Adam Rudd

A message to those thinking about getting into games

TLDR: The Gaming Industry is a viable career. Do not be swayed by concerned parents or friends

I saw a poster in an artist interview with a robot looking into a vial with the word ‘Hope‘ Written in bold postery font yesterday. It’s been on my mind since then, because I think the word kinda embodies the spirit of the industry. You enrol into courses with the hope of working on some of the games which you’ve come to love, irregardless of the turmoil the industry has endured over the last few years. It’s damn cool that we’re still seeing people get out there and kicking, and pushing that dream, and if you are one of them, I’d like to reassure you that it’s totally worth it.

A career in games, whatever your family/colleagues/friends say, is a viable and interesting career. As someone who’s worked hospitality before, I now cherish being treated like an adult, working with fantastic cool (and secret!) ideas, and working with people who are just as passionate about the job as you are. Arguing about how the rain effect looks, or how the Hansoft signoff process works is cool, because these arguments stem from the passion to create the very best product we can. And passion is the reason why you should be going into this industry. If you’re just after the dosh, there’s a bunch to be made in mining, or accounting.

As a uni student, I had a ton of opposition by concerned parents who weren’t familiar with the multi-billion dollar industry. I’d like to say I stuck to my guns and pushed on, but I listened to these people, and took some sensible courses like “MicroElectronic Engineering”. I’d be up at 6 for 8am lectures about circuitry, then dragging work through 6 hour lab sessions which didn’t interest me. Rinse, repeat. Pass class, pass class, fail class, redo class. After a year and a half through this degree it became plain that something really had to change. It wasn’t the course; and I’d like to think it wasn’t anything simple like low intelligence. It was the simple fact that I didn’t want to do what I was told, and that I needed to change from doing what I was told, to doing what I wanted.

So, I had ‘that talk’ with my parents. If you’re about to do this, I highly suggest you do the following:

1) Do your research about the market and the profits
Seriously, Black ops has made more than $1 billion in sales, and it’s not even a very good game*
2) Forget to tell your parents about the lack of jobs in the industry right now
Stay positive
3) If all else fails, be an asshole to them and dig your heels in
It’s your life dude

Yes, be an asshole. Sometimes, you need to fight for your passion, and if you’re not allowed to even learn about what you want, then you need to crack the sads a little bit. Sure, you’ll feel a little rotten, but I can honestly say that I’d be feeling a whole lot more rotten if I didn’t lose it a little when my caring old parents got protective.

Push to get into games if you love them. Just remember, it’s hard, but satisfying work. And never stop learning or working towards that one job you want, even if it changes.

High fives,
Adam Rudd

*RCXD spam, stupid story arcs where a guy you’ve made chew glass then punched in the face becomes your friend about 1 minute afterwards (oh, and can talk), No knife seeking (knife slashes instead of stabs), minimal environmental dust effects to distract snipers and make it harder to hit you.