The Games Game

Another Round of Core Answers (January 2006)

Hi Tom,

In May, 2006, I will be graduating from The Woodlands High School (Texas) and intend on pursuing a career in Game Design and Development. I am currently soliciting advice from industry professionals regarding an appropriate college degree that will prepare me for this career.

1. What colleges or universities in the U.S. are recognized by the industry for being leaders in game design and development?
2. What Bachelor Degree plan will best prepare me for a career in the industry, e.g. Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Computer Science, etc.?
3. Do you know of any industry-related scholarships for future college students, such as me?

If it would be easier for you to call, I can be reached weekday evenings at [telephone number omitted]; otherwise, your email reply will be appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.

Sincerely yours,

Hello Larson,

You have asked the questions asked most frequently by other young folks in your position. I'm pretty sure I've addressed all these questions in previous columns. But because they're asked so frequently, it seemed appropriate to answer them again (taking a little more care this time to be comprehensive). So here are your...

Answers (thank you for numbering them for me!):

1. All of them. And none of them.
2. Whichever one you choose is fine.
3. No. I don't.
4. Sorry, I don't give answers over the telephone. This is a web column! (^_^)

I guess that was a little brief, so let me elaborate a little.

1. The educational institutions of the world have not yet created a curriculum equal to the kind of "must-have" status that you assume exists. In other words, no school has yet created a program that churns out "guaranteed winners" who will unquestionably get jobs in the game industry immediately upon graduation.

That's the bad news. But there is good news! (And it's not about my auto insurance.)

The good news is that you can get any reasonable degree from any reasonable institution of higher learning, and have as good a chance of getting a job as anybody else! Is that great news, or what!

You could read the FAQs here on the IGDA website and find confirmation of this - or read the articles on my website to get more details. After getting a regular degree, if you still have money to spend on your education, you can supplement your education by going to a so-called "game school." The IGDA has a list of these schools.

2. OK, my first answer was a bit flippant. The true and genuine answer is, "It depends."

3. Regarding scholarships, if you do a careful search of the IGDA website and use several of the most popular search engines with the right carefully-worded search strings, you might find something. And then you could email me with your findings, and then we'd both know! (^_^)

OK, so my second answer to your question #2 was also a bit flippant. (^_^) (Another smiley - I may be on my way to setting a new record for myself!)

The degree that you should get depends on your interests. Which sort of game industry job do you aspire to? You didn't specify.

In case you didn't know, the game industry is specialized. See the IGDA's Breaking In site (and look at the credits for any published electronic game) to get clues about the different kinds of jobs and roles available in the game industry. Another great FAQ on breaking into the game biz (besides the FAQs on my site) is on the web at Obscure.

If you want a job as a programmer, you need a CS or Software Engineering degree (don't ask me what the difference is, I don't really know). If you want to make art for games, get a graphics degree. If you want to be a game designer, take courses like writing, literature, mythology, psychology, and lots of others that'll teach you how worlds work (see FAQ 3 on my site). If you want to own your own game company, get whatever Bachelors degree you feel like getting (preferably, one that will lead you into a job at a game company), then follow it up with an MBA degree, because running a company is ... guess what... business.

... Getting the idea yet? (^_^)

Wow. Three smileys... I don't think any of my previous columns have had so many! (^_^) Oops, that makes four. Jeez!

Oh. Sorry, I didn't explain #4 yet. That one isn't asked quite so frequently.

4. Because this is a column, the answers have to be delivered in writing, within the column. If I just phoned the answers to you, the readers of this column wouldn't know we even had this little discussion! That's how these things work, see.... (^_^) (Um... that makes five.)