For many, playing video games is simply a pastime. But there’s a lot that goes into game production. Companies like BetLabel know it’s not about one person’s skills. You also need level designers, animators, audio producers, and more. Each role is important. No one person does it all. This shows the teamwork behind every great game.
What Video Game Designers Do
Chris Curra from Richland’s Game Program says students think they need to know everything to work in gaming. The industry is highly specialized. It has roles like level designer, animator, and programmer.
Curra is a partner at Perpetual FX Creative. He has worked on games like Medal of Honor: Airborne and 007: Quantum of Solace. Since 2012, he and his team have grown the program from 50 to 350 students. They did this by offering focused game design and development training.
Is There a Degree Program for Making Video Games?
Students in art, animation, and design focus on:
- Character rigging
- Animation
- Visual effects
- 3-D modeling
Programming students work on things like object-oriented programming and game and simulation programming.
Classes in video game design are fun but challenging. Like anything, practice makes perfect. Mustafa Alobaidi, a Richland alumnus, aimed to specialize in programming. A class on game special effects hooked him. “There was a class they weren’t sure would run. So, I signed up on a whim,” he explained.
He realized he enjoyed the programming aspect of games, but it wasn’t quite the right fit. “The first time I took [special effects for games], I didn’t know animation was a career. It was interesting — both the instructor, the stuff he showed us, and the things we made. I didn’t get it at first because it was all art. I’m not an artist; I didn’t think I could do anything with art,” said Alobaidi. But the class had piqued his curiosity, so he forged on.
It caught my interest back then, so I ended up taking it again. The more I got into it, the more I got pulled; there was no escape anymore, and it clicked. “I took the class seven times. I learned different things each time,” said Alobaidi.
Are There Careers in Video Games?
Students usually enter the program as hobbyists. They need guidance on turning gaming into a career. As the program coordinator, Curra makes a point to meet with each student. She discusses their goals and outlines a plan for the program. If she can help it, nobody waits two years to ask questions like, “What do I do after graduation?” The program includes internships and hands-on projects. They provide real-world experience. As a result, students tend to get jobs. Sometimes they even find themselves moving halfway across the country.
To be clear, it didn’t happen at all once for him. He’d already applied for a few positions in various cities; they hadn’t panned out. “I was going through LinkedIn one day trying to find people to ask how they got started and got their first jobs,” he said. “I came across a company called FXVille, and I hadn’t heard of them but saw that they had an open position on their site. So I applied, and within about 30 minutes, I got a response from the CEO,” said Alobaidi. He went through the interview process, completing what’s known as an art test. Mustafa moved to Seattle to start his career as a special effects artist. This was a few weeks after applying and five months after his spring semester ended.
Conclusion
Video games are more than a hobby—they can lead to exciting careers. From design to programming, there are many paths to take in the gaming industry. With the right skills and guidance, it’s easier than ever to turn a love for gaming into a career.
