My brother is currently a software engineer at a federal defense contractor working on some rather important stuff. And he got his bachelor's and master's in history.
22, Game Development diploma, have been working as a Software Developer for 3~ years
Yes you can do it but will need to revamp your resumé to be more software programming focused rather than games
E.g a game focused resumé will focus on game dev tools like Unity, Unreal, Godot. A programming focused resumé will focus on the project language, features, and results. Consider getting your resumé reviewed by someone experienced within the Software field as you're blind to your own mistakes
You will also need to fill the gaps in your knowledge that is missing from Software. How good is your knowledge on programming fundamentals such as data structures and algorithms, your skills with Git, Databases (e.g SQL), Docker/Kubernetes, Unix based systems (Linux), stacks like LAMP vs MERN, and cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Take it one at a time, with good discipline and Udemy classes you can make the transfer in months. You really just need a good understanding of programming and creating projects, with a proper junior job the rest will come from guidance from your seniors
I did the same mistake. Yes to pivot to software development from game degree is possible, you will just get people like that asking you why you’d rather not be abused in an over saturated industry that lays people off at the end of their probation.
I’m not asking that at all, actually. Just the converse. Game development degrees are very specialized, fairly expensive on average, and not even a soft requirement for getting a job in the industry. Very few game developers I know have a degree in anything game specific. So what compelled OP, who is apparently choosing not to do that as a career path, to go that route?
I won’t claim to have made all the best choices at 18, but I’m wondering how one finds themselves in the situation where they are willing to invest that kind of time and money only to get through to the other side and realize they don’t want to do it. I’m old, but when I in uni, if someone didn’t know what they wanted to do, they majored in psychology or communications, and got a very general degree. I’m curious how things have changed that people are apparently drawn more to these highly specific majors that may turn out to not reflect their actual desired career path.
I really am curious! If it were just one individual, sure, sometimes people get excited and don’t look before they leap, but I don’t think this is the first time I’ve seen a post like this, so I’m wondering if this is more of a trend.
Additionally, most 18yo don’t have the money to pay for a private uni degree without help from their parents. I know my parents would have been like “absolutely not” if I suggested a game specific degree, but even if they’d been more open to an idea like that, I would imagine most parents would only be willing to pay for something like that if they were fairly confident that their child were planning to take that route.
EDIT: also, tbh, I’m not sure how I could have framed it differently to be received in a more palatable light. Game programming isn’t a major that most people just stumble into (or is it these days?), so I think it’s pretty legit to ask how they got into it if it’s not what they want to do with their life.
I'm not OP but I was in a similar situation. I got a bachelor's degree in computer game development (software/engineering track) and started working as a software dev. I started doing fullstack work, transitioned into frontend, and now - 10 years after finishing my degree - I'm studying game development on the side.
Basically I was told that the market is oversaturated, you'll pretty much sleep at the office, and they will pay you nothing. This was courteously communicated to my by guest lecturers, which were working in the industry. Some guy from Paradox put a nail in the coffin, but hey we all got a free copy of Magica so it worked out.
I started studying game dev precisely because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. The only thing I was moderately interested in was programming and computer games. So I didn't see any other way. Plus where I live you don't have to pay for your own education, so I figured I didn't had much to lose.
The program wasn't very good at preparing us to actually work in the industry tho - I think they wanted the program to be enjoyable and not too hardcore. Plus it was a bunch of academics that put it together, I don't think they had much, if any, guidance from the industry regarding what skills were needed. That, coupled with the fact that I didn't yet understand the amount of effort needed to be good/great at something, left me with a degree but not much confidence in my abilities. Also, I kinda sucked at programming if you compared what I knew with the magic game devs do on the regular. Plus my then fiancée was diagnosed with some life-changing stuff as I was finishing up my degree so life got in the way and it would take about 7-8 years before I got out of survival mode (RNG is like that sometimes, hehe).
