If you’re looking for a career in the video game industry, we’ve got some good news: there are plenty of entry level jobs that can get you started on your way.

A little bit of research will tell you that the video game industry is huge and growing every day. In fact, it’s one of the fastest growing industries in America. That means that there are plenty of opportunities for people who want to work in this field, whether they have experience or not.

The first thing to consider when looking at entry level jobs in the gaming industry is where you want to work. If you’re interested in working on games themselves, then there are several options available:

• Game Designer – A game designer works with programmers, artists and other developers to create new games from scratch or update existing ones with new features or improved graphics and gameplay. They may also have responsibility for marketing their team’s creations after launch as well as maintaining relationships with players so they can gather feedback about what works well and what needs improvement (and then pass those suggestions along).
• Game Tester – A game tester spends their day playing games! Their job is to test out new releases before they go public so that developers can identify bugs before releasing.

Entry Level Jobs In The Video Game Industry

5 Video Game Careers That Don’t Need a Degree
Jason W. Bay Posted in Careers No Comments
5 Video Game Careers That Don’t Need a Degree
If you search for open jobs in the game industry, you might be disappointed to see that most postings seem to require a college degree. But in fact, many game jobs — from testing, to art, to production — actually do not require a degree. And some others only require a degree “equivalent,” which means you may not need a degree if you have some experience in a related area.

Here’s a list of the top video game careers that don’t require a degree. They’re all entry-level jobs, so the pay is lower than average for the game industry. But everyone needs to start somewhere! You may start out as an “associate,” but with any luck you’ll move up quickly in pay and title, once you get a little on-the-job experience. After that, the sky is the limit.

1. Game QA Tester (Starting pay: $35,000)
   Game Testers (also called QA Testers) are responsible for playing the latest under-construction version of a game, then reporting anything that looks bad or doesn’t work right (a “bug”) so the development team can fix it. That’s why it’s called quality assurance — you’re assuring that the game is high quality before it’s released to players.

Game Tester jobs do not require any kind of degree, and most don’t even require any past experience. But there’s a trade-off: game tester jobs pay among the lowest salaries in the game industry. However, many game developers (including me!) started their careers as game testers, and then moved to higher paying jobs after they got some industry experience. You can also choose to stay in the testing career, and earn more money as you gain experience, or even become a manager for other testers.

For example, an actual job posting for a Game Tester job at Rockstar Games asks for knowledge of Rockstar’s recent titles, but few other “hard” qualifications, and no degree:

Why Work in the Video Game Industry?
Play Video
Knowledge and experience of Rockstar’s recent titles
Competent gaming ability
An interest in and understanding of the video game industry
Good general PC knowledge, including experience with Microsoft Office suite
Good standard of written English

2. Game Community Manager (Starting pay: $35,000)
   In the game industry, the Community Manager is a lifeline between the game’s development team, and the game’s community of passionate players. They work hand-in-hand with the players, the developers, and the game company’s business people, to help give players a voice in the creative process.

Some companies require their Community Managers to have a degree in a field such as Communications, or English. But most companies don’t require a degree. They may only require familiarity with the company’s games, plus some sort of proof that you are good at communicating with a community of people — for example, if you’ve volunteered as an admin or moderator for an online gaming group or message board.

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For reference, an actual job posting for a Community Manager job at Wizards of the Coast asks for experience managing game communities, plus a passion and enthusiasm for communication and moderation, but no degree:

3-5 years experience managing game communities
Proficiency in social media management and reporting tools (such as Sprinklr)
Experience with content management software a plus
A dedication to fan communities and video gaming
Creativity, passion, and enthusiasm for community management
Experience monitoring, reporting, and managing community sentiment
Knowledge of voice, tone, and other buzzwords for how we speak with our fans
A mind for developing communications tools to help moderation teams interact with our fans in positive ways

3. Associate Producer (Starting pay: $43,000)
   Every game team needs someone to help guide and focus them, so they can concentrate on doing great work. That person is the game’s Producer.

But as game teams have exploded in size — sometimes several hundred employees on a single game — additional help is needed. That’s where the Associate Producer comes in. From scheduling, to running meetings, to coordinating contract workers and game freelancers, the Associate Producer (AP) helps the Producer manage a team day-to-day. The largest game teams may even have multiple APs.

Because this is an entry-level position, most AP jobs do not require a degree. Some may require specific training, such as Scrum Master certification. Others might ask for some “hands on” experience, which you can get by working on indie game projects, or even by managing projects outside the game industry.

For example, an actual job posting for an Associate Producer job at ZeniMax Online Studios does not require a degree, but asks for hands-on experience, and familiarity with some of the common project-management software and methods, but no degree:

1-2 years of hands-on production or project management experience
Proficient in Agile Development methodologies including Scrum, Kanban, and Lean
Proficient with JIRA and Confluence
Multi-platform online development experience
Goal oriented and results driven
Professional communication and interpersonal skills, including conflict resolution
Must be able to keep focus on multiple tasks and effectively set priorities between projects

4. Associate Game Artist (Starting pay: $42,000)
   There are at least a dozen different art specialties in the game industry — which makes sense, when you consider that everything you seen in a video game, from characters, to vehicles, to trees, to the heads-up display on your screen, was made by an artist. Game teams employ more artists than any other type of game job.

With the high demand for art jobs on game teams, you might be surprised to learn that the art field is probably the most “merit based” field in games. In other words: If you can make the art, you can have the job. Nobody really cares if you have a degree. (How do they know? They’ll take a look at your online art portfolio.)

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For example, an actual job posting for an Associate 3D Character Artist at Bungie game studios requires some of the basic foundational skills and 3D modeling tools, and a passion to create great games, but no degree:

A well-rounded understanding of human anatomy, form, shape, structure, and silhouette
Knowledge of 3D Max or Maya, Photoshop, Zbrush and/or Mudbox
Ability to learn high to low poly pipelines
Strong communication skills, and the ability to work well in a team environment
Ability to take feedback
Passion and desire to create great games

5. Game Journalist (Starting pay: $46,000)
   As games have become a multi-billion dollar industry, nearly all news and culture websites publish video-game news and reviews. Whether they’re writing about new games, e-sports, business, or game industry drama, one thing is for sure: video game journalism is here to stay.

For reference, an actual job posting for a Games Staff Writer at Kotaku requires writing skills, a passion for video games, and ability to hit deadlines, but notably does not need a degree:

An ambitious, bold writer who cares about video games
Someone who has the ability to work well both independently and as part of a team, and to juggle multiple simultaneous projects with varying lead times
Used to having deadlines and hitting them
Has knowledge and familiarity with online publishing tools
Maybe even can make a Photoshop or clip a great video….not essential, but it can’t hurt