As games industry recruiters, we’re very conscious of how difficult it is for new talent to break into the games and interactive industries. It’s very rare that games studios ask us to find individuals to fill junior positions, so unfortunately we often find that we have to turn away junior and graduate talent. For this reason, we’re on a mission to offer help and advice to graduate and junior level talent, in order to help them break into the industry.
To do this we’re using data from our 2023 Games & Interactive Salary and Satisfaction Survey (read the full report here!). In this year’s survey we asked respondents questions relating to their education, how they broke into the industry and whether they had any advice to offer for people hoping to land their first job.
👉 Click here to download the full report 👈
The impact of education
First up, we’re looking at the impact and importance of education when looking at getting into the games industry. In 1997, Abertay University in Dundee became the first university in the world to offer degrees in games and since then the industry has skyrocketed, with now 130 UK universities offering games-related courses. Our games & interactive survey found that 78.7% of respondents held a university degree, and interestingly there are very little differences in numbers of people holding a degree when we break the data down based on region, gender, age, seniority and time in the industry.
It is worth noting this data relates to all degrees, not just specifically games degrees.
Percentage of respondents with a university degree
Below we can see a breakdown of salary by seniority, categorised by whether respondents held a university degree or not. Although in most cases holding a degree seemed to have a positive impact on salary level, the difference is relatively minor, so salary level alone isn’t necessarily a good reason to choose to obtain a university degree. Most studios are much more impressed by strong experience and a portfolio than a degree!
Average salary by seniority broken down by having a university degree or not
Gaining experience
It’s widely accepted that gaining experience in the games industry is significantly easier said than done. You need experience to get a job but you need a job to get experience, etc. etc. etc… It’s thought that often inexperienced games industry workers will have to accept unpaid positions in order to get their foot in the door of the industry, however our survey revealed that only 13% of respondents were expected to work for free initially. Additionally, although numbers across regions are similar, it was most common for respondents to have undertaken unpaid work in Asia, and least common in the UK.
Percentage of respondents expected to work for free initially
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Do studios do enough to encourage games and interactive as a viable career path?
Moving onto the approach that studios take in encouraging our industry as a viable career path to young people and people in education, 46% of survey respondents stated they believe studios are doing enough to encourage the games and interactive industries as a viable career path.
Do studios do enough to encourage games & interactive as a viable career choice?
However, interestingly, when asked for details of what studios are doing to support the games industry as a career path, 34% stated that they don’t believe their studio is currently doing anything to provide educational initiatives.
30% revealed that either their studio or they themselves are working to provide educational initiatives, with 34% stating that they either have plans in place for such schemes in the future, or that they would be keen to get involved in a scheme such as this.
Educational initiatives on offer
When asked to give examples of the types of initiatives currently on offer, the below were the most popular…
So, if you’re looking for ways to gain advice, experience, connections and get your foot in the door of the industry, look to get involved in some of the events mentioned above! Your university (if you’re a student!) or online forums are a great place to start.
Although these schemes do exist and many people in the industry are keen to help those looking to get their foot in the door, many respondents outlined roadblocks which make offering educational initiatives difficult. These included a lack of funding and time, fully remote teams and lack of resources.
However, larger, more established studios offer internship programmes on a yearly basis, aimed at giving people the skills and experience required to land their first role.
Some of the studios that currently offer these programmes include PlayStation London, Epic Games, Ubisoft, Rare Games and many more. These positions are competitive so be sure to brush up on your skills and your best work in a portfolio ready to go before applying!
Practical advice
Looking to get into your first games job? Here’s some of the most popular ways our respondents got their first role in the industry
Finally, there’s nothing better than getting some first hand advice from people who’ve once been in the exact position that you’re in now. Here’s some of the top pieces of advice offered up by games industry pros.
👉 Click here to download the full report 👈
Really, the best advice we can offer is to network as much as possible and build relationships with those already embedded into the industry. As with many industries, in games it’s often about who you know. Use the many resources available online to hone your skills and create a portfolio which you keep up to date. Additionally, create a QR code which links to your portfolio and print it onto a business card, this is a great way to show your work to people you meet at a networking event!
If you have any questions on the data or would like to find out more, we’re on hand to help!
Fill out our survey feedback form here and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
If you’re hungry for more games industry data, check out our full 2023 report here.
*Data collected from November 2022-January 2023
**All currencies converted to GBP via HMRC rate in February 2023
