LESSON #8 - "Getting Your Foot In The Door"

My college graduation was a thrilling time, as I had already worked on a number of interesting contracts for various organizations around town (posters, flyers, logos, video promos, etc,) and I could only imagine what was in store for the future of my career.?

I dreamed of working in a fast-paced production setting surrounded by enormous talent who would aid in molding me into the production rock star I hoped to one day become. I’d work on huge projects, on huge teams, developing big IP for millions of people around the world to enjoy.

However, none of that actually happened.?

About 3 months before I graduated a classmate of mine, who I had worked with on a Senior Portfolio class project, invited me to meet him at Barnes & Noble where we talked about me potentially interviewing for the Slot Gaming company he and a few of his friends had just been hired at. The head of the studio was looking to bring in some new talent and was willing to train junior recruits.

I had applied to basically every other gig in town up to this point (as well as some out of my area) and had come up with absolutely bupkes, so this opportunity, which was basically falling into my lap, was too good to pass up. I agreed to meet with the studio head and interviewed about a week later. Within a week I was notified I got the job and proceeded to work alongside some of the coolest people I know for the next 4 years.

It was a great job, with good pay and solid benefits. Plus, it was my first full time industry gig, so as far as I was concerned I had made it! I had successfully completed the cycle. Went to College, got a Degree, and landed the Job.?

Career officially started!?

But it was a long way away from the dream I had of working in a film or animation studio (my whole motivation for going to school in the first place).

I was grateful to have a job, even more grateful to have been employed in the industry at all, considering Las Vegas, while known for its bounty of entertainment, wasn’t exactly a hotbed for film, animation or even video games (with the exception of Petroglpyh, formerly Westwood Studios).?

I was about 2 years into my new job when I was starting to feel that although this was a great start to my career, Slot Gaming wasn’t an industry I was super passionate about. I didn’t gamble or play slot machines, nor did I plan on staying in Las Vegas any longer than I had to, so while I enjoyed the aspects of production that went into the making of these products, it wasn’t somewhere I envisioned myself sticking around forever.

However, one thing I learned while working in Slot Gaming was that I truly enjoyed the process of developing games. I fell in love with conceptualizing, testing and refining gameplay ideas.?

Rapid prototyping became one of my favorite things to do and I had managed to work my way onto a small Research and Development team for the company working on less conventional ideas for new Slot Games.

This era of realization in my career coincided with the dawn of the Subscription model prevalent in many MMO’s at the time. World of Warcraft had exploded onto the scene in 2004 and the idea of a persistent game world, which although not an entirely new concept at this point, was all the rage in the business of games. WOW had raked in 10’s of millions of players and now every major studio wanted to figure out how to get a slice of that pie.

On the flip side of that coin was the quiet arrival of the cute and quirky Mobile Games made possible by the advancing tech of SmartPhones and the increase in quality of Handheld Devices like the Nintendo DS. An emerging market that hadn’t even remotely scratched the surface of what was possible creatively in the space.

Either way, I knew there was a major shift coming to the industry and I knew I wanted to be a part of it, so with a new goal in mind I set out on a quest to work in the Video Game Industry. I updated my portfolio with my latest projects, polished my résumé and started connecting with anyone I could on LinkedIn to get feedback and advice on how to “break in.”?

A lot of the advice I got was pretty vague and unhelpful, while other folks' comments were less than optimistic about my chances of even ”breaking in” at all.

“It’s too competitive!”

“You don’t have enough relevant work.”

“Why would you want to work in the Game Industry? They have layoffs all the time, it’s completely unstable.”

But their comments didn’t dissuade me. I knew it was where I wanted my career to go. I just had to figure out how to get my foot into the door.

TWO YEARS I spent working on my portfolio, making connections, and learning everything I could about how other people had “broken in.” I would stay up all night working on characters, props, and environments, while GDC talks played in the background. I practiced texturing, and modeling, and rigging, and animation, until my eyes crossed and my wrist hurt.

It wasn’t until a buddy of mine, who had somehow miraculously managed to already break into the industry after graduation, let me know the company he worked for was looking to hire junior game artists to help out on live content for a new MMO they had been working on and told me that if I put together a portfolio he’d pass it along to his Art Director.

This was it. The moment I had been waiting for. My big chance to make a good impression on a game studio and hopefully get that “big break” I had been so fervently seeking.?

I spent the next few nights tailoring my portfolio and before the week was out I sent my résumé and website link to my friend (applying to job sites wasn’t as big a thing back then as it is now) and waited.

And waited…and waited…and waited.

Weeks went by and I hadn’t heard a word. My friend had mentioned the process could be slow due to the number of applicants they received on a regular basis, but assured me he would get back to me whether his AD liked my work, or not. I wasn’t too worried, though.?

If it worked out, great! But if it didn’t it was no sweat off my back. I had the luxury of a good job to keep me busy and it was nice to finally take a break from grinding away at my portfolio.

And then one day, out of the blue, I got a message from my friend informing me that all hiring for the project had been frozen, and any plans the studio had of moving forward with live service development had been cancelled and all the teams resources were being moved over to another project (which eventually not only shipped, but is still live and playable to this day).

I had lost the job before I had even gotten the interview.

I wished my friend the best of luck navigating the changes (everything worked out fine for him, he's had a very illustrious career since then) and went back to my desk to work on my latest task. While this news was discouraging, I found solace in the fact that I had gotten closer than I had ever been to getting my foot in the door and I now had a fully crafted Game Art portfolio I could start shopping around.

