An article written by a college student with a BIS in Game Design and Development, debating the pros and cons of college after the fact.
Having a college degree offers new opportunities, better marketability, potential for higher pay, and much more; plus, it looks great on a resume! But the big question for those wanting to pursue game design is whether they HAVE to have a college degree to work with a video game company?
The short answer is this; No, you do not.
The internet and high school teachers will tell you that you need a college degree to do, well, practically anything nowadays. And, realistically, a degree does not guarantee you a position in the field you want. Having heard straight from a professor who works in the gaming industry that they don't look at your grades, but rather your portfolio, has made me realize how much the idea of college is pushed on students when it isn't always necessary.
I am a senior at Georgia State University and will be graduating this summer with a BIS in Game Design and Development and, along the way, I have asked myself many times: Was these past four years of college and thousands of dollars of student loan debt worth what I could have taught myself by watching YouTube videos from the comfort of my own home?
I have learned many valuable skills and gained a fair amount of experience learning different software while in college, so I'm here to tell you what to expect from college as a game design major. Of course, please keep in mind, every college has a different curriculum, courses, resources, and professors. The software, and how you get to take advantage of them as a student, remains the same.
One of the greatest advantages of going to college, and especially GSU, for a game design degree is getting to work with Professors of Practice. Professors of Practice are instructors that work within the field that they are teaching in. There are several Professors of Practice at GSU, some of which even worked on Suicide Squad (2016). These professors keep you up to date with the newest technology, sometimes showing you a sneak peek of it before it's released to the general populace. Making a good impression and having connections is beneficial when you decide to start looking for a job or internship.
As I mentioned earlier, as a student you can take advantage of student licenses and discounts for a variety of software. Most of the software and equipment that game designers and developers use cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. You are eligible for student licenses while enrolled at a university. This can cover applications like Autodesk Maya, a 3D modeling software. Depending on the professors at your college, you might even get access to Reallusion Hub, which has iClone and Character Creator. Your professor might have the ability to give you a temporary license, or they could opt for a different animating and character creation software.
Adobe Creative Cloud is 60% off for students, only $19.99 a month versus $54.99 for individuals. This includes all the apps compatible with your computer, like Photoshop, After Effects, Premier Pro, XD, Lightroom, and more.
Unreal Engine is free for everyone to use, and if you want to learn game design from home, it will be your best friend. I will dive more into the benefits of Unreal Engine below.
Like any school, expect quizzes to test your knowledge, assignments, and big projects with time constrains. You might find yourself getting hung up on something, getting frustrated, but you have an expert who is willing to aid you just an email away. This all aids in your understanding of what it is like to work within the gaming industry too. There are crunch times, especially near the end of development, where employees are working eighty hours a week. It is not a field for the faint of heart.
Each class prepares a new portfolio piece for you to showcase your skills to potential game companies. You will spend the semester building up to a big final project- a dungeon level, 3D modeled environment, a Rube Goldberg machine using the physics in iClone, a playable game that requires you to take advantage of every skill you and your team has learned, and much more. You get access to equipment to familiarize yourself with. At GSU, students have access to a green screen, LED wall, and motion capture software to record animations for their game. You get to explore a wide range of software, but you only get a chance to dip your toe into them. By the time you're done with your schoolwork, the semester is over, and it's time to move onto the next class, the next software.
This is where the downside of college comes in. Your attention will be divided. If your passion alone is for designing video games, then you might have a hard time finding the motivation to complete you Critical Thinking or Statistics assignments. College requires you to take core classes, such as electives, english, math. It all varies based on your school and major. You will be taking classes that have nothing to do with your degree and, let's be honest, who is really interested in that?
I have learned some fascinating skills from other classes and found other passions because of them, but I have lost count of the hours I have spent on a class that I could not care less about, countless hours I could have been working on honing my design or development skills. Instead, I'm trying to figure out what my teacher means by a prototype for multiple business owners that encompasses their needs, but every outcome seems not be the right answer. (She'll clarify eventually, after I've already turned in the assignment and gotten the bad grade).
Be it at home, or in college, expect to be frustrated at some point.
Another source of stress and frustration are finances. If you are not going to school on a scholarship or have financial aid, you will be taking out loans. In some cases, even with the assistance, you will still have to take out loans.
Money can be a big deal for many, especially if you plan on commuting a long distance. It is no secret gas prices have been on the rise, so expect to spend a lot on gas. I commute a little under forty miles (almost eighty miles round trip), four days out of the week. Depending on the traffic, the trip is anywhere from fifty minutes to an hour and forty-five minutes. I spend roughly $50 on gas a week, and this is with a smaller sedan. If you drive a truck or an SUV, expect to pay more. Commuting takes away a lot of your time and money.
There are some teachers what will show you walkthroughs on YouTube on how to do an assignment in a certain software. You pay a few grand for a class, and they, sometimes but not all the time, show you what you could have found for free at home. You will spend a lot of time watching YouTube walkthroughs anyway to achieve a certain goal.
The easiest software to learn at home, thanks to YouTube, is Unreal Engine. You won't have to pay a penny unless you want to. Unreal Engine is free to download on Epic Game's website. If you have a laptop or PC that can smoothly run the software (and storage space!), then you can find hours’ worth of tutorials on YouTube and master it. There are also fairly priced courses online specific to what you want to learn in Unreal Engine. Instead of just learning the basics and moving on, you can actually dedicate the time to learn it.
You can also take advantage of all the free assets and packs the Epic Games Store offers, and there is new free content every month that you can add to your collection that might benefit you later.
Just keep in mind, you will still have to create quality work to impress gaming companies. Your pieces will have to be unique and well-crafted in order to catch their eye.
In the end, it is entirely up to you and how you think you learn best. If you need someone else holding you accountable, making sure you are completing things in a timely manner, or you want to learn more than just game design, such as a minor, then college might be for you. If you are looking to take advantage of student licenses for specific software, then consider how much the software by itself cost versus what you will be paying out of pocket or in loans to attend a university.
If game design is the only thing you want to focus on, and you know you can manage your time well enough to learn it and start making impressive pieces for your own portfolio, then you might not need it.
Do not let anything, time or money, stop you from pursuing what makes you happy. Just remember, it takes time and dedication.