On National Video Game Day, consider a career in the gaming industry
September 12 is National Video Game Day.
You got your first Xbox as a kid, and soon you couldn’t wait to get home from school and finish your homework and chores so you could grab your controller and lose yourself in your favorite game. “Aw, man!” you thought when dinner was ready or screen time was over. Through the years, playing video games has been one of your favorite pastimes, if not your very favorite. And perhaps you’ve even realized you really want to build your career in the gaming industry.
That’s where East Tennessee State University comes into play.
By the time they arrive on campus, most students who end up working in the gaming industry are well-versed in what they want to do and are excited to learn how to make it happen, according to Dr. Tod Emma, chair of ETSU’s Department of Digital Media. The department, which Emma calls “a bridge between computer science and fine art and design,” is ranked No. 1 in Tennessee in game design and No. 7 nationally for an animation B.S. degree by Animation Career Review.
There are many areas of expertise needed in the industry, from game creation to getting the finished product onto gamers’ screens. The early stage of game development, Emma said, includes development, pre-production concept, prototyping and funding, followed by the production process involving game design, art creation and programming. Then post-production involves quality assurance, game testing, marketing and distribution.
The art and animation side features careers for animators, 3D modelers and concept artists, Emma said. The game design area could draw professionals from data analytics, psychology, or game-playing and programming backgrounds. Programming and development areas use professionals in computer science and digital media. Audio engineers and musicians are needed, as are technical writers and script writers. Rounding out the field are research and development pros; marketing, public relations and sales teams; and human resources, finance and legal experts.
“When we used to think about games 20 years ago, we thought about somebody sitting in the basement creating games,” Emma said. “That’s just not where it is now. It’s a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry with multi-year, triple-A titles that are coming out.”
Students in many different majors – not only digital media and computer science, but also business, marketing, English, music, art, psychology, and more – can find work in the gaming industry, and Emma says ETSU alumni are working in many of the areas he mentioned.
One such alumnus who is forging his own way in gaming is Joseph Mora. The Nashville native started playing video games around age 5, and his interest in game design began when he was 10 and his dad enrolled him in an iD Tech summer camp, which teaches STEM subjects and covers programming, art, animation, robotics and game design.
As he neared high school graduation, Mora was curious about game design as a profession. He had studied art in high school, and though he took programming at that time, as well, he said he didn’t really get the hang of programming until college.
“‘Intro to Computer Science’ was the most helpful class I took in college, although it wasn’t in my major,” he said. “This class was rough because our professor would force us to memorize code syntax, write it down on paper, and then test it in front of the class to see if it would work. This class helped me finally understand how coding logic worked, which I struggled with since art and programming are extremely far apart conceptually.”
Today, Mora continues his work in developing his own game, Chiaroscuro, through his Blackberry Studio. He calls Chiaroscuro “a little action-adventure game with a narrative that uncovers as you meet characters and explore the world, inspired by games like Hollow Knight and Cave Story.”
Mora started working on this game for practice, but the COVID pandemic gave him an unexpected opportunity for progress.
“I realized I could use that time to my advantage and tried learning as much about game design as possible,” he said. “By the end of the year, I had shown off my game to enough people online, and a small community became interested in my project.”
Mora says he’s now at the halfway point in his game development, and his free public demo on Steam allows him to receive feedback and fix bugs as he goes along.
While he continues to work on Chiaroscuro, the 2022 ETSU graduate teaches younger students at iD Tech, the same camp he attended as a youth, and also taught a Minecraft class at Create Appalachia. He hopes to land a remote job with a game company as a level designer or junior producer and then use that experience to complete his projects for Blackberry Studio.
“My goal,” Mora said, “is to eventually make a team of dedicated designers/developers where we can create games and tell stories with a shared vision.”
Related video: Check out this College Tour video featuring Joseph Mora when he was a junior at ETSU. Learn more about his Chiaroscuro game development and how he got the support and encouragement he needed through the Department of Digital Media.
East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.
Stay in Touch
Follow ETSU on Social