And that’s exactly what I did.

I started applying everywhere. I opened up the old GameDevMap website and applied to any studio that was working on anything that looked even remotely interesting to me. I decided I no longer cared what worked on, I just wanted to get experience working in games and start building a credible résumé. I applied to Blizzard, EA, Activision, Sony, Microsoft, as well as a bunch of studios I had never heard of in places I didn’t even know had game studios (Colorado, Utah, Oregon).

I was determined to break in no matter how long it took.?

In addition to my spray and pray/shotgun approach (which I do not recommend by the way) I also started searching for potential contract work opportunities in games. I had prior success doing contract work when I was in college and it helped boost my résumé with paid work and live examples of my skill set in real places.?

It wasn’t until a few months later that I stumbled across a Craigslist ad (of all places) for a startup studio looking to fill the role of a Texture Artist to work on an unnamed Free-To-Play MMO. My first reaction was that this posting looked a little shady and couldn’t possibly be a real opportunity, but they had a website, an email address to reach out to, and a business address which to my surprise was only 10 minutes away from my house.?

Truth is, I was worried it might not have been legit, but unlike the crazy “pay to interview with us” scams people are experiencing these days, sending my résumé and portfolio to a kind of suspicious email hardly felt like a risky bet. So I applied and two days later I got a phone call from someone at the company asking me if I could come in for an interview that same week. I said yes, and we set up a date and time for me to come into the studio and interview with their Art Director, Creative Director and GM.?

I couldn’t believe it. Did I just finally land my first game job interview?

I Immediately called my wife to tell her the news, and although she expressed happiness for me, it was also clear by the tone of her voice that her level of excitement was tempered. She had been a front seat passenger on my journey into the game industry and saw firsthand how much trouble I was having, so in her mind I imagine this was hardly any different than any other opportunity I had called her and gotten excited about.

On the day of the interview I drove down to the studio and was surprised to find it was one of only two businesses occupying the commercial shopping center it resided within. The studio itself was pretty big, but the team was quite small and only filled a few of the many available rooms. There was a good size conference room, and they even had a mini kitchen.?

It all still seemed a bit shady though.?

It wasn’t until after I interviewed with the Art Director (whose experience included working on projects for Halo, Disney and NCSoft) and their Creative Director (whose résumé was equally impressive, but focused more on television) that I realized it was possible this might just be legit.?

During my tour of the studio I learned that the whole outfit was a bit of a side project for the owner who was more of a curious entrepreneur than an expert in the field of games (*Red Flag). He was an avid gamer and wanted to see if it was possible to penetrate the MMO space via the Free-To-Play route, since the barrier of entry to acquire players would be a lot lower cost.

*It wasn’t a bad idea, honestly speaking. And if there is anything I had learned from meeting and working with other wealthy entrepreneurs was that: if there’s a will there’s a way.

After talking with many members of the team and viewing the prototype they were working on (in a legit game engine with legit art and animation) I decided that even if this game of theirs wasn’t likely going to shape up to be the next “WOW-Killer” it still had the potential to be a great opportunity to get my feet wet.

The interview had gone great in my opinion, so I hung my head high and went home! I once again told my wife about it and she agreed with me that this might actually be the opportunity I had been waiting for. Her excitement went from tempered to hopeful. So now all we had to do was wait and see if this really was going to be my “big break” or just another brick wall in my journey to enter the Game Industry.?

Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long to hear back.?

The good thing about a team that size that small meant that any red tape or bureaucracy usually equated with major studios goes right out the window, allowing decisions to be made swiftly and more efficiently.??

And as it turned out, I GOT THE JOB!

I was over the moon when I found out. After so much studying, late nights, and conversations I had finally managed to accomplish what I had set out to do. I know it wasn’t a big name studio or a AAA publisher, but I was about to start making games for a living full time. And that, in my mind, was all I needed to get started.?

SO much has happened since then that I could probably write a book about all the ups and downs, twists and turns, and challenges I’ve experienced throughout my career journey, but that isn’t what this story was about. This story was about the reality that so many people may need to come to terms with when it comes to chasing your “dream job.” And while my story is probably far less difficult than many others (and maybe even harder than some), it’s important to remember that everyone’s journey is different.?

You have to walk your own path and know that the era of the game industry that we are in right now in the Games Industry looks a lot different than it did when I “broke in” all those years ago, which it also looked wildly different for the folks who came before me, and the folks who came before them.?

The Video Game Industry is a constantly evolving business with many players, special interests and an ever-evolving world of new technology and trends, so if you are someone who is struggling to find your footing in the industry right now, stop beating yourself up and know that we are facing unprecedented times right now.?

I doubt there has ever been a moment in the Industry where there has been this much shake up and I can only imagine where everything is going to land once the project cancellations, and layoffs and studio shutdowns finally end. Because they will end.

So if this really is your dream, and you have the gusto and willpower to take your portfolio as far as you can go, don’t give up! Keep pushing. Take another job doing something else somewhere else in the meantime and just keep working on your craft. Studios are always looking for superb talent and this stagnation we are all facing right now may be the perfect opportunity for you to build that stellar portfolio that is going to land you your “big break” the moment things start to pick back up.?

If you managed to reach the end of this article I want to thank you for sticking around, as this is the longest post I have written to date. I greatly appreciate everyone who has stopped what you were doing on Linkedin to react and comment on my articles. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have enjoyed writing them.

Until the next post my friends. Onward and Upward!

- Casey