Progression

We're now at the point, where each one of us has to decide what will they do to progress further into the industry. I've given my next steps a throughout thought, so there is a plan for everything... I hope! The first part of this unit is about what our next major step will be, so here are the decisions I've thought about and a break-down on why have I chosen what I have.

university

choices

At first, I was determined to get into university. That decision was made last year. I didn't give it a good thought back then, so it was just me going with the flow - people go to university, so should I. Upon a second thought, and this time a more serious one, I decided not to. Many things in my life changes over the course of the last year, and so did my choices. I sat down and analyzed all the pros and cons of this choice, and here they are :

pros

1) easier time finding a job afterwards

2] better paid jobs

3] building a network of people in the university

4] meet new people / have fun

cons

1] building work experience quicker

2] ability to start my own game company faster

3] expensive

4] in this industry, I feel like the gap between college-only certificate and an university certificate isn't such a big deal when it comes to jobs

After looking at what most employers are looking for when it comes to the game-designing industry, about 75% of them don't mention university degree, and even those that do, state that a good portfolio can bypass that. In an industry, where it all comes down to your creativity and portfolio, I feel like it's only the portfolio itself that matters. Many people have tried proving me wrong, but I guess I'm kind of stubborn. On to the next option!

job

This would be my second choice. The industry offers really good salaries, and even if it isn't a good one, I'll still gladly take it - experience is what I'm mostly after. If I end up making coffee for a team full of professionals, I'll be more than glad to bring them their coffee and ask them what they're doing. I've considered apprenticeships and even an intership, but I'm feeling confident, that with my skills I will be able to find a job. Pros and Cons again!

pros

1) get way more experience

2) make money now

3) start climbing the industry's stairs young, meaning I can reach great heights later on

4) safe and stable

cons

1) eventually will hit a 'progression wall' where i will have to change jobs for something better, meaning i'll have to start a new job and everything all over again.

2) won't have much connection with the people i'm making the game for.

3) will have to start at the bottom.

Don't get me wrong - the job is a great thing to do next, but I have something even better in mind. Moving on!

indie company

A lot of big, AAA companies have started this way - as a small game making studio. This is my top choice as of now. I feel like I have a great strategy for making it happen too. Step one - make a good product. This is a no-brainer. Step two - put out a demo and make a kickstarter page. The demo will be your big gate to massive exposure and the kickstarter will be for everyone, willing to support you and launch you off the ground. Step three - if you've done a good job, big youtubers might see your game and play it for their channels - we're talking about youtubers with over 10 million subscribers fanbase - that means at least a million of people will get to know about your product and could support you, making it become a reality. If all works out, the full version's development will start happening - might hire more people to help and speed it up, will buy a license for Maya, will greenlight the game on Steam, will send a free game copy to everyone who donated a certain amount of money to the kickstarter, and will put some kind of price on the product for everyone else.

pros

1) biggest possible profits in the industry

2) will take leadership position in a potential big company

3) will have a great bonding with the customers, since that will depend on me now

4) reputation is everything

cons

1) the riskiest of them all - developing this game demo will take over 6 months in total, but might end up returning no profit.

2) very difficult to get everything going.

3) profits won't be reliable - one game might succeed, next one might fail.

4) reputation is everything.

My top choice. The risk-to-reward ratio is totally worth it in my opinion. There is no limit to the amount of profit you can get this way, but the headaches of being a leader will be there too. This is what I'll try to do, and if it doesn't work in the next 1-2 years, then I'll go into job hunting.

dream job

From everything said above, my dream job is being a CEO/owner of a huge game-development company. I want to be a part of the decision-making of that company, to be interviewed for magazines, to be asked to make presentations in front of a huge crowd, etc. I want to work for a % of the profits the company makes too - not for a set salary. I want to be one of the head people of the firm, and if I am one of the people who first started it - all the better.