[game_edu] Game studies and the economy

[DeAnne Preston]

I was at the GDC for the sole purpose of talking with employers about
entry-level and paid internship positions and what I found was that few
were actively recruiting for entry-level positions. Some of the smaller
companies said specifically that because they have small staffs they
must hire candidates with some industry experience. 

 

There was some interest in recent graduates for mobile game development
and to create flash games for web sites.

 

The exceptions, as always, were for entry level programming candidates
with several languages under their belt, and for the 'Super Star' artist
students.

 

DeAnne Preston
Collins College

Career Services Advisor, Game Design



New Direct Line: 480-446-1136

dpreston at collinscollege.edu <mailto:dpreston at collinscollege.edu> 

 

________________________________

From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org] On
Behalf Of Tom Dowd
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 10:51 AM
To: 'IGDA Game Education Listserv'
Subject: Re: [game_edu] Game studies and the economy

 

Our students returning from GDC also reported a smaller job fair, both
in terms of scope (number of companies present) and the size of the team
the companies that attend the show brought with them. I cannot say
whether this was perception or reality as I was not there either. My not
being there was a result of the economic troubles and the slashing of
travel budgets across the college.

 

As for the state of the industry, three things are happening -
publishers are getting conservative on projects with higher levels of
uncertainty (developmentally or in terms of marketability) and
cancelling these "on the bubble" projects, developers are losing
projects, throwing their financial situation into chaos (too many
mid-sized and small developers run in a very risky financial state, and
with the current credit crunch the bridge loans that they used to
finance themselves during project transitions are not available), and
lastly some developers are trimming the fat and running a leaner ship
(to abound in metaphors) in case things continue to worsen.

 

The big things students need to understand is that the competition for
entry-level positions is intensifying. In addition to competing against
their student peers, they are now competing against laid-off members of
industry who are applying for those jobs. More than ever it is
imperative they have a solid, appropriate, portfolio and strong
interview skills when they step out into the field.

 

Tom Dowd

 

-----

Tom Dowd

Columbia College Chicago

Faculty/Interactive Arts and Media (Game Design Major)

tdowd at colum.edu

 

From: game_edu-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_edu-bounces at igda.org] On
Behalf Of Scott Maddock
Sent: Wednesday, April 01, 2009 12:05 PM
To: IGDA Game Education Listserv
Subject: Re: [game_edu] Game studies and the economy

 

Anecdotally...

 

I understand that the career fair at the GDC was considerably smaller
than it was last year (I wasn't in attendance last year, but it's
something I heard from multiple sources who were present then and now).
I know of at least one school with a dedicated game development program
that was supposed to see at least four new hires directly into the
program faculty, but was then denied such because of the economic
hardship.

 

A number of companies have had non-trivial layoffs in the last few
months, or are threatening to go under.  Cheyenne Mountain
Entertainment, developer of the Stargate Worlds MMO, all but did go
under, but has since managed to find some investors and appears to be on
track again.

 

Midway, I think we all know about.  Big Huge Games also seems to be in
trouble.  EA and Activision have both laid off large numbers.

 

In short, I think the whole industry is feeling the pinch to some
degree, in the professional and academic sectors.

2009/4/1 Brena Smith <brena.smith at gmail.com>

Hi all,
I have two questions: First, I know that all educational institutions
are not untouched by the economy these days - but have any of you seen
any specific impact on game studies departments?  Second, any thoughts
on how the economy has impacted the electronic game industry in general?
Are game companies seeing a lot of layoffs?  Are students still able to
find jobs?

Many thanks!
Brena



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