“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. It’s a famous quote that you’ve almost definitely heard before, though no one is entirely sure who was the first person to say it.
Regardless of who first coined the phrase, its wisdom is indisputable.
Everyone has a different passion. That’s why some people teach, others work in medicine, and others work in finance. For some of us, a dream job would be one that involved video games in some way or another.
A career in this field may be more realistic than you think, as there are many different avenues you can go down.
Game Designer
There are many different roles that go into making new video games, though perhaps none more relevant than the one of a game designer. The designer focuses on coming up with ideas for every element of the game, covering rules, settings, the story, characters, menus, modes, vehicles, weapons, and more.
Game design is a great way for you to channel your creative energies while also creating something of value. Online casino games are a great example of this, as most offer hundreds of different online slot games and regularly add new ones to their catalogues. The designers of these slots have a lot of freedom to create games that draw inspiration from just about everywhere, including sports like horse racing, Greek mythology, space, and even popular TV shows.
When it comes to larger projects, designers won’t necessarily do much of the coding or even the artwork as that will be done by other members of the team, but it would help to understand the processes involved in designing and programming, the associated blog Earth Web says.
Esports Athlete
Perhaps you’re not interested in the creative process and just enjoy playing video games. In this case, you’ll probably prefer to be an esports athlete. These are people who compete in professional video game tournaments and leagues known as “esports”.
Some esports events are run remotely, with you playing at home or at your team’s base. Other competitions are held in stadiums and exhibition centres in front of live audiences, just like other professional sports.
It’s not just a case of turning up on the day and playing a game. Competing at the elite level of esports requires a lot of work and dedication, with training and practice sessions taking place most days, just like it was a full-time job.
Streamer
Perhaps you don’t want to compete against other players from around the world, but you still want to play games for a living, so you could try your hand at video game streaming.
Streamers broadcast their gaming sessions on sites like Twitch and YouTube, give a running commentary as they go, and interact with their viewers. They may take requests from their fans to play in certain ways or go to certain parts of the map.
Streamers make their money in a couple of different ways, including ad revenue from the platform they broadcast on, sponsorship deals, and donations from fans.
QA Tester
Before esports and streaming became viable career options, the only way to earn a living from playing video games was to work as a quality assurance (QA) tester. Unfortunately, it’s not just a case of loading up a game and doing what you want all day.
Instead, you’ll spend your day working through lists of different tests, trying every possible thing as you try to break things and find bugs. These bugs are then reported to the development team so they can fix them before the game goes on sale.
Marketing
Perhaps you enjoy video games but don’t want to spend all day playing them. Perhaps, working in the marketing department might be a good option for you. Your role will be diverse, contributing to campaigns that help to raise awareness and increase sales of your company’s games.
This might involve talking to journalists, creating trailers, or buying advertising space in magazines, on billboards, or online.
If you love games, then the career options are diverse so you’ll almost certainly find something that suits you.