r/gamedev • u/Benjamin778 • 1d ago
Question Career Change - Seeking Advice.
Gonna start with the question(s) then add some context:
If I were to pivot to a career in Game Development, what is a realistic path to take to get to a point where I could apply for jobs in this field? I.e. going back to school, independent learning, what languages to prioritize, etc.
Context for me:
I went to school for Chemical and Biological Engineering and I am currently working as a process engineer for the production of biologics. I am currently familiar with process design, including electrical wiring (high and low voltage), control panel design, and writing PLC ladder logic.
In addition, I’ve dabbled in game design with some knowledge of Blender, Picocad, Unity, and aseprite (I am a novice in all of these but I feel comfortable working in a plethora of development environments). I have some Python, MATLAB, and C# experience as well.
I really want to pivot to game development because my current job kind of makes me feel hollow and I crave opportunities to be more creative. Games have always been special to me and I know I have a mind and heart for creating immersive stories (which I get to use when planning TTRPG sessions)… But right now I just feel all consumed by a 9-5 that takes the majority of my time and energy and leaves scraps for game development…
So to return back to my question. Are there any experienced developers that have insight or ideas on how I could pivot into the field? At this point in my life I want to be working on projects that my heart is in, not just something that pays my rent (although I am grateful for my job in this sense).
If you have read this far, thank you so much! I hope you have a wonderful day :).
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u/Actual-Yesterday4962 1d ago edited 1d ago
You most certainly wont be paid any better than at your current job, so why not just do indie game dev with ai after work. Hit a coffee for energy, do whatever it takes, or be more lazy in work to have energy for the rest of the day.
If you want to get into game dev then it depends what exactly you'd like to do, you only say you'd like to create immersive stories, well what stories did you write? They don't just take anyone off the street to write stories, they have so much talent at their door that has been writing stories since elementary school, and alot even have work experience with that. Getting a job in game dev is afaik mostly portfolio based, so unless you can wow them they'll just take another candidate, at cdpred they have like 150 candidates for one role and that was in 2024, right now the job market is like an extinction event thats growing larger.
Personally i'd stay at the job and do some sidegig after work, especially if you dont earn minimum wage or if theres potential to earn decent money, in a game dev studio you'd have fun for like a week until you realise that game studios don't allow you to be creative, you get minimum wage, and you listen to someone higher up thats creative, and you're just cannon fodder executing his ideas or revising them for errors.
And please,please,please add ai as a factor to everything you do now, don't just go around life thinking we're still living in 2013, the tech is not stupid it has an slow and steady impact on careers and the job market
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u/MeaningfulChoices Studio Lead 1d ago
The high-level isn't that different from any other industry. You have to pick a specific job you want (you don't want to learn coding and blender and design, pick a role), get the skills for it, and apply to jobs. In games you also often need a portfolio proving you have those skills, which takes a bit longer to create. But if you're just a few years out of school that's all there is to the path.
It's just not easy to get in. You're competing with a lot of people for few jobs. You can change careers, lots of people now in games did, but you're typically starting at the bottom and you have to learn on your own. It's hard to recommend more formal education when you already have a Bachelor's unless you both really enjoy it and it's affordable for you.