The Games Game

The Lone Wolf (August 2004)

Dear Tom,

I've read all the advice on the IGDA site and on your site about how to get into the game industry. Get a university degree, make a demo, network, get a job, work your way up, and so on. The only problem is, I I live in a country where there aren't any game companies. The only way I could get a game job would be to move to another country. And without going into the details, I shall say only that moving to another country is not an option for me. So what is a person like me to do?

Dear Withheld,

"The usual advice" applies only to "the usual industry hopeful." Your circumstances lie outside the realm of the usual situation, so the usual rules don't apply to you. One of my most-oft-stated rules of life is, "there is an exception to every rule -- even this one." Your situation is just such an exception.

Normally I advise against the "lone wolf" route. But since there is no game industry in your country, and you need to stay in your country, you have no choice but to start the game industry there yourself.

You need to get more education than the usual industry hopeful would. In addition to your programming and/or graphics courses (whichever way your talents lean), you will also need to study business, management, and marketing. That's assuming that you aren't already beyond college age.

You won't be able to do it all yourself. You'll need to find like-minded people in your area and find creative ways to get started working together, on little or no income from your joint endeavors. Income can only come in after you've shown yourselves to be an effective team.

There are multinational mod teams engaged in long-distance collaborative projects. You may find it useful to get involved in some of those to develop your skills and learn how to discipline yourself and manage others remotely. Making independent games and entering them into competitions can be one way to get noticed.

When you do start getting contacts with mainstream companies, though, beware of speculative work offers. If somebody says "make me a demo, I can't pay you anything but it could turn into something," just say "no, thanks." You need to be paid - it is typical for startups to get less, but it just flat doesn't pay to work for free.

I wish I could tell you more, but you're going to have to try things yourself, be creative, and blaze paths to places I myself have not gone. Good luck.