Have you ever considered turning your passion for video games into a career? Whether you like drawing, telling stories or working with people, there are many different exciting jobs in the industry. Good reading, writing, speaking and listening skills are important for all of these jobs.
Read the interviews below with three video games professionals. Do any of these jobs sound like they could be right for you?
Dan Bernardo – CEO, Playtra
I constantly draw inspiration from the books I read to solve everyday problems in my work. How to expose crucial information? How to show the inner works of my characters? How to use text to complement visuals or build emotional connections between the agents in my games? I would certainly be a worse game professional if I didn't love books as much as I do.
Favourite Book: Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke
Tracey McGarrigan - PR Manager, Ansible Communications
I simply couldn't do my job today without having strong literacy skills. My job is all about crafting messaging to help video game businesses tell their stories.
I spend my day communicating with a whole variety of clients, consumers or investors, which means I not only have to be able to find the right words and use the right tone of voice, but I have to find the most appropriate visual style to present these stories depending on who I am talking to.
I absolutely know that my skills, and enjoyment when doing this comes from having access to both books and video games in my childhood.
Favourite book: The Black Hand Gang by Hans Jurgen Press
Helen O’Dell – Concept Artist, Nerial
Literacy is very important in game development! I've got to be able to read briefs and feedback well, so I can implement it into my work. I mostly use text-based means to communicate with various teams; so communicating clearly is very important. It also helps to have a mental library of references outside of video games to pull from, so gobbling up a lot of fiction can really help with that!
Favourite book: His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman