You're great actually!! =D

Im in programming / and other IT stuffs too, and I im really confused about ethics in video game selling / micro transactions / monetization, I dont think its gonna evolve to a fair point, too much factor to address in this question, too much social consequences.

so basically poisoning a game with microtransactions, seeing players as someone to take as much money from as legally possible

@@funkelmine if not done ethically sure

No Monetization is Ethical if a Minor can spend ludicrous amounts of money without any kind of restrictions, just as any Lootbox with obscure percentages.

If you read my first comment I do systems and monetization design, unless you don’t consider designers game devs? Def not program manager they do something completely different but my role does require analytics since it can inform what design and content choices to make :)

@@morganling I do not consider monitization design as part of game development. But if you do, I think that's fine.

@@morganling Game Designers are absolutely not Game Developers. There is a very clear difference, sure they are involved in the overall production of the game, but so is someone like a Technical Artist, and they are not Developers. Strange, I would think someone from within the industry would actually know what they're talking about.

@@morganling You're trying to use word magic to redefine "game developer" so you can include yourself in the category. It's insulting to actual developers. The janitor cleans the office when you guys leave and he makes it possible for you to return to a clean work environment. Is that janitor not also a game developer? If you keep lying to yourself, you'll be calling the janitor a developer in the next 3 months.

@@space_audits You are being way too harsh & ultimately sound like you want her to feel somehow less for not being a game developer. At the end of the day she's walking proof that, with research and bit of clever thinking, you can be apart of your dream industry. Regardless if she's a game dev or does monetization and analytics, the game isn't complete without her doing her part and that is amazing. P.S - You should kiss the floor the janitor mops on as I doubt someone with a nasty personality like yourself has much in the way of hygiene skills to begin with.

Audio is soooo important it's crazy. All that's left for me from World of Warcraft is the outstanding soundtracks!

Imagine playing games on mute in a room of complete silence. Most games cannot stand on their own merits without good sound design.

Indeed

I'm glad you found my video helpful! Wishing you the best of luck and I hope to see you in the industry someday :)

Thank you! That’s awesome to hear that you’re on the narrative side of things!

@@morganling Absolutely love it! :D

@@morganling I still have yet to work with a bigger studio, but I’m taking the advice of a few other narrative designers who just say to apply even if you don’t have the AAA experience they advertise for. :)

Yeah you often don’t need to check all the boxes they list in a job description! Wishing you the best of luck!

@@morganling thanks! You too on your dev journey and also UKposts! :)

Hehe yay!! And thank you!! ♥️

how to become qa in game industry,, Currently I am SDE

Thank you! I’m super glad you enjoyed my vid! :)

Aww thank you 🥰 girl editing takes so long lmao

@@morganling I knowww but this was beautifully done. you always have a great eye for quality!

Why VBA? If you want to became a game dev learn unity + c#. It's the fastest way.

Yeah VBA is ok but people arent looking for VBA developers. its really only for excel I suggest learning SQL as a start Then if you get good at that start Python (this leads to more a data science positions) The above doesnt directly help with game dev If you really want to be a developer in game dev then you need to learn C# / C++. unfortunately VBA doesnt help here

Aww thank you!! ♥️♥️

I’m happy that you found this helpful!! Hopefully you get a chance to figure out what you want to pursue!

William!

I’m glad you enjoyed the video and found it useful!! 😀

Thanks Geet!! ♥️

From what I understand, a video game director would probably be like the person in charge of a particular wing of development. You could be the gameplay director and oversee the gameplay designers, or an art director that oversees the entire art direction, or a technical director who figures out how the engine should work and stuff like that.

U doesn't look like Taiwanese

So you guys just ripped of ABZU ? And a whole company is living off a single rip-off? Wow...

Thank you!! Since the type of role I do doesn’t really require a portfolio of work like some other works sometimes using a cover letter can help. And yes I really enjoy making longer form vid content so I’ll be uploading here probably every other week

Fair point! The definition of game developer can be pretty lose and I tend to lean more on the broad side of the definition. I'm surprised you don't consider designers as game developers though as they literally design every aspect of the game! Or artists who build the assets, the characters, and the environments you see in a game. You're right that I do those things that you listed but I also do design work. To give a quick overview, live-ops product managers (PMs) focus on retention, engagement, and monetization. Some of us are analytics savvy (I find its much easier to do my job when I am but not every PM is that way) but design as well. My specialty is within monetization but that's both monetization strategy and design. The design aspect would be creating and balancing a complex economy (how much hard currency to soft currency, how long does it take to craft something, what should the success/fail rates be) or like when you see events, season passes, etc. those are lead by live ops PMs. We often determine what content would be available, how you accrue points towards it, what a free vs paid track looks like, etc. Since I develop and design a lot of the systems built into live games to retain, encourage more engagement, or encourage monetization, that's why I personally consider myself a game dev. It is true though that after I put together the idea and the components, I would hand it off to an engineering team to execute. I'm curious if you consider the EP (executive producer) of a game to be a game dev? They are basically the head honcho and CEO of a title and need to have so much industry knowledge, understanding of what makes a good game, what features to prioritize and build vs others, in order to make a successful game. But they don't do the day to day coding or design.