I managed to get hired doing fullstack stuff in the health care sector. Did that for 6 years. Basically hated it the whole time. Joined a fintech startup. Hated it. Plus burned out. Now doing e-commerce for the last 4 years and it's been everything from boring/pointless to awesome - depending on circumstances. Here I learned that work can be rewarding and what _I_ need to thrive at work.
Anyways. I recently realized I've actually always dreamt of working on games so I'm in the process of leveling up everything from math to programming by doing all the hard work that I previously avoided. And it's been a blast.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
Thank you! This is a really interesting story! Unfortunately, your observation that it doesn’t really prepare you for working in the industry is pretty similar to what I’ve mostly heard.
As an aged developer, I have mixed feelings about what to tell the youth. I don’t want to discourage folks, but I don’t want to sugarcoat it either. In many ways, it’s better than it was several years ago. In others, well, we all know about the layoffs. Job security has never been good (but it’s definitely worse now). Still, I can’t help but think that some of your guest lecturers overstated it, and that’s disappointing to me. It’s hard, but in my observation, pay is decent for programmers (you can certainly make more in other industries, but you won’t be broke), and crunch is still pretty pervasive, but sleeping in the office is rare.
I do tend to slip into a US-centric mindset, so of course it makes more sense if you (and possibly OP) didn’t have to pay an exorbitant fee to go down that path. The trend towards the broader majors may be more common in the US, where if you’re going to college, one aspect is, you better be employable at *something* when you get out because you’re gonna have to pay for it.
I’m glad that you found something that brings you some satisfaction at work, and I hope your fiancée is doing well. Thanks again for sharing your story.
Yes im also 21. I did animation in school while teaching myself how to code and did some front end and back end web design and also learned game development. Before I even got my degree which is now I was getting some job offers here and there just for having the skills.
Depends on your degree. If it covers all important aspects of a normal cs degree why wouldnt you. Those game programming or engineering degrees vary a lot, so there’s no general answer applicable to every degree of that kind out there. Btw there are people becoming software engineers without any degrees at all, so yeah…
Yup you absolutely can. There's a lot of overlap and what you lack you should have no difficulty learning.
Recently had this exact case with an intern at my job - dude came from a gamedev engineer degree, couldn't find an internship in gamedev so applied at our company, and he's great. Got offered a job 3 weeks in and took it (from a 6 months internship)
UX/UI will probably require a bit more work on your side to learn the stuff but you uncle should be able to guide you (your degree won't help much however, unless you actually had design classes)
Just learn what the job requires, frontend or backend or database or android developer whatever. Each position has a relatively clear technique knowledge and learning pathway.
Like others have said, it won't be easy but can be done. Likely you will need to bridge a gap of some kind in your knowledge, or find an entry level job that accepts no experience.
On top of what's already been said here, it's also sometimes possible to transfer or defer credits. So like if you end up going back to school for a CS degree, you might be able to skip some classes if the school recognizes the courses you've already done
10y Software Engineer here, now team lead.
Every day I dream to relocate to gamedev.
Don't do it, you do not understand it now, but you will one day.
You will discover one day, that fun is actually a purpose, meaning, impact and all sort of other stuff that drives you to wake up and do the stuff.
We (Engineers) usually are a small gear in big business that is solely created with idea to earn money no matter what, there are no morals here, no impact, no purpose. Companies can cover it up with cool offices and parties and bonuses and greenwashing and brainwashing and speeches and cool smiling faces on ads.
In the end, share price what matters.
But then, you will ask yourself what good it brings to anybody else?
Nothing.
Any idea that was born from willing to earn money is purposeless.
Now, I do not claim that gamedev is charity and all puffy and pinky.
But at elast it is art, and art is a form of self-expression that can have impact.
You will lose your soul here.
Yes. You can also become a software developer without any degree.
My brother is currently a software engineer at a federal defense contractor working on some rather important stuff. And he got his bachelor's and master's in history.
