10 Things I Learned Working In The Gaming Industry

4. Elevating Those Around You Pays Dividends

Asuras wrath
Blizzard

The gaming industry itself can be just as competitive as the games we make, themselves. Graduates from classes of thirty to forty students can often find themselves vying for just a few available entry-level positions after university, and when standards are so high it can be a tough-fought battle.

Yet, for all that competition, the real power is in camaraderie. Once you're in the door, it's better to leave the knuckledusters there permanently; those that genuinely gel with their colleagues, humbly yet enthusiastically, are the ones that tend to go farthest, in my experience.

Don't be afraid to forego a task in favour of giving it to someone else whose strength lies in that area, and don't be afraid to say when your strengths lay elsewhere when a task is better suited to a peer.

Your seniors will see that maturity of character, and you'll be rewarded in turn. Championing others may seem counter-intuitive when you really wanted that task to show off just how much you can do, but when something arrives that's exactly what you're best at, that same person will be the first to put you forward for it. And that's how a great team functions.

And then we all kissed.

Contributor
Contributor

Hiya, you lot! I'm Tommy, a 39-year-old game developer from Scotland - I live on the East coast in an adorable beachside village. I've worked on Need for Speed, Cake Bash, Tom Clancy's The Division, Driver San Francisco, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, Kameo 2 and much more. I enjoy a pun and, of course, suffer fools gladly! Join me on Twitter at @TotoMimoTweets for more opinion diarrhoea.