How to become a video game developer: from learning the basics to getting your first job

Gerard Hill -

Becoming a video game developer is a dream for many game enthusiasts. Heck, being involved in video game creation is a dream for many game enthusiasts. Growing up in the 90s, a lot of us 90s kids thought being a “video game tester” was like the coolest job in the world. You get paid to play video games, right? Mind-blowing! And then you grow up and your dreams are shattered when you realize video game testers basically play the same levels over and over (and over) again, documenting every little bug they find.

The same can be kind of said for video game development. Kids dream of being game develops, creating their own video games. It’s simple, right? You design some characters, write a plot for your game, and then….you create your game, right? By magic. Your awesome game just magically appears once you have an idea for it.

Sorry kids, that’s not how it works. Developing video games is one of the most arduous, time-consuming projects you can embark on. First off, you need to know how to code. That is singly the most important skill for a game developer. Sure, graphic design and storytelling are complementary skills to have, but Mario ain’t saving Princess Peach without 6502 assembly code to get him there.

Fortunately, coding is a bit easier than it used to be, since games aren’t written in native machine code anymore. Now we have things like JavaScript/HTML5 (for browser games), and C# / C++ for more advanced games.

Getting started on your own

A beginner game developer will definitely want to get started in JavaScript/HTML5, and develop some browser games. And you might even make some money along the way – a lot of incredibly simple browser games went on to viral popularity, earning huge revenue for their creators. For example, look at the Five Nights at Freddy’s – it’s developer, Scott Cawthon, had been making mostly 2.5D side scrollers in his free time. FNaF was created in Clickteam Fusion 2.5, and went absolutely viral. Scott created numerous sequels (only a few months part for each release), and there’s been several spin-offs, such as FNaF World and FNaF: Sister Location.

Other incredibly simple viral games include titles like Slither.io, Flappy Bird, 2048 – the latter which was created in a single weekend.

If you focus on creating simple browser games for a while, you can move onto creating multiplayer games. This will greatly enhance your skill set, because developing network code is one of the hardest parts about multiplayer game creation. It’s when you start getting into things like server hosting, chunk per frame updates, and everything else that makes multiplayer games run smoothly for everyone connected to the game.

You can also try your hand at creating more advanced games. If you’d like to go cross-platform, such as targeting mobile and desktop platform, Unity is a great choice. It has a bit of a learning curve, but since you’ve already become experienced with creating HTML5/Javascript, moving onto C#/C++ is a logical step-up that will enhance your portfolio for a serious career in game development.

For Unity games, you can get a lot more complex than you can with HTML5/Javascript games. Unity is suited for both 2D and 3D games, but it really excels at creating 3D games. It also allows for exporting to WebGL, so you can target browser platforms as well. As a great example, the popular first-person shooter Bullet Force has a browser client, mobile client, and a desktop client is being developed. Bullet Force has graphics and gameplay highly similar to CS: GO, yet runs pretty flawlessly in a browser.

In any case, developing a few games, even if they’re simple browser games, is a great thing to put on a college application and future job resume. It shows you’re passionate about games, are motivated, and it also showcases your personal work.

Finding a job in game development

In the old days of game development, it was possible to get a job with a big studio through portfolio examples alone. Epic Games, the developers of Unreal Tournament, have a history of hiring people directly from the modding scene. If you had experience in designing levels, graphics, and gameplay mods, you could show your work to big studios and possibly be hired for future game developments.

Things are a bit deeper these days, however. Many of the big name studios want someone with a resume. That means a college education (preferably in game development courses), and some experience in the professional game development field, such as interning for smaller game studios.

Some of the top-rated universities that offer gaming courses are:

  • University of Southern California
  • University of Utah
  • DigiPen Institute of Technology
  • Rochester Institute of Technology
  • Savannah College of Art and Design
  • Drexel University
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
  • New York University
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Carnegie Mellon University

This is just a short list, you can check out more on “The Top 75 Video Game Design Schools: College World Rankings & Reviews”.

While you’re in college, it’s the best time for polishing your skills by creating games in your free time, working with other studios, and interning for small game studios. For finding internships, you can either apply directly at game studios, though be prepared to explain why you applied specifically to that studio. Some of the top game companies that offer intern programs are:

  • Blizzard
  • Riot
  • Activision
  • Ubisoft
  • 2K Games

 For a better idea of what’s available near your specific location, you look through game company internship listings on a focused site like GameDevMap. Also be sure to check out our podcast episode featuring Michael Casalino, a gaming industry veteran with 15+ years of experience in game design, who is currently the CEO and Chief Creative Officer at 5518 Studios.