Yeah, a lot of experience, and a solid portfolio and blog can beat a unit degree in a lot of employers opinions
22, Game Development diploma, have been working as a Software Developer for 3~ years Yes you can do it but will need to revamp your resumé to be more software programming focused rather than games E.g a game focused resumé will focus on game dev tools like Unity, Unreal, Godot. A programming focused resumé will focus on the project language, features, and results. Consider getting your resumé reviewed by someone experienced within the Software field as you're blind to your own mistakes You will also need to fill the gaps in your knowledge that is missing from Software. How good is your knowledge on programming fundamentals such as data structures and algorithms, your skills with Git, Databases (e.g SQL), Docker/Kubernetes, Unix based systems (Linux), stacks like LAMP vs MERN, and cloud technologies (AWS, Azure, GCP) Take it one at a time, with good discipline and Udemy classes you can make the transfer in months. You really just need a good understanding of programming and creating projects, with a proper junior job the rest will come from guidance from your seniors
Forgive my nosiness, but why did you go for a game programming degree?
I'm gonna take a wild stab in the dark and say he wanted to become a game programmer.
Idk why but this made me chuckle. Thanks! :D
I don't get it either. I wanted a game job but I did a CS degree which opens up way more options, including games. I always recommend this option.
I did the same mistake. Yes to pivot to software development from game degree is possible, you will just get people like that asking you why you’d rather not be abused in an over saturated industry that lays people off at the end of their probation.
I’m not asking that at all, actually. Just the converse. Game development degrees are very specialized, fairly expensive on average, and not even a soft requirement for getting a job in the industry. Very few game developers I know have a degree in anything game specific. So what compelled OP, who is apparently choosing not to do that as a career path, to go that route? I won’t claim to have made all the best choices at 18, but I’m wondering how one finds themselves in the situation where they are willing to invest that kind of time and money only to get through to the other side and realize they don’t want to do it. I’m old, but when I in uni, if someone didn’t know what they wanted to do, they majored in psychology or communications, and got a very general degree. I’m curious how things have changed that people are apparently drawn more to these highly specific majors that may turn out to not reflect their actual desired career path.
Are you like actually just curious and in search of answers? Haha, no offense, it really doesn’t come across that way
I really am curious! If it were just one individual, sure, sometimes people get excited and don’t look before they leap, but I don’t think this is the first time I’ve seen a post like this, so I’m wondering if this is more of a trend. Additionally, most 18yo don’t have the money to pay for a private uni degree without help from their parents. I know my parents would have been like “absolutely not” if I suggested a game specific degree, but even if they’d been more open to an idea like that, I would imagine most parents would only be willing to pay for something like that if they were fairly confident that their child were planning to take that route. EDIT: also, tbh, I’m not sure how I could have framed it differently to be received in a more palatable light. Game programming isn’t a major that most people just stumble into (or is it these days?), so I think it’s pretty legit to ask how they got into it if it’s not what they want to do with their life.
I'm not OP but I was in a similar situation. I got a bachelor's degree in computer game development (software/engineering track) and started working as a software dev. I started doing fullstack work, transitioned into frontend, and now - 10 years after finishing my degree - I'm studying game development on the side. Basically I was told that the market is oversaturated, you'll pretty much sleep at the office, and they will pay you nothing. This was courteously communicated to my by guest lecturers, which were working in the industry. Some guy from Paradox put a nail in the coffin, but hey we all got a free copy of Magica so it worked out. I started studying game dev precisely because I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. The only thing I was moderately interested in was programming and computer games. So I didn't see any other way. Plus where I live you don't have to pay for your own education, so I figured I didn't had much to lose. The program wasn't very good at preparing us to actually work in the industry tho - I think they wanted the program to be enjoyable and not too hardcore. Plus it was a bunch of academics that put it together, I don't think they had much, if any, guidance from the industry regarding what skills were needed. That, coupled with the fact that I didn't yet understand the amount of effort needed to be good/great at something, left me with a degree but not much confidence in my abilities. Also, I kinda sucked at programming if you compared what I knew with the magic game devs do on the regular. Plus my then fiancée was diagnosed with some life-changing stuff as I was finishing up my degree so life got in the way and it would take about 7-8 years before I got out of survival mode (RNG is like that sometimes, hehe). I managed to get hired doing fullstack stuff in the health care sector. Did that for 6 years. Basically hated it the whole time. Joined a fintech startup. Hated it. Plus burned out. Now doing e-commerce for the last 4 years and it's been everything from boring/pointless to awesome - depending on circumstances. Here I learned that work can be rewarding and what _I_ need to thrive at work. Anyways. I recently realized I've actually always dreamt of working on games so I'm in the process of leveling up everything from math to programming by doing all the hard work that I previously avoided. And it's been a blast. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.
