#Given genuine effort, is it realistic to get into game development in this day and age?

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

dense forge
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Hello 👋 I'm new here, so I apologize in advance if this post is redundant or misplaced.

(30YO)

I would love some input from the people who currently work in game development, specifically on the coding side of things.

Is it actually realistic to get employed as a game dev within the next 2 years, given you put in genuine effort? I ask because I'm a long term unemployed junior .NET "dev" and compared to the overall opportunities related to game dev, the .NET field seems way more reliable than game dev, no matter the language or role, even in the most stable of times, hence my hesitation. I feel like I am consistently failing as a job searcher right now, even though I code actively, engage in group projects, engage in coding communities, do the odd freelance web gig here and there. So it's hard to convince myself I would do any better within the game dev industry, even though I really, really enjoy it and feel like it scratches basically every creative itch I have.

I'm currently enrolled in a game dev school, ambition amongst the students seem high which I absolutely love, and I've been loving the education so far. Getting to make games 8+ hours a day and still feel like "It's what I'm supposed to do today. My task today is to get better at game development" has been absolutely amazing, and I've only been enrolled for 2 weeks. But at the end of the day... I hate being unemployed, I wanna work, and I feel like I can actually contribute.

I am so torn between just going for game dev full on no regret, student loans be damned, exercise my creative skills and believe in myself, or just... be realistic, take the tech industry hit for what it is and switch to a trade work profession.

I know I'm just a text message on a discord channel but any guidance, any answer, is so, so appreciated. To me, this is an existential crisis.

ripe edge
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I can guarantee it is still worth it, I have been coding for 4 years now, soon to be 5, through the desire to go into game dev I have seen many chances arise, companies not just in game dev, but IT in itself search for people who know how to develop. The skills you learn are 100% transferrable and are in high demand, despite the rise in AI there will always be a demand for people who have the knowledge and understanding as to how things work

dense forge
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Ok that gives me some hope. Thank you 😄 You say that you have coded for almost 5 years. Are you working as a developer or is it a passion of yours, that still has presented you with opportunities?

ripe edge
dense forge
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Swimming in work. That's the dream right now xD

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I hope your sales go well when they start 😄

ripe edge
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So do I... I invested heck of a lot into it, you can start for free of course, but I invested and want that pay off lol.

dense forge
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May I ask what you invested in? Equipment? Software?

ripe edge
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Equipment, software, license for assets

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Software mainly Adobe
Licenses things like music, 3D art, 2D sprites
Resources like courses to learn more
I have about half a tb of downloaded assets

dense forge
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What do you use Adobe for in this endeavour?

ripe edge
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Learning 3d painting and texture creation, so use the Adobe 3D suite

main gyro
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31yo just starting as well

delicate whale
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For me personally i got a job within field that's similar to game dev yet for arch vis in UE. Its far more stable and secured than typical game dev. I still doing my own hobby project and release when ready. But i think it is safestest way. Game dev is kind of on fire right now and i wont risk to go into it.

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And it pays lot more for the job i do 🙂

ripe edge
delicate whale
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No, regular Unreal Engine 5. But we support Twinmotion too. And as far as im aware is part of Epic now and its free to download and use.

ripe edge
oblique fable
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I'm 37 and I've been working as a game dev for 3 years now. I started as a mechanical engineer, then a civil engineer and worked on my games portfolio on the side.

That said I'm in educational game development. The pay is far below standard but I get to be in Unity 8 hours a day and pay the mortgage with it.

I used what is now Devpods.gg to get my portfolio fleshed out. I also had a friend that had a contact in the studio that got me the interview. So for me it was a bit traditional, portfolio and networking.

Dev Pods - Learn Skills, Join Teams, Make Games

Dev Pods Helps You Learn Game Dev By Working On Real Games With Live Teams - So You Can Finally Finish Projects!

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It took me about 3 years of active work to get proficient enough to where I was confident enough to look for work. It sounds like you're in a good place there.

thorny shoal
# oblique fable I'm 37 and I've been working as a game dev for 3 years now. I started as a mech...

I struggle to find this very useful, but maybe I am not seeing the full picture.
I only took a glance over the website, but it doesn't seem to me, that paying $40/mo to make a few contributions to a game that gets released under Devpods, will really look good on a portfolio?
I would think that making a couple small games yourself, versus displaying a few github contributions to a few random games, would look much better?

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Also, that website says they release all the games for free. But I checked and some of them are listed on Steam and not free. Also, the two I checked had very bad reviews. Lol.