How hard is it to become a game developer?

Question

Zippia Team · Accepted Answer

It is pretty hard to become a game developer. It's a highly competitive market, where having a bachelor's degree is highly recommended unless you are able to build an impressive portfolio that includes the game(s) that you've created from scratch. For a typical college graduate, it takes anywhere from 5 to 7 years including school to land a job as a game developer.

To be a marketable candidate for a game developer position means knowing several programming languages such as C++ and C# needed to work with industry programs such as Unity and Unreal Engine.

After that, it takes another few years of independent game programming experience to be marketable for a game developer position. This is a great time to take on internships and build your business network.

It also helps to immerse yourself in the community and become an active member of the video game community, you will gain a deeper understanding of what gamers, your future target audience, like and don't like. It's also a great way to learn more about the game development companies that you plan to apply to.

Finally, game development is seldom an island. Meaning that it's important to develop a good team using your connections in the community. This is especially true if you plan to develop your own game. You simply can't do everything on your own in today's gaming market. Teamwork is dream work.