How do I get into the game industry

Education, Privilege, and “College”

• Some argue that being able to attend even “free” post‑secondary (UK-style college/sixth form) implies at least some economic privilege; others point out that in the UK context it’s closer to extended high school, not US-style university.
• There’s acknowledgment that credentialism matters for getting hired, even if the work itself could be learned independently.

Core Advice for Getting In

• Learn to program (often C++/engine-focused) and understand 3D pipelines; some recommend also learning art seriously to collaborate better and/or operate as a solo dev.
• Build small, finished projects: console games (hangman, minesweeper, Tetris), simple clones, jam games, or polished tools/add‑ons that real people use.
• Finish > start: employers care more about shipped, polished small things with “juice” than ambitious, half-finished epics.
• Use engines (Unity, Unreal, Roblox, etc.) and participate in game jams and modding scenes; a visible portfolio beats following endless tutorials.
• Prepare for credential-heavy hiring (LeetCode, interview patterns), even though many see this as arbitrary.

Market, Discoverability, and Marketing

• It’s easier than ever to make games; standing out is harder than ever. Steam is flooded with low-effort or amateur titles; the real competition is a small subset of high-quality releases.
• Some claim “if your game is truly great it will be found”; others strongly disagree and cite solid games that failed financially—marketing, timing, genre saturation, and luck matter.
• There’s talk of a growing “middle class” of small/medium studios making a living, but few become big hits.

AAA Jobs, Outsourcing, and Working Conditions

• Multiple commenters with industry experience warn that now is a terrible time to enter AAA: layoffs, offshoring to cheaper regions, crunch, low pay, and unstable careers, especially in the US.
• Studios increasingly outsource large portions of production; some see unionization, WFH, and rising US salaries as accelerants for offshoring.
• Advice from several: consider not joining the traditional industry at all; if you do, expect hard work, not “playing games all day.”

Platforms, Mods, and User-Generated Ecosystems

• Modding platforms (Garry’s Mod, S&box, Roblox, Fortnite UEFN, Minecraft) are praised as great on‑ramps: huge built‑in audiences, free infra, and monetization paths.
• There’s speculation that “all games will be mods” as platforms chase the Roblox/Minecraft/Fortnite model, though competing with incumbents is seen as very difficult.

Skills, Specialization, and Technical Reality

• Game dev is described as “six disciplines in a trench coat”: programming, design, art, audio, production, and more.
• Strong emphasis on performance thinking (frame budgets, memory layout, multithreading), though some argue most engine/gameplay programmers only profile when performance is visibly bad.
• Clean code vs. hacks is debated: some say clean architecture slows you down in games; others insist clean, well-structured code is crucial for shipping larger projects.
• One route in is deep specialization (engine/graphics/physics), which is rarer but demands strong math and low‑level skills.

Generative AI and the “Holodeck” Idea

• A few foresee AI assembling games from prompts, automating art, voices, environments, and design, with IP holders as the main long‑term winners.
• Others are skeptical: players value authored experiences, communities, and iterative design; users don’t know what they want, and AI‑generated “infinite mediocre games” may not replace crafted ones.

Audience, Quality, and Harsh Self-Assessment

• Some argue most games (and movies) fail because creators lack clear taste and honest self‑critique; making something simple, focused, and genuinely fun already beats most of the market.
• Increasingly, having any visible audience (itch.io, Steam, ArtStation, SoundCloud, social) is treated as proof of being “good enough” to hire; if nobody cares after repeated attempts, several suggest either improving significantly or reconsidering the path.