Getting back to it!
Originally Written: June 11th 2024.
It’s been quite a while since I pursued my dream job as a game developer. A lot has happened in the last year since I graduated from Full Sail that’s really slowed down my progress.
After being given a twelve to fourteen month timeframe for our new home it took our builder two and a half years for our house to be built. My wife and I finally moved into our home in February 2023 there were numerous issues and hurdles we faced along the way while we worked on getting moved in and setup.
Four months later in June 2023 I was named salutatorian of my degree program and graduated from the Game Development program at Full Sail University. It was such an achievement that I was really genuinely proud of. A few weeks later I was unfortunately laid off from my lead developer position at Allata. Still, I kept my head up and was determined to try to make it into the games industry. That’s when the layoffs started happening. Many game development staff were being laid off as the industry shifted to be more cost effective.
So now we are here. I’m ready to get back to it. The dark times of the past started lifting and I’ve felt a renewed sense of purpose and drive. It all started with a simple conversation between a friend and I. Daniel was a classmate of mine at Full Sail university. We hit it off with a strong sense of determination and work ethic. We worked on projects and assignments together and kept each other going along the journey to graduation. Daniel reached out to see how I’ve been doing and when I asked him how things were going, he mentioned going to a few game conferences and meeting some people in his country who are in game dev. He shared photos and videos from the small convention. “Ugh! It feels like I’m not living my life!” I said to him. “How do you do it?” I asked. He shared the way he is trying to make things happen in his country and the struggles he is facing and told me he works hard to stay motivated.
I don’t know what it was about that conversation, but it was almost like I woke up in that exact moment. I envisioned myself going to those game conferences and meeting people, making connections and having fun. Most importantly I started to envision the real cheese... (Spencer Johnsons “Who Moved My Cheese” reference) I started to envision the life I wanted. I pictured myself working at a major studio on a project I loved with people who I could call friends. I imagined seeing people play the game I helped create on my team and feeling a swelling sense of pride and accomplishment. I envisioned myself down the line as a leader people wanted to work with. I love helping and teaching people so this was super cool.
This all sounds great... “but what about the layoffs?” I hear you asking. Those are temporary. The goal is not for right now. It’s for when the industry needs that resurgence of game talent. I’m taking all my time now getting ready to make my dream a reality.
I’m not saying this is going to be an easy road. It’s something I want to know. I don’t want to die wondering if I could have made it. I need a certain salary requirement so I’m going to have to prove that I’m worth it. How do I do that you ask? Studying. I know that being a game developer is a very tough role to get and that most times you must be the best or have a lot of experience. This is especially true right now when there are so many experienced people looking for work. However, with enough time I’m going to get so smart and so knowledgeable that it would seem like a mistake to NOT hire me. (I hope! haha)
For the future my plan is to work on projects to add to my portfolio, brush up on my C++ and get back into learning all the linear algebra I can!