How to Get a Job Writing for Games
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2019
- In this 2019 GDC talk, Zak Garriss and Tracey John demystify the game writing application process and provide a general understanding of how to break into the field for aspiring game writers and narrative designers.
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It's heartwarming how even though they ran out of time and had no obligation they stayed so they could answer more questions, even as they had to turn off the microphones, they just wanted to help these people achieve their dreams. It speaks volumes.
@Albanellys Zurita no offense, but that looks shady. You're probably not even a real person. Sad.
Also to consider for people aspiring for Game writing. There are now programs at Universities at some places in the world specifically for becoming a Game Writer. Not many i think there is like 9 in total globally or something. Im currently attending one in Sweden.
also DnD or well tabletop roleplay is one of the best sources of fun to use to learn to become a good writer for games because it covers every part of writing an interactive story
Im writing my own homebrew DnD Campaigns to because i do love writing and seeing my players reactions when they are having a good time.
But it is a great way to practice improvisation, quick character creation, story writing, dialogue writing and practice the dialogue to make it feel more real. I do the world building. i write maps and plan out traps, i hide objects and figure out how to narratively manipulate my players to step into trouble or not notice that an NPC is lying to them immedietly. Without actually just with holding information.
But you also get to experience how players act in different kinds of worlds. And what they do when the options varies.
You got discord? I also play DnD and would love to get the experience to also write and plan amazing worlds with stories. I also am possibly thinking of writing video game stories, their lore, and the plot.
@@crowblazer1414 Yeah i gott Discord. Can send the info in dm for that.
As for the writing video game stories that is good we need more people that aim to get into it and understand it. And seeing how the market is realising more and more the need for good writing in their games its starting to look good for us nerds with words. X3
hey man, I really liked your journey but i do have some questions to ask regarding the writing stuff. Can I connect to you personally? Maybe through discord?
@@shubhasundarghosh8027 Uh sure you can Dm me a Discord tag then maybe??
@@shubhasundarghosh8027 I just realized i cant find a message system on youtube XD
i'm not a writer, i'm a wannabe artist and this talk also help me.
Really good talk, thank you Zak and Tracey!
It's good to know he was working on games before ever even going to college, telling me there's not much need to have some fancy degree to qualify for writing for a game as there shouldn't be.
Just to add to this , a few days ago there was a post on LinkedIn for a game writer position at insomniac, in a little over 24 hours there almost 900 applicants. Let that sink in for a minute near 900 applicants for 1, exactly 1 game writer position- that is the difficult right there , that is what makes breaking into game writing so hard . Now yes one can argue that insomniac is a big company of course they have many applicants, but I wonder are there really that less on the indie level? So if the indie studio gets 200 applicants for that 1 writing position , yeah 200 is less than 900, but you are still competing against a horde of individuals. Thus I think for any aspiring game writers you will either have to get another gaming type job and work your way into the writer’s room, or start at a much smaller studio .
Pretty much. I hear a lot now that im nearing that point of entering the market that you have to get enough "hours" in working with games before studios will hire you. . .
So i guess i am now either making my own games or starting my own company because i have no other idea on how to work up about 1-2 years worth of game making (writing) experience without first getting hired XD
@@kenji214245 yeah it’s kind of the whole chicken and egg thing . You can’t get hired as a game writer because every studio wants you to have previous experience in game writing yet how can you get experience of you never get hired in the first place.
@@tiredguy2753 The secret to getting in? Nepotism.
In my general experience, if you're one in the hoard you're already in a losing position and not doing something right. Networking is huge. If the people know you, like you, and respect your work, you're way ahead of random applicants. I probably wouldn't waste my time applying like that. Better to spend the energy building connections. I want to be the guy emailing the hiring person directly with " hey man, I saw the job opening..."
@@J.B.1982Heh that can be said about job hunting in general, not just game writing.
Nice talk, thanks!
Great tips, thanks!
Great talk
"We gonna get more intimate, more huddled together." Says the guy right before covid 19. "COME ON DOWN!"
