How to Begin a Career in Game Development

By NIIT Editorial

Published on 20/03/2021

4 minutes

To say that the gaming industry is growing leaps and bounds would be an understatement. It touched a global revenue threshold of $150 billion in 2020 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12% from 2020 - 2025. With the expansion, there is much professional curiosity to make inroads into what appears to be a promising career. Unlike earlier, when there was a lack of clear roadmaps to follow, you can now volunteer for a processed route, one that takes you directly amid the game development. A step-by-step plan is what follows next.

Fan Your Interest

To be a five-star game developer, you must first be an avid lover of games. Engross yourself in the best PC/video games of the day and analyse them critically from a developer standpoint. See what they have done better and where they are worse off. This gradual learning would help you understand the mindset that goes into building, designing, and architecting gameplays.

Connect with the Community

Networking is the name of the game. An interconnected internet allows us to share opinions on the latest trends in any industry. The best part is, there is an audience for each thought. Reddit, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are proven platforms that give you over-the-top coverage and mind-blowing readership.

Create a Master Plan

Games are built with engines, of which there is no dearth. You would have a hard time choosing which gaming engine to begin your career with. To make it simple, here is a list of top gaming engines that developers often choose:

Unity
Unreal Engine
Cry Engine

Programming Languages

The engine is just one part of the equation that allows you to build gameplays and sequences. But none of that would happen without knowing the relevant programming languages. Speaking of which C, C++, Java, JavaScript, HTML5, Python, and Rust are some of the programming languages deemed critical to game development.

Identify a Role

Just like software development, there is a rather appreciable variety of roles to choose from in the game development industry. Beginning from a game developer to a tester, and gaming artist, you could aim for such roles and streamline your expertise accordingly.

Set Short-term Goals

Many amateur developers set overly ambitious milestones such as developing a PC game within the first 2 years of their career. It requires much more than just time and money. You need time. It is rather more profitable to aim for mastering modules of the gaming engine that help you get ahead step by step.

NIIT - Game Development Course

NIIT offers you the opportunity to start a career in game development with a 20-week full-time course. Based on the Unity Game Engine, programme enrollees have an opportunity to begin learning game development fundamentals with a full-fledged focus. Capstone projects ensure that students prove their mettle with a working sample, something they can carry forward on their resume.

Initiate the gaming maestro within you now!