Luck and Getting into the Games Industry

The size of the E3 Gaming Expo
illustrates the size of the gaming industry

"Don't aim for success if you want it. Just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally" - David Frost.

You have to be in the right place in the right time and work damn hard if you want to succeed. Not hard, but damn hard. But as many university students and employers will tell you over and over again, simply working hard isn't a guarantee into getting into the field you want.

The games industry is a massive and rapidly growing, and more and more will we see games becoming an integral part of our daily lives. The esteemed Call of Duty: Black Ops took in over $650 million US dollars in its first five days - breaking a global record for income generated in five days for a game, book or movie. It's no little part of our lives, and as the graduates roll out year after year, the games industry - or 'interactive entertainment' industry as they like to call themselves - is becoming an increasingly more appealing option.

During the seven-day Computer Games Boot Camp event, I've noticed a trend with many of the games presenters there - just about everyone from the camera team, the people from the community television show Level 3, the editors and reviewers of game magazines, game composers and so many more people attributes their involvement in the industry to one of two things. Luck and networking.

Before I go into a little more detail into how luck and networking gets one into an industry, I'd like to talk a little about the idea of a 'success formula'. A Google search of those two words yields a whopping 10.7 million results. The self-help industry was estimated at more than $9 billion US dollars in America in 2006. Considering the size of the personal-development industry, an industry that suggests that success comes from solid principles which can be applied to many specific situations, can we expect that the people who have made it into the games industry to have similar traits and similar stories?

Jason O'Callaghan, the face behind the Melbourne-based community television show Level 3, tells me with a laugh that he became a part of the show through pure luck. He was working at a video store when the lead producer of Level 3 approached him and told him that he was making T.V show and needed people. A similar story is described with one of Level 3's reviewers, who was working in a video game store when approached by Level 3. Dale, Level 3's floor manager, was working on community television and radio before discovering that one of his co-workers ran a show, and that this co-worker needed people. These certainly are a testimony to the luck element of entering a business, about being in the right place at the right time. But is there more?

One of the lead hardware reviewers for the hardcore-gaming magazine Atomic describes his pathway into games journalism as being pure luck and networking. His friends were all in the business, which meant an easy foray into the dark and and often inaccessible industry. Liz, an opinion writer for Level 3 notes how industry professionals took an interest in her work and decided to post her writing on their website. One of her friends, who just happened to be part of Level 3, discovered that she was a writer, a discovery that eventually lead to her position in the community show.

The majority of people will tell you that they got into the games industry through luck and networking. But there's more to it than that  - every one of the people who have made it in have had something to offer the industry such as a great skill-set, a portfolio of work, technical knowledge, writing ability and so on. These people have had experience, and even more, they have a passion for what they do. Your skill, passion and experience in what you do is incredibly important - without it, there is no chance of entering any industry. This is not to discount the importance of luck and networking, but to suggest that you have to have skill, expertise and/or experience before these will be of any use to you.

Many successful people talk of making their own luck. Yes, you do have to be at the right place at the right time, but as you develop your skills, your knowledge and increase your experience in a particular field, you're going to find that you'll be at the right place at the right time more and more often. More opportunities will arise, and perhaps you'll find your big break sometime soon. Until then, why not work on something or develop a project?

Level 3 can be found through their website: http://www.level3.org.au/
and Atomic can be found through theirs: http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/