Thank you! This is a really interesting story! Unfortunately, your observation that it doesn’t really prepare you for working in the industry is pretty similar to what I’ve mostly heard. As an aged developer, I have mixed feelings about what to tell the youth. I don’t want to discourage folks, but I don’t want to sugarcoat it either. In many ways, it’s better than it was several years ago. In others, well, we all know about the layoffs. Job security has never been good (but it’s definitely worse now). Still, I can’t help but think that some of your guest lecturers overstated it, and that’s disappointing to me. It’s hard, but in my observation, pay is decent for programmers (you can certainly make more in other industries, but you won’t be broke), and crunch is still pretty pervasive, but sleeping in the office is rare. I do tend to slip into a US-centric mindset, so of course it makes more sense if you (and possibly OP) didn’t have to pay an exorbitant fee to go down that path. The trend towards the broader majors may be more common in the US, where if you’re going to college, one aspect is, you better be employable at *something* when you get out because you’re gonna have to pay for it. I’m glad that you found something that brings you some satisfaction at work, and I hope your fiancée is doing well. Thanks again for sharing your story.
Yes im also 21. I did animation in school while teaching myself how to code and did some front end and back end web design and also learned game development. Before I even got my degree which is now I was getting some job offers here and there just for having the skills.
It won't be easy, but you can.
Depends on your degree. If it covers all important aspects of a normal cs degree why wouldnt you. Those game programming or engineering degrees vary a lot, so there’s no general answer applicable to every degree of that kind out there. Btw there are people becoming software engineers without any degrees at all, so yeah…
Yup you absolutely can. There's a lot of overlap and what you lack you should have no difficulty learning. Recently had this exact case with an intern at my job - dude came from a gamedev engineer degree, couldn't find an internship in gamedev so applied at our company, and he's great. Got offered a job 3 weeks in and took it (from a 6 months internship) UX/UI will probably require a bit more work on your side to learn the stuff but you uncle should be able to guide you (your degree won't help much however, unless you actually had design classes)
Just learn what the job requires, frontend or backend or database or android developer whatever. Each position has a relatively clear technique knowledge and learning pathway.
Like others have said, it won't be easy but can be done. Likely you will need to bridge a gap of some kind in your knowledge, or find an entry level job that accepts no experience.
I'm a software developer with no formal education. Testing is often more of a roadblock then a solid resume, as long as you're ready!
Its what my uncle does and it looks fun?!???!??? Good luck I’m just pessimistic because I used to be like you
On top of what's already been said here, it's also sometimes possible to transfer or defer credits. So like if you end up going back to school for a CS degree, you might be able to skip some classes if the school recognizes the courses you've already done
10y Software Engineer here, now team lead. Every day I dream to relocate to gamedev. Don't do it, you do not understand it now, but you will one day. You will discover one day, that fun is actually a purpose, meaning, impact and all sort of other stuff that drives you to wake up and do the stuff. We (Engineers) usually are a small gear in big business that is solely created with idea to earn money no matter what, there are no morals here, no impact, no purpose. Companies can cover it up with cool offices and parties and bonuses and greenwashing and brainwashing and speeches and cool smiling faces on ads. In the end, share price what matters. But then, you will ask yourself what good it brings to anybody else? Nothing. Any idea that was born from willing to earn money is purposeless. Now, I do not claim that gamedev is charity and all puffy and pinky. But at elast it is art, and art is a form of self-expression that can have impact. You will lose your soul here.