The video game industry is rated at some 50 billion dollars and it is growing very quickly. Experts say that they expect exponential growth over the next couple of years, as well! What does this mean then, exactly? It means that now is the absolute perfect time to get your foot in the door of this industry. With the huge growth in the video game business you can expect many gaming testing jobs opening, including some very nice high paying opportunities as these companies try to best their competitors and grab up all of the best testers.

As an avid video game player myself who enjoys all kinds of games, ranging from MMORPG’s all the way down to FPS’ like Team Fortress 2, this is where I come in for you and tell you this big secret; game companies typically only hire people who show initiative and come to them, instead of posting jobs. It seems simple at first I’m sure, but really think on it for a moment. They lean towards people especially who already have either contacts in the industry, some sort of game related degree, or both. I’m not about to leave any of you hanging though!

From a gamer, to another gamer, I want to offer you an opportunity so you can get contacts in the video gaming industry; over 50 of them in fact, insuring that you will get into whatever genre you choose if you pursue it. Many people have gone through this service to get a job in the video game industry, and through these contacts they can even ship the games to your house if you prefer, depending on the company!

The first thing I did was contact game developers. Most of the companies that produce video games do not post ads in the daily classifieds or online like most other companies do. I am not sure why they don’t but I have never seen a job posting like that.

Search online for “a list of video game companies”. There are hundreds of companies that create video games that need beta testers. All you have to do is find these companies and present yourself to them. Make sure you are professional though, don’t just email them and say you want to test video games.

Create a resume. It might sound silly, but if you have a resume about your gaming experience then you will look much more professional and you will be more likely to get hired to test video games.

The next thing you need to do is follow up. Follow up with the companies that you talk to and let them know what systems you own and that you are available to start testing games immediately.

You will eventually get your first game to test and what you will also want to do is continue contacting companies to test games for. You are not actually employed by these companies so once you test a game for one company they may not have another game for you to test for a few months. It is a good idea to spend a few hours a day contacting companies asking to test games even if you already have plenty to test. You don’t want to run out of work.

Know what you’re getting into

Before you dive into becoming a video game programmer, spend a little time to research what working at a video game studio actually entails. You don’t want to spend time and effort becoming a video game programmer only to realize that it’s not what you were hoping for.

Working as a video game programmer takes a lot of effort. The work hours and deadlines can get stressful, especially near the end of a project. Talk with people who are in the video game business, either in person or online, about any questions you may have about the business.

Create your own games

Try your hand at making your own games at home to see what it’s like. You can start with simple projects first, such as basic text games or simple shooters. Grab a book on video game programming at your local bookstore (there are many to choose from) and dive in. C and Java are good programming languages to start out with.

Don’t try to create something too big or you’ll quickly get overwhelmed. The purpose of this is to learn what it’s like to make games and get a little experience, not to develop the next award winning MMORPG. Development studios will be more likely to hire you if you have a good project or two that you can include with your resume.

Go To College

Currently video game development studios are hungry for programmers. They spend a lot of money using headhunters to help them locate new people to hire. The good news is that once you are in the video game business, there are many opportunities for companies to work for. There are many different projects and locations that you can choose from. The bad news is that the studios can be very picky about hiring new employees with no previous video game programming experience. Therefore it can be very hard to get your foot in the door.

Going to college for a Computer Science degree and getting excellent grades is one of the best ways to show video game studios that you will be a competent and committed employee. The classes will also give you many of the skills that you need to work.

There are schools now that specialize in video game degrees, such as DigiPen. They are still relatively new and it’s not clear whether they increase your chances of getting a job in the video game industry.

Play Games

Know your games! The video game industry is changing at a breakneck pace, so it’s important to stay up to date with the new products. Play many different games every month to see what companies are doing now with video games.

Development studios want to make sure that they only hire programmers that are devoted to video games. Staying up to date with videogames is an excellent way to demonstrate this.