5 top tips for Breaking into the games industry

CIG artists Josh herman and nathan dearsley share their expert advice for breaking Into the dynamic world of Gaming

1 Portfolio is King “Specifically, the first 10 per cent of it,” says Nathan. “Don’t be in the habit of thinking that quantity makes quality because it doesn’t. In fact, it’s usually the opposite.”

“Only show your best stuff. You will be judged by your weakest piece on your reel/ site,” says Josh.

2 try to find your niche “There’s no point in applying to Blizzard if all you want to do is make something that’s the complete polar opposite,” says Nathan. “Because ultimately, you’ll get there and be unhappy and that’s not cool. If you want to make fantasy-type games, go and work for Blizzard. If you want to make space games, come and work for us. It’s very straightforward. Always try to focus your portfolio on that.” Josh mirrors that advice: “If you know what you want to do, specialise. Knowing as much as you can about the other disciplines is great, but if you want to get a job you will need to have professional-level work in at least one of them. Specialising is the best way to do that.”

3 Be Prepared to fail. a lot “Failure is a big part of personal development,” Nathan comments. “Fail lots – you’ll come out the other end better for it.”

4 Mix with the community “Get involved, start liking artists on Facebook, comment on their work, get out there and start mixing with people on places like Polycount because it’s an extremely small world and an even smaller industry. You just never know where that next work offer will come from,” Nathan says. “Project a really good image of yourself online.”

5 Be nice! “No one wants to work with a jerk,” says Josh. Nathan agrees, especially when it comes to interviewing. “When you do get to the point where you’re getting interviews, make sure you research the company you’re going to be interviewed with. I’ve sat in a few interviews where, when asked about the company, the answer is just a blank face. From that it’s clear you obviously don’t really want to work for us that much. Even if your work is great, at that point, I’m not really interested in working with you.”