17+ video game jobs you should consider
Those measurements easily place the video game industry in one of the "fastest growing industries in the world" category for the next four to five years. As the video game industry grows, so do job opportunities.
However, job seekers should not limit their view of video gaming industry employment to merely development positions like programmers, producers, and engineers. An industry this large and growing this fast needs capable personnel in marketing, finance, communications and a multitude of other job categories, too. When considering an industry for your career path, it is vital to expand your search beyond the obvious and the conventional.
1. Database engineer
The modern video game is complex. On the production side, there may be thousands of assets and elements to catalog, store, and ultimately retrieve. On the player's side, a character may have thousands of inventory items to keep track during game play. Each of these tasks requires a sophisticated, reliable, and heavily architected database. The kind of database that must be engineered by a skilled professional such as a database or storage engineer.
2. Data engineer
A distinction must be made with regard to data engineer and the database engineer referenced above. A data engineer develops the protocols that will be used as the foundation for all data collected and decides how that data will be structured. A database engineer decides how data will be stored and retrieved. It's a subtle, albeit, important difference when it comes to the overall data integrity.
3. Technical support specialist
The complexity of modern video games often leads to technical problems within the player base. While video game consoles benefit from uniformity of components, personal computers can have a multitude of configurations and hardware. Inevitably players are going to need troubleshooting help for installation failures, game crashes, or worse. A talented person with the technical expertise to fix those problems can make or break a game's future success.
SEE ALSO: How to reduce software bugs in software projects
4. Video game artist
A designer's vision for their game can only be brought to fruition by the creative talent of an artist. Whether it is character design, world building, or something as seemingly simple as building the proper color palette, the input of a talented artist is a must-have video game development position.
5. Video game animator
Video game animators complement and enhance the work of the video game artist. Modern video games are dynamic, and agile movement is crucial to how a video game looks, feels and plays. Talented video game animators are essential to producing this kind of engaging environment.
6. Video game audio engineer
A talented video game audio engineer is required for any video game's ultimate success. Music, ambient sound and special effects work together to create a 3D soundscape that completes a game environment. Without it, a video game would be flat and lifeless.
7. Video game writer
The history of video games is littered with artistically beautiful games that have failed miserably. The ultimate culprit in many of these failures was poor writing. Video games need to tell an appealing story, rounded out with steady pacing, character-appropriate dialog and relatable or aspiration characters. Gifted video game writers can mesh all of these components successfully.
8. Video game voice actor
In many video games, characters engage in dialog with players. If dialog is delivered stiffly or in an off-putting manner the immersion of the game will break, and game play will suffer. To avoid this outcome, game developers use the considerable skills of voice actors. Some voice actors can spend their entire careers performing for video games.
9. Marketing manager
A ground-breaking video game may come to market, but it won't matter if the game-playing public does not know about it. Marketing and all that entails—advertising, player engagement, packaging, pre-releases, etc.—is vital to the success of a video game. There are dozens of potential marketing positions available at just about every video game developer or publisher.
10. Market research analyst
Working in support of both marketing and development is the work of the market research analyst. Knowing where the video game industry and market was previously, where it is now, and predicting what it will become in the future is vital to any successful game development strategy.
11. Network administrator
Much like any modern business, the amount of sheer data flowing across a video game enterprise's communication network can be mind-boggling. But the amount of data streaming across the network does belie the fact that all of that data is important. It is the job of the network administrator and the network engineer to keep that data flowing reliably.
12. Cybersecurity engineer
While the network administrator and engineer keep data flowing reliably, the cybersecurity engineer ensures that the data flow is secure and untainted by unauthorized eyes. Besides typical security concerns like malware, cybersecurity engineers in the video game industry must also protect a game developer's intellectual property.
13. Compliance officer
Some video games generate revenue through subscriptions and/or microtransactions. Those methods require the collection, storage and processing of sensitive personal customer information. A compliance officer ensures that the security of sensitive personal data of customers is maintained at all times and that the methods deployed meet all regulatory guidelines.
14. Community engagement manager
One of the most overlooked career paths in the video game industry is that of community engagement. Just about all video games generate an active, expressive, and passionate player base. This enthusiastic base often self-identifies as a community. Much of the video game industry creates forums, websites, FAQs, community activities, and more for their player communities, complete with professional company representatives specializing in community engagement.
15. CRM developer
To facilitate community engagement, and all other customer relations tasks common for a modern business enterprise, video game developers and publishers must rely on CRM developers and the tools provided by CRM software and systems. The more a company knows about its customers, the more effective it can serve their needs, wants and desires.
16. Video game producer
A video game can't be published without someone providing cohesion between the many parts of game development. That role belongs to the video game producer, who must organize, coerce, cajole and coordinate talented people of various technical expertise and keep everyone moving toward the common goal of producing a compelling video game.
17. Technical recruiter
Of course, the key to success for any business is talented personnel. Employing a technical recruiter to find and hire the best and the brightest individuals for open positions is the most effective way to establish a competitive edge over the competition.
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