Technical Skills that Will Get You Ahead in the Gaming Industry

If your dream is to work in the video game industry, you are probably wondering right now what skillsets will help you most in landing the first job. There are a lot of positions within game developers, and most of them require very specific experience, but these general skillsets will help you immensely in your quest to land one of these jobs.

Programming Skills

Programming is a fundamental skill in all game development. Even if you don’t plan on applying as a programmer, programming skills can help you land jobs in game testing or animation. Testers are asked frequently work on white boxes to determine the roots of a bug in the game. They are also asked to provide detailed data about bugs and programming knowledge will help you better present that information in a bug report.

Data Entry and Processing

While the primary duties of any game developer will be in programming, design, or testing, you will also need to retrieve and input a lot of data every day. This includes bug reports, test cases, and new information going into and out of the computer. Speed and accuracy are key here.

Technical Writing

Directly with data entry, developers are expected to write detailed reports that outline what they have done. Bug reports are required from testers, test cases are required from programmers and builds must be highly documented to ensure the right information is provided to all parties. Hundreds of people provide small bits of input on a major project. To make sure it runs smoothly, they all need to communicate clearly.

Math and Logic

Finally, there is general math and logic. Thinking logically will help you solve problems and postulate new ways to do things in a game. This will come in handy not only in programming but in testing or animation.

Building your reputation in the game industry won’t happen overnight. You must prove to your prospective employers that you have specific skills they need and that you can put them to use in the confines of their corporate environment. If you can do that, you will not only have one foot in the door, you’ll be able to start working your way up quickly. Remember; it’s all about confidence. Show you can do it, and you will be rewarded.