I work in the Mail room at SpaceX I’m a rocket science with 0 experience. People be identifying as anything now a days.

@@morganling This is an interesting thread of conversation that I'm sad to see die out. My take on the matter is that there are parts of the game that are considered core to it's identity and those that are almost extra. This would be like story/pacing, gameplay/balance, while monetization extension would likely fall into the realm of extras. In the vein of how (ethical) monetization usually focuses of cosmetics, I consider it to be a type of merchandise that the studio has the opportunity to vertically integrate. It plays almost the exact same role in promoting people's interest and investment into the franchise. However this begs the question, can this merchandising effect be considered core to the experience of the game or is it a seperate influence altogether? They certainly feed off eachother, and there might be people that would never engage with the franchise without the cultural presence that the merchandising provides.

I totally agree with you , I don't think she is a game developer, like you said game developer is under software developer umbrella , similar to mobile or web developer , we never call web or UI designer or mobile tester a developer. You maybe right if you was working in other industries, but the most common meaning for developer in software development umbrella is someone who can do programming.

100%!! if you don't have the technical skill, there is basically no way someone is getting a technical role. In those roles, unless its a senior level/management role, good soft skills are definitely just icing on the cake. Most times good soft skills alone won't get you anything tbh, even with a live-ops PM role like I'm currently in which is not a technical role, you need systems and monetization design skills, I know SQL, basic research like A/B testing, conjoints analysis, maxdiffs, regression analysis, basic psychology etc. You need to have the core skills needed for the role but sometimes you can get those skills outside the games industry too.

Who you know matters a lot for sure, makes breaking into something a lot easier

AYYYY THANKS GURL LOVE YOU

I’m glad you found this helpful! Wishing you the best of luck in your studies and hope to see you in the industry someday!

You just have to be a woman .. guys get in like 30000 harder ..

Rev Strat is pretty unique to a Riot but that’s the team designing monetization systems so like events, season passes (what content is included, what tasks does a player need to complete, how many points accrue for each task, how is content distributed and when). Rev strat designed the loot box system and crafting system with shards as well. :)

@@morganling no offense, but gacha/lootboxes in general is the reason why this industry is progressively getting worse in game design because a lot of the elements have to be sacrificed around the monetization systems which truly hamper the actual creative/developers vision. at the end of the day it's all about money I know but there are ways to have money and good game without resorting to petty strats like gambling with real money, encouraging FOMO, and other gross tactics.

Im a 2nd yr graphic design student aspiring to become a game illustrator or a concept artist and i completely agree how overwhelming and scary programming is😭 i've been taking this subject since 1st yr and still can't grasp some of its basic concepts

Sort of! My first projects going in were designing ways to distribute content (battle passes, bundling skins, and determining new virtual content). My specialty was monetization not quite finance. I just picked up the design aspect of it pretty quick on the job lol

with a degree in economics

female

@@morganling Thats not Game developer job... ._.

Hey! Environment Artist working in AAA games here. The majority of studios have technical tests as a part of their interview process for people who match what they're looking for, but don't have any professional experience yet. So for me when I was initially applying to studios as an environment artist, if a studio liked my resume/portfolio, they'd send over an art test which would usually be a task similar to what you'd do on a daily basis. So for an environment artist, that would be making a prop, or making a small environment or something like that. The same thing applies for other areas of gamedev, designers have design tests, programmers have programming tests, etc. If you pass the test, usually you'll have a pretty good chance of landing the job as long as you don't bomb your interviews :)

@@JB3D_ Hey! thank you for this insight! A bit of my personal experience: I applied for a few programming jobs and got to the test stage 2 times (so far), altho my only programming experience is a B.Sc in computer science. I have an animation portfolio (which is said to show that I have "strong fundamentals"), but when I applied to animation jobs, I didnt get to a test project state once (couldnt even score an internship)

That’s fair I would say your totally right that a rev analyst and traditional product manager are not developer roles! Within the industry the term “game developer” doesn’t refer to specifically programming related roles but is often used to describe designers too for example. Since a large part of my role is around systems and monetization design that’s why people within the industry consider what I do a game developer type role (whereas an analyst wouldn’t be I agree). Live ops product manager is also notably different than traditional product management because we need to have design skills usually.

@@morganling I feel like the title could be changed to more reflect that though. Saying there's "ZERO programming experience" is completely irrelevant to the roles you applied for, and the tips given were just tips for any job, not game dev specific. Programming roles need to prep for coding interviews, and artist roles need to have a portfolio along with art skills. Would have been nice to address that somewhere so that people don't get a false view/have their time wasted

@@morganling Monetization design. Though you may not be a developer, you can always call yourself a "credit card hacker".

You are missing the point. But anyone is entitled to listen and understand whatever is liked.

