Making a career as a professional gamer is now possible! For those of you who are passionate about playing video games, here’s your chance to turn your passion into a profession. Even though shaping your career as a professional game designer or developer can turn out to be difficult at times, hard work, dedication, choosing the right course, and learning the right skills can make the path smooth for you. Here is our list of 7 tips to prepare yourself as a successful gaming professional and make a career in the gaming industry.
1. Understand the requirements of the industry: As a prerequisite, you should always understand the needs and requirements to get into the gaming industry. The gaming industry is vast and it has specific requirements that are catered by a specific set of professionals. The industry can require animators, game developers, mobile game designers, and, character artists, to name a few. So, understand the requirements, choose a course accordingly, specialize in a field that you are interested in, and gather the right skillsets.
2. Work as a trainee or freelancer in a game studio: One of the best ways to shape your career as a professional gamer is to work as a trainee or freelancer in a game studio. This will introduce you to the daily life of a professional gamer or game designer at a game design studio. Even before landing a permanent job in the gaming industry, you will learn all about game development, mobile game designing, creating a gaming environment, and character building. All these experiences earned during your training or freelancing will give a boost to your portfolio.
3. Practice as much as you can: Practice makes a man perfect! You may be passionate about playing video games, but to turn your passion into a profession, you have to practice playing different games, research on various game strategies and test the strategies in dummy gaming environments. Also, keep a watch on what other gamers and streamers do and look for updated guidelines and tutorials online.
4. Choose the right course in gaming: Different gaming courses specialises in different aspects of the genre. While some courses focus solely on mobile game design and development, some focus on product application and AR game creation. So, choose a course that fits your area of interest so that in future you get to shape your career smoothly as a game designer or developer.
5. Practice working on gaming software: Every course in gaming provides hands-on training in industry-oriented gaming software. However, working on software only during class hours may not make you confident or a pro in software usage. Install the software on your personal computers or laptops and practice developing games using that software at home. The more you try your hands on this software, the more efficient you will become in building games.
6. Buy relevant gaming gear: While you join a course in gaming, you need to invest in good gaming gear to study and practice at home or after class hours. Good gaming gear helps you to excel in this field. Some of the must-haves are a gaming PC or laptop, gaming mouse, headset, mechanical keyboard, and LED monitor.
7. Join a community of gamers: Just pursuing a course in gaming may not be sufficient in today’s competitive world. Join a gaming community where you can network with professional gamers, exchange ideas, learn, hone your skills, and spend quality time during your journey towards becoming a professional gamer.
Many vocational training institutes these days are offering career-oriented courses in gaming. Joining a gaming course and getting certified by a reputed institute, will open up various career opportunities in the gaming industry.