Link: http://gamecloud-ltd.com/career.html

Career in Gaming & Animation Industry

"Son, start thinking seriously about your career. Please don't tell me about your passion for gaming and all that stuff. All I can see is addiction and wastage of time! Finish your education, get a decent job and throw away all these video games first!"....Usual dialogue from parents. Feels depressing. Isn't it? Don't want to sacrifice your passion for sake of your career? Hmm...How about having a career that leads to your passion?

Video Game Industry is the biggest medium of entertainment today and it's turnover easily crosses the worldwide cinema and music industry. Games are spread across many platforms like mobile, tablets and other handheld devices. Now, thousands of games are released every year on mobile platforms like Android and iPhone. Games are not limited to console and PC anymore. Thus, creating millions of opportunities, not only for casual and hardcore gamers but also for the nerds who talk only about serious money. I have tried to describe few of the career options in Gaming & Animation industry which are as follows:

Game Tester - Easiest job to start with. Your addiction towards gaming makes you eligible enough for this job. You won't always be playing games of your choice to entertain yourself. Instead, you'll be playing random games repeatedly to find bugs / problems and generate systematic report accordingly. It is made sure that all the bugs / issues are solved before the game is released in market. Talk about outsourcing the Game Testing / QA work or get the work done in-house, Game Testers are always in demand!

Marketing & Business Development - Work as a marketing face for game company of your choice. There are no limits to your income level in this area. Passion and knowledge about games backed by communication and marketing skills can really bring you into the business. Totally dependent on your ability to convince people and the game product / service you are selling.

Technical Support / Customer Care - Managing community of gamers is the primary task. Basic requirements include English fluency and calm behavior. While the worldwide market of online games is booming, there is a larger scope for people with knowledge of multiple language. You can work as a Player Support Representative to answer calls / online queries in local languages of the respective region. For instance, Game Master's job on some French realm of "World Of Warcraft" to guide online French gamers in their local language. Same goes for many other servers and realms of different MMOs, hosted with different languages support according to the players of different regions. Just choose your language and select the MMO company of your choice for dropping a resume!

Artist / Animator - Planning to work with creators of Shrek for next blockbuster? Well, you can try! Number of options and packages are there to choose from. Different areas and tools are there to specialize such as 2D Animations in Flash or 2D Animation using tools such as Toon Boom Studio, 3D with Maya etc. Obviously, specialization in multiple software tools is always a plus. Depending on your choice and area of specialization, you can work as a 2D / 3D Animator for TV Commercials, serials, movies, game art / clips or web content. If you are planning enter area of Game Development, it's a different story. Technical Artists with thorough understanding of 2D and 3D art, including modelling, texturing, lighting, scripting, shading, rendering techniques and experience of multiple 3D modelling packages are highly paid. Such jobs also require knowledge of scripting and programming languages (e.g. C++) along with the Art tools and game editors.

Game Designer - Collaborative role to turn an concept into a detailed set of usable mechanics, interactions and rules. Knowledge of multiple graphic engines and skills at prototyping tools is a plus point if you intend to join a team of some AAA title. There are platforms where even an individual can implement his / her ideas into a game and pull millions of buyers! For instance, hundreds and thousands of games are developed every month for Android and iPhone platform(using engines / tools like Cocos2D, Unity etc).

There are individuals who left their jobs to work full time in game development on above platforms and earn more. Such platforms are creating millions of opportunities to individual game developers now. If you are capable of creating your own mobile game, you are as good as a team of some gaming studio!

Web Developer / Admin - Management and creation of websites, Forums, social media applications, online events across brand needs and game campaigns is involved. You have to work with programming and design teams to ensure that delivered work is of high quality, secure, professional, correct and on time. There are many gaming communities worldwide with millions of regular visitors on respective gaming portals. For instance, Garena gaming platform recruits people for forum management work on regular basis. Knowledge or experience of consumer entertainment, interactive multimedia and video games markets and good understanding of web programming languages and hosting environments is required.

HR / Recruitment - Sourcing candidates for Game Companies, Developers, Publishers etc by identifying their key recruitment needs. Research and recommend new sources for active and passive candidate recruiting, especially for experienced candidates. Effective use of social and professional networking sites, online events management for talent search, participation in relevant industry events to represent your employer/client etc are the primary responsibilities in this job. Again passion for games and competent English speaker gets a plus.

Programmer - You need to be a passionate gamer with a methodical approach, strong creative skills and deep motivation to create games, who can cope with the thrilling challenges of a development environment. Programming challenges faced during game development are on a different level and that's why not every programmer is a "game programmer". You have responsibilities like writing high quality code, using employer's/client's internal scripting language, team up with graphic artists, testers and other professionals to produce top quality content, communicating complex creative ideas in a clear and concise manner. Good programming, game scripting skills (C++ / Java / game scripting) is essential.

Localisation Expert - Work as a professional translator to translate video games according to requirements of your client / employer. Choose your language other than English and start working! You can also work to write subs or create dubs for popular games / animes / mangas. In case of Game QA with this position, you are responsible for testing the particular language version of the respective game content. This role includes, producing test scripts, providing translation and proofreading support etc.

Review Writer - Love to checkout all of the newly released games market? Think about becoming a Review Writer! Mention your experience in suitable words about games from different platforms like PC, MAC, Consoles(XBox, PlayStation, Nintendo used with new technologies and controllers such as Kinect), iPhone / iPad, Android Tablets and other handheld / mobile devices. Experience the gameplay thoroughly, compare with suitable titles, create a rating system while considering factors like Gameplay, Audio, Graphic, UI, Mojo etc. If you feel you can write a reasonable and genuine review, this job is for you. Passion for gaming, English fluency and skills with words is a must.

Audio Designer - This role involves Audio Design & Implementation, Composition, Instrumental and Voice Recordings, use of multiple audio hardware and software packages (e.g. ProTools, Cubase, SoundForge, Wwise, FMod, DS Nitro, various Plug-ins, Tracker Programs etc). Depending upon the platform(PC, playStation, Xbox, Wii, DS, PSP and iOS, Adnroid etc) and project, one may require basic coding skills in Actionscript, Java, Javascript, C++, HTML/XHTML/XML etc. It's not only about recording your funny voices or some music track. No matter what game, animation or movie you are working on, it's always going to need "Audio Engineering"!

Education - You can think about becoming a professor if you have great confidence and knowledge about your subject/area of specialization. Your passion for Gaming & Animation, ability to work on "beginner to expert" level and ability to work with people of all ages is very important. Relevant academic / professional qualification in the subject area backed by suitable certifications is necessary. Confident presentation and communication skills, in depth knowledge of industry standard tools and techniques of your subject, excellent knowledge of industry practices is a plus. If you have trained your students well to write a code or to animate smoothly, they'll definitely remember you in their good times. There is a serious shortage of capable trainers in the Gaming & Animation industry.

**Please note, above article is written to give rough idea about careers in gaming along with few of the 'possibilities' in the industry. You are not supposed to consider it as the only source of information in case you are planning to enter/advance in to the industry. Please forgive me for the content in raw style and no informative links, images & clips. I'll try to release one more article with technical details, average education / certification / experience needed, roles and responsibilities, hierarchies, detailed examples and average payouts to respective job positions etc. Of course, not all the jobs are mentioned in above list, you can expect few more in my next article.

Laxmikant@GameCloud-Ltd.com

www.GameCloud-Ltd.com