An introduction to the games industry

An introduction to the games industry

For this blog I will be exploring the ins and outs of the video games industry. Is the industry doing well?

According to the guardian it most certainly is, it states that...

Last year will go down in history as the point at which the UK videogames industry pulled decisively away from cinema, recorded music and DVD sales to become the country's most valuable purchased entertainment market, with combined software and hardware sales topping the £4bn mark for the first time: more than DVD and music sales combined, and more than four times cinema box office takings.

Industry insiders agree that the last few years have been something of a golden age for the videogame, with titles setting new records almost every other month for both sales and critical acclaim.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2009/sep/27/videogames-hollywood

I’ve looked at some of the views of current employees within the video games industries and found out some of the benefits of working within it, such as challenging your creativity.

Most of those in the industry will agree that one of the best parts of video game design is the opportunity to challenge your creativity. Like any other form of art, designing video games keeps your creative mind active.

Another benefit is working within a casual work environment. When people are asked what they value in a job, a casual work environment often ranks quite high on the list. People don’t want to feel stressed by a conservative workplace while they are trying to work, especially if the job generates plenty of stress of its own accord.

Another benefit is the pay. From what I’ve found the average pay for someone working within the industry is around £30,000 a year. However I’m not holding my breath for this rate of pay when I start my first job in the industry!

Finally I think the best thing about working in the video games industry, for current employees, is the fact that you are getting paid for designing and creating games, what more could you ask for?

http://www.xforce.ws/2010/03/video-game-design-careers-6-benefits-to-working-in-the-industry/

At present the industry is facing some stresses and strains, what with the world wide recession and economic down turn, it to faces worrying times. Industry Jobs are currently low in numbers due to this and the merging of several companies, primarily to avoid going bust due to spiraling costs.

The impact of the current climate upon the games industry is still uncertain; however I think that it’s likely that there will be less jobs and lower paid jobs in the not too distant future. The bubble had to burst at some point, I’m just glad it’s happened now while I’m still studying and not when I’m in the industry, so that there is perhaps a chance that by the time I reach the end of my course and look to become employed, the industry may have recovered and be on the up again.