The Game Industry visual effects (VFX), management, music, art, Course leaders will also want to see evidence command around £55,000 whilst entry-level 2D or 3D; or have a wider skill set that includes and design. of your interest prior to admitting you onto a positions like Quality Assurance Technicians are design and animation. The video game industry includes the design, development, marketing, and degree course or apprenticeship; so don’t wait paid an average of £14,000. 14% of employees entered the industry through Experience is an important step in starting sales of video games and interactive experiences across all digital platforms to start building your skills and networks. vocational or alternative non-degree routes but Choose a game industry career that you will your career; read trade magazines, enter from arcade machines to computers, home and handheld consoles, mobiles less than 1% entered industry as an apprentice. love and that is well suited to your skills competitions, attend events, and join forums. and tablets, along with new technologies like virtual reality (VR). Video Game industry apprenticeships are currently Game Industry Skills and Jobs because you will most likely be working long Being part of a creative community will help you games are one of the UK’s most important creative industries worth over in development and are likely to become The skills needed to work in the game industry hours (average 44 hours pw); doing something to find opportunities to gain experience and to £4 billion in annual consumer spend. increasingly popular with employers. are broad and varied, with large and small that you will enjoy and can stay focused on is develop and showcase your skills crucial. The better you become at whatever you (try hiive.co.uk). The course you choose will need to be industry development studios needing different skills to do, the greater your earning potential will be. UK Game Industry Who Works in Games? relevant. Creative Skillset’s ‘Tick’ recognises publishers or distributors. Be enterprising. You could get a customer The UK game industry dates back to the 1970s It is estimated that 30,000 people work in the university courses that have demonstrated their instead of getting a job. There are lots of ways In general, the smaller the studio the broader Getting Started in the Industry when home computers were first introduced; UK game industry across roles in development, relevance to industry (www.creativeskillset.org/ the set of skills that you will need because to use your skills as a freelancer, sole trader or since then is has grown into a multi-billion publishing and retail; approximately 5,000 courses); but whichever route you are planning employees often fulfil a range of jobs which Most game jobs have several levels of seniority, start-up; so don’t overlook setting up pound sector that is one of the fastest growing people are employed in the mobile app to follow, look into the destinations of other might include design, programming, or even for example, programming roles may include: by yourself. in the UK economy, growing by 7% each year. development sector alone. students who have taken that route before (sites production. The more responsibilities a single • junior programmer (entry level) like Linked-In or hiive.co.uk can help). If those More than 33 million people play video games The game industry has the youngest workforce person has, the broader the set of skills, • programmer you are following are employed in the kind of in the UK, with 57% of us engaging in some in the creative media sector with 68% of knowledge, and experience they require, but jobs that interest you, then you are probably on • senior programmer way. Girls are just as keen to play as boys with employees under 35 years (79% for women), also the more scope they will have to develop the right track. • principal programmer (technical) 86% more than 43% of players being female. The compared with 35% of the UK workforce as new skills and impact on the game as a whole. • lead programmer (scheduling/production) growth of mobile applications (apps) and new a whole. In a larger game development company, job Of workforce technologies like VR, have increased the range There is also a wide range of specialisms within The sector is increasingly diverse with 29% roles tend to be more specific like 3D Artist, each field like character, environment, and have degrees and popularity of games worldwide. of current Higher Education games course £34,000 Shading, or Animation. Employers will want you texturing artists who may specialise further in students being female and 22% from a BAME Average to excel at something that they really need done Where is the UK Game Industry? background. well, so don’t spread your skills too broadly and The video game industry is flourishing across the Income keep developing your main areas of expertise. In 2014 permanent staff accounted for 84% of Looking for Further Advice? UK with around 2,000 companies engaged in ££ Roles in business management, publishing, jobs, with freelancing lower than in any other development, publishing, and distribution. 95% creative media sector just at 16%. and distribution require administration, legal, If the game industry sounds like the perfect career for you, there is a lot more information of companies are micro or small businesses with Develop Yourself finance, marketing, and sales skills in place online, these websites are a great place to start: 50 or less employees. of the technical and artistic skills demanded Getting Qualified & Choosing the Whichever route you choose to follow, Creative Skillset, the creative industries skills body & Tick accreditation: in development. Game companies are rarely More than half of the UK game industry Right Course developing your skills, experiences, and http://creativeskillset.org/creative_industries/games (54%) is located in London and the South networks will be just as important as gaining conventional corporate workplaces, so they can East, but the Midlands, North of England and The game industry has a highly qualified qualifications. be a great place to grow your career, no matter BAFTA Games Guru website: http://guru.bafta.org/skills/games Scotland are also major centres, and there are workforce with 86% holding a degree. Of these what interests or expertise you may have. Game designers, artists, and programmers UKIE – The UK Interactive Entertainment trade body: www.ukie.org.uk also high concentrations (20+ companies) in 49% hold a creative media related degree and @iamdavegray can start honing their skills from an early age Brighton, Cambridge, Cardiff, Surrey, Liverpool, 29% hold a post-graduate qualification. through the wide availability of free industry- What do Game Employees Earn? TIGA – The Interactive Games Association: www.tiga.org Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield, and Warwickshire. More than 60 UK universities/colleges provide standard software like the Unity and Unreal The average pay across the game industry is NextGen – The NextGen Skills Academy, courses and apprenticeships: Thanks to: Alex Darby and Marcia Deakin undergraduate video game courses (+40 game engines. These enable you to develop and at just over £34,000, however, there are wide www.nextgenskillsacademy.com Commissioned by Yen Yau. Funded by the Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund, as part of A Bigger Future masters level courses), with more than 3,000 share your creations through forums, blogs and variations depending on job role and level of 2, a response to the Next Gen Report (a review of the skills needs of the UK’s video games and visual 30,000 students studying game related courses video sharing sites. seniority. Lead programmers regularly earn Game Dev Map, shows games development companies around the world effects industries). each year. above £50,000, those leading design, art or and whether they are hiring: http://www.gamedevmap.com All employers will want to see a portfolio of Employed in animation earn an average of £36,000, and Skills Fusion is a VFX careers outreach programme funded by the Creative Skillset Film Skills Fund Other qualifications common in the game your work or examples of code that you have London Creative Edge, free software list: www.theedge.london/resources senior producers can earn in excess of £50,000. Statistics courtesy of Creative Skillset and UKIE this sector industry include computer programming/ written in addition to your qualifications. computer science, physics, maths, animation, Specialist roles like audio programming Follow us on Twitter: @intofilm_edu & @getintofilm Original concept © 2016 Ian Murphy and Allan Burrell. Additional design by Dave Gray. All rights reserved. ART Animator PRODUCTION CAREERS IN Artificial Intelligence Programmer (AI) QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA) User Experience (UX) and Concept Artist Breathes life into creatures and objects Game Producer AI describes any action taken by a computer User Interface (UI) Designer Uses traditional and digital art skills, like (created by 3D/2D artists), so they move and Unlike film, theatre and TV, the role of game which appears intelligent, and is most QA Technician drawing and painting, to bring different behave realistically, and with personality, to UX designers plan what a game producer does not typically have a creative commonly used to allow computer controlled Despite popular belief, QA technicians don’t aspects of a game idea to life so that other become a believable part of the game world. communicates with the player to ensure ease component. Producers are responsible for characters to make believable decisions. just get paid to play games all day. QA team members have something to work Animators work with artists and programmers of use and player enjoyment. UX designers making sure that projects get delivered on They usually work closely with gameplay technicians test specific aspects of a game, from.