Understanding Roles in the Games Industry

For my ‘Project Initiation and Career Management’ University module, I looked into Programming careers in the games industry in more depth. Writing this report allowed me to explore all areas of Programming, and find areas that I can focus on, along with skills to help me grow professionally.

One of the most interesting parts of my report was the exploration of various programming roles. While my main focus is currently gameplay programming, I’ve become interested in tools programming. In my report, I compared these roles, and conversations with industry professionals at events like the Game Developers Conference (GDC) helped me learn lots about their differences.

Discussions With Professionals

For example, a Tools Programmer at Sumo Digital, Angelo Paonessa, shared that his background as a gameplay programmer helped him transition into tools programming, but it required a lot of on-the-job learning. Tools programmers often work on a variety of systems, which makes their work very transferable to other industries.

I also learnt from a tools programmer at Nintendo that adaptability and cross-team collaboration are important for this role as you’re working with - everyone!

These conversations made me very eager to steer my career towards a tool-programming pathway!

Research

I created this career progression diagram to help me explore and learn more about a games programmer’s career progression.