who are paid to sift through applications and they won't even consider you without a degree unless you have a lot of experience.

Partly correct.

Imagine you have 10 applications for a single job opening. Four have college degrees and varying degrees of (non-game) experience, two have no degree but a few years of industry experience, and one has both a degree and industry experience. The remaining three have no degree nor any experience.

Based ONLY on that information, which of those people would you call in for an interview?

Quote: Original post by Werty
I was once listening to a seminar about landing a job in the games industry by a guy from Remedy (Max Paynes, Alan Wake)... or was it Bugbear (Flatouts)...

Nevertheless what I remember from the seminar is that game studios value experience above anything else. The guy said that if they had to hire either a guy with a degree with outstanding grades who has no experience in making games or a guy who has no degree but tons of experience, they would hire the guy with experience in an instant.

I dare say that there are very few people who can manage straight A's at a decent university without any prior experience in the field.

Quote: Original post by frob
Based ONLY on that information, which of those people would you call in for an interview?

In order of preference they would be...
First the one who has both a degree and industry experience.
(Equal) second the two who have no degree but a few years of industry experience,
Third are the four have college degrees and varying degrees of (non-game) experience,

Would probably only call the folks with no degree/experience if all the above turned out to be a bust.

Having said that this question of Degree vs experience is a little meaningless. A degree is a lot of help when you are trying to break in to the industry. Many entry level positions require one. However, once you are in and you have industry experience your qualifications matter a lot less - that is unless you want to relocate to another country at which point it helps with immigration.

It does also depend on what you mean by a few years industry experience.
This could mean anything from part time QA work to lead engine programmer on a next gen AAA title.
But at the end of the day like i said no degree or experience no interview. And saying something like "but what if i had a really amazing demo" doesn't help because without the right stuff on paper nobody will even see the demo.

Quote: Original post by Obscure

Quote: Original post by dgreen02
....I'd say sure, if you're an artist and you can create great art...why does it matter if you have a piece of paper or not?

It matters because some studios will only accept applicants who have a degree. That means that not having one limits your chances and makes it less probable that you will get a job.

Maybe if you're applying to be a code monkey at some 10,000 person corperation. Would you name a game studio that will not look at an artist's portfolio if he doesn't have a degree? I'm just curious. I would even argue that the best people for the job would be the ones who didn't finish college or didn't even start it because they excelled at their particular skill...so that can't be a true statement that they "only" accept people with degrees.

Although you don't need a degree, the game companies you apply to will have much higher expectations of your skill set and may even require (some limited) experience for you to be considered on par to people coming out of school. The key thing is...focus on ONE subject (don't try to be a programmer/artist/producer/audio guy), just one! Learn as much as you can, make a good portfolio (artists, audio guys and even programmers nowadays have portfolios of their projects). Ask for peoples opinions, don't take it personally when they say you suck and need to fix XYZ to make things better. Once you're portfolio looks good, send it out, and continue improving.

There are tons of game companies in the Vancouver-area and the requirements definitely differ from studio to studio but there's always a need for talented individuals. If you can show your talent (this is where skills improvement from criticism is vital), you should have no problems at all getting into the industry.

So is xrgrfxrdf still reading this, is he getting the answers to the questions he hasn't asked us yet?
I know, I get irksome about how questions are worded - but as with the other irksome things I do, there's a reason for it and a point behind it.

It's extremely useful in life to be able to identify within one's own mind exactly what one's question is in the first place, and to be able to express it clearly to others in the second place.

We hear all the time from wannabes who say college is not possible (or that they're just plain not gonna do it regardless of whether it's possible or not). OK, then college is out - so what are you gonna do to compensate for that? Anyway, for all I know, the OP has lost interest in the thread she* started.

(* Referring to her as "she" will surely get his goat and make her him end the silence if she he hasn't given up.)

Quote: Original post by tsloper
So is xrgrfxrdf still reading this, is he getting the answers to the questions he hasn't asked us yet?
I know, I get irksome about how questions are worded - but as with the other irksome things I do, there's a reason for it and a point behind it.

It's extremely useful in life to be able to identify within one's own mind exactly what one's question is in the first place, and to be able to express it clearly to others in the second place.

We hear all the time from wannabes who say college is not possible (or that they're just plain not gonna do it regardless of whether it's possible or not). OK, then college is out - so what are you gonna do to compensate for that? Anyway, for all I know, the OP has lost interest in the thread she* started.

(* Referring to her as "she" will surely get his goat and make her him end the silence if she he hasn't given up.)

Lol...I loved your "you'll be getting more publishing requests than you can swat a wiimote at" comment in that other thread. Classic. You must get increadble kicks out of doing this...also your Q/A section on your website is good entertainment.

I guess my question was a little vague. I understand that in this buisiness there are alot of different variables that can effect whether or not a person can get a position, let alone the one he or she wants.

With that said, "is it possible?" seems like too much of a catch all question.


From what I can tell, as long as I have a impressive portfollio, it should'nt really matter if it has a piece of paper attached to it. I mean, studios really only care about the end result right? Who cares how you got there as long as the quality is evident and that its obviouse you worked hard on the portfolio.


Has anyone heard of success from a situation akin to mine?


PS. As long as you guys are willing to respond, I'll keep sharpening my questions.

Quote: Original post by Obscure

Quote: Original post by frob
Based ONLY on that information, which of those people would you call in for an interview?

In order of preference they would be...
First the one who has both a degree and industry experience.
(Equal) second the two who have no degree but a few years of industry experience,
Third are the four have college degrees and varying degrees of (non-game) experience,

Would probably only call the folks with no degree/experience if all the above turned out to be a bust.

Having said that this question of Degree vs experience is a little meaningless. A degree is a lot of help when you are trying to break in to the industry. Many entry level positions require one. However, once you are in and you have industry experience your qualifications matter a lot less - that is unless you want to relocate to another country at which point it helps with immigration.

Evaluating an artist's skill / value is completely heuristic. I've looked over hundreds of artists' resumes/portfolios, and not once did I even wonder if they had a degree or not. The only thing that mattered is how good their artwork is. It was always for contract work, but I'd imagine hiring somebody fulltime you'd look for the same characteristics/abilities.

This is the main reason I think it's foolish to simply have a binary [yes/no] qualifier as a pre-requisite for looking at somebody's portfolio, or considering them for a job. You can size up an artists' skill in a matter of seconds when provided with a proper portfolio [not having a proper portfolio would be a disqualifier obviously]. I don't see where the piece of paper comes into the equation.

Now if he wanted to be a programmer it might be a different story. Though I'd still say there are exceptions, which is why I hate absolutes like "only if you have a degree". I think they are foolish.