The era when the only people who played video games were thrill-seeking adolescents is over. Today, close to 44% of players are between 18 and 49 years of age, and more than 71% of households play games on computers or consoles. And this enthusiasm is far from coming to an end: new publics are appearing (families, women and seniors), new mediums are available (cellulars) and there are new markets for more serious games designed for training purposes, e.g. in the health care or defence sectors. Nowadays, we talk about the video game industry, and rightly so, because it is already ranked second in the world of entertainment, after movies.
From self-taught game creator to structured organization
Just a few years ago, video game creators could single-handedly design, publish and market a game themselves. Today, this is no longer possible. The work is handled by a team of some 40 specialized people. The array of jobs is very important, with workers coming from a variety of fields including literature, computers, economics and the arts. “Video games offer a large number of opportunities, which students and their parents are not always familiar with. Several industry companies therefore got together to launch the macarrièreenjeux.com website, which describes various types of video game jobs,” explains Hugo Morin, president of Humagade. These include artistic occupations (animator, modeller, 2D/3D illustrator, art director), computer jobs such as integrators and programmers, designers, quality control technicians and management positions with the head of production and the project manager. The latter is very sought after by smaller studios, for which the observance of timeframes and budget is crucial. “In the creative arena, it is easy for things to get out of hand. The budget is key: a well-managed project is a profitable one,” points out Hugo Morin.
Regardless of the position held, a college diploma or university degree is highly recommended.
Qualified, motivated labour
The figures are reassuring for video game industry employees. For example, Quebec, considered the centre of digital entertainment, is forecasting 500 openings a year for five consecutive years, and TechnoCompétences is projecting a 28% increase in the labour force for 2008. In terms of skills, future candidates must have a sound general and movie culture, have a definite interest for animation movies, video creation and be attracted by new technologies. “In small studios, you have to be a self-starter, resourceful and versatile,” specifies Hugo Morin. In all cases, people who want to work in the video game industry must like and know how to work on a team, and especially be passionate about gaming. Anyone who is keen on video games will have a portfolio to show potential employers. “I’m always very surprised to get CVs without portfolios. It’s too bad, because applicants surely have interesting things they’ve worked on, but I can’t take the time to call them and ask them to send me their portfolio,” says Morin regretfully.
Competition between employers
Competition is fierce between the large studios, which must not only attract the best candidates but avoid having them check out the competition. Employers expect this challenge to last for a few years yet, as confirmed in the recruiting plans of certain studios: Ubisoft Canada, which has hired 1,600 people in the past 10 years, plans to hire 500 highly qualified workers by 2013. Electronic Arts, for its part, is counting on hiring 100 workers a year over this same period. Competition is not as bad for entry-level jobs, however. Smaller studios try to stand out to attract candidates: “Our salaries are not only competitive, but we also provide employees with a number of different benefits: they are closer to the action, to the game, and get to feel more involved. We also have attractive career opportunities: recently, someone in quality assurance was promoted to video game designer and a programmer became a project coordinator,” proudly states Hugo Morin.
But competition goes beyond this: some provinces are condemning the Quebec government subsidies paid to video game companies, i.e. 40% of salaries up to $15,000 a year. “It’s legitimate enough to say this, but if the companies were not really profitable, they would fold despite this assistance. I’ve won contracts against Chinese and Indian companies, whose workers are paid ten times less. Profitability is based on the quality and innovativeness of the video game, and not on price,” emphasizes Hugo Morin.