How can you gain experience in game writing with no experience when seemingly all jobs require past experience? Everyone had to start with no experience and build it
well it’s not ur experience in game writing! You can be a game tester and want to be a narrative game writer being a game tester is experience 🤷♂️
Yeah that is the question that everyone has difficulty awnsering. The only time I have seen game writing jobs that require no experience are internships and I can count on 1 hand the number of game writing internships I have seen and I would still have 3 fingers left .
So as a wannabe game writer not only do you face the usual it’s video game’s and there are far more people who want to work in games than there our jobs , you also face that there are so few writing positions advertised . Go to any game studio website , look up writer , narrative etc … at most you will find 1-2 open positions or more often than naught no open positions . Meanwhile you will always find more then 1 programmer role, more than 1 open artist role . But narrative , game writing - you are lucky to find 1 open position. Oh and that one open position wil want years of experience- so if you have no experience idk.
Truth is blizzard , Ubisoft , naughty dog, Zenimax etc… they are not recruiting entry level, no professional experience writers. I am sorry I know it is brutal but the reality of finding a job in game writing has to be said
@@tiredguy2753 Big companies like Blizzard, Ubisoft, Naughty Dogs, etc. do recruit entry level writers, but they have such a large pool of employees that there is always a lineup of people from other departments who want to move into writing. So, most of the time those positions are filled internally.
As an aspiring writer, you're stuck between two choices: either you get a different entry level job like office assistant or tester and try to make your way to a writing position from within a company, or you go for much, much smaller studios that might not even have a game published yet. I think a lot of applicants focus too much on getting a AAA writing job right out of school when there are thousands of small teams that may need their help.
@@Selestrielle I am going to be honest the only time I have seen entry level writing jobs at the big triple AAA are when they are reciting writing interns (usually they are looking for exactly 1 writing intern). Any writing position that is not an internship will always ask for years of experience, must have worked on x number of triple aaa titles - to me that does not seem entry level unless are definitions for entry level are different. But as you said it is def possible that the entry level writing jobs get gobbled up internally so you then the public never sees the job opening . Starting at a non triple aaa may be a better idea . Still the overall number of writers that companies are recruiting for pales in comparison to the number of open programming and art roles , so the competition for a writing position will always be intense. Again this is not to discourage future game writers, just know it will most likely be a long journey until you get that writing job
@@tiredguy2753 I'm already a writer actually. I was speaking from experience. Nearly all my colleagues got their start moving up from QA, or through obscure indie studios.
Hello everyone, does anyone have the link or name of the Facebook page they mention? or any other source where I could potentially find someone to help train me? I would deeply appreciate it!
Even in the book, they recommend having an expert or someone above your level guide you, so I would like to give it a shot!
If you’re applying 300 times & getting all no, you didn’t make a specific enough application or you didn’t work a connection to get in there.
frontedit: If you are not interested in "how do I apply to company XYZ" - skip to 16:00 and have a nice day :)
So 15:00 in i read my notes:
"How to apply to company xyz": Don't be an Idiot 🙌
Is this going to be specific to writing?
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Wanting to be a game developer makes me just want to give up on art and just settle for working in a warehouse the rest of my life not doing anything but withering away slowly...
Does anyone have experience with those who didn’t start out with a college degree in writing? Is there a proven use case for someone who took workshops with prominent game writers, and successfully broke into the industry?
I don't but I'll answer anyway because it's the internet. College is becoming less of a thing for corporate America. To what extent, I don't know but you can find articles on that.
I think the strength of the writing will stand on it's own. These people here didn't mention college as being a requirement, unless I missed something.
I am a horrible writer with great ideas.
"Game development is all about executing on a rigorous schedule." Aaaaaaand I'm out. Fully disqualified XD
To be honest I feel like writing is the easiest way to get in the industry. QA is saturated, programming has an incredibly high standard, and writing is treated as one of those as "nice to have".
Are you sure? Because I've heard that it's the other way around. That you have to get in the industry first somehow before trying to become a game writer.
May I ask what QA is
It's so empty here :(
is it? it may be soon to say so
TRANSLATE TO INDONESIA PLISSSS
If a guy who wrote the trash in Life is Strange can make it, so can you.
??
You must be joking
Yeah
praise