Thank you! :)

Amazon Games - aaaaahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahjahahhahahahahaahhahaahhahahahahaa

Hi! I think it's less about age and more about what you want and willing to do at your current stage in life. I don't think 36 is too old in a way that a team would be like "oh this is too late in his career to change lanes/industries like this". After doing your initial research and you want to really do a game dev role that requires skills and experiences you don't have - it'll definitely be time consuming to build those skills. If you end up do deciding to do that because you feel it's right for you, there is also a good chance that you'll be deleveled compared to your current role at your current company because you're basically starting closer to the bottom again. I actually know several folks who made an industry switch doing the same type of role (so didn't have to build completely new skillsets) and in order to break in they took a role a level down. Of course it doesn't happen to everyone but it's something to consider! Whether that tradeoffs are worth it for you :)

ITS A SIGN YO

Or they are listening our thoughts 😀

its just google algorithm

I'm thinking the same, but I don't know what to do, I learned English now what? 😂

If I'm looking to specifically join a game team that's early on in development (vs say a live ops game that's live), 'd generally be looking to stay on until completion. I'm fortunate enough to be at a stage in my career where I have options on where to work within gaming and I'd only join a team if I really believed and was excited in the game itself. So I wouldn't be looking to bail out early unless for some reason the culture of the team was terrible for me. Especially if the game is meant to be a multiplayer live ops type of game, a lot of the fun I get to do actually happens after the game is launched.

Yeah I'd say it's probably more difficult to join a gaming company or studio based in the US if you are not a citizen already, especially if the specific role is meant to based in the US. It's possible of course but a the company would need to sponsor you which takes extra time and effort so you'd typically have to be an outstanding candidate for them to consider that. Larger gaming companies tend to have smaller studios based in other countries or regional offices that might be a good option to check out as well!

I would add on to Morgan's comment and say that if the position requires you moving that everything she said is correct. However there are more and more remote only positions available that I don't think this would be a huge issue in. While I don't work at a large game company, the small indie company I work at, we have one international employee (that I know of) who works remotely from Mexico as we are now fully remote after covid with 0 plans to go back to a studio any time soon. So maybe keep your eyes open for those Remote positions? Also side note we have a few others who will travel out of country for a few weeks at a time and just work from that country on a laptop etc.

@@methanier3274 thanks for your answer. In case the person needs to move, if its at his expense, and it's clearly announced, is it still conceivable ?

@@NoxFly Honestly most of the time if you get hired and it requires re-location they assist with the moving costs...Even in the US. Sometimes you have to move from one state to another and they will help cover that cost. Now again this isn't guaranteed as nothing in life is. The absolute worst thing that can happen is you don't get the position and keep trying. So don't let the unknown stop you and go for it. If a company likes you, they'll hire you regardless of where you originate.

Everything she mentioned falls under "development", be it from the designers, the engineers, the artists, or the producers and publishers.

It's literally part of the development process. "Game developer" isn't a thing, you're either a designer of some form, an engineer / programmer of some form, any type of artist (3D models, animation, technical art, concept art, etc), a sound designer, or on the production side. All of them are "game developers"

@@DankMemes-xq2xm then, how about HR, they contributing by recruiting and operational support. Also, how about IT, they support by provide proper equipment and softwares. Game developers means who directly working on game itself. Then marketing is marketing, operating is operating, customer service is customer service.

@@santozard knowing how much to charge for a powerful microtransaction and how powerful that microtransaction is affects game balance

@@DankMemes-xq2xm AFAIK, the character growth or economic system are all designed by the game designer. The marketing or operation side will help define some campaigns based on the system that is already designed.

Yeay, I thought about it, after finishing the video, seems to me like she calls most of those positions "game dev" but, pretty sure to most people at least, a game dev builds a video game (whether through art, code, sound, design etc...) but the other jobs she listed are equally as important but, they don't actually build the game, they work around it, and they are part of the gaming industry, but still arent "game dev"

I'll try! Just let me know what topics ya'll would be interested in :)

Revenue strategy focused on monetization and systems design, analytics, economics and traditional production management! It’s a riot specific thing that focuses heavily on monetization. I made a video about exactly what I do btw! :) I do play a key role in core game development since I’m in charge of spearheading and designing systems that benefit engagement retention and monetization. At riot those were the people that designed the store, build and designed battle passes and loot box systems for ex!

@@morganling So you are working against a great experience. You are helping to make AAA games shit and us costumers year to year more angry and sad! You are NOT developing games, but making the greedy rich richer.

Yo what a coincidence! While I loved physics as a subject, I realized early on I did not like doing research nor did the thought of further academia excite me. I got an internship and job right out of undergrad bc I loved being around people and working - so I was making money already and just decided to try making the jump into gaming.

Thank you! Unfortunately I don't have a copy of that cover letter around anymore :'(

Thank you!! ♥️♥️

u need to know someone higher up in the company and give them bj simple

Don't give up. Sometimes it can take 7 years.

@@justahuman4862 kinda depressing ngl 😂 currently working in VR simulations and E learning for mining industries but still looking for actual game Dev work