Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen how video games have a positive effect on mental health, enabling families and friends to remain connected even while physically apart. In fact, according to research from the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, video games are now more popular than free to air TV in Australia.
With so many of us picking up the controls, it’s only natural that parents have started to imagine gaming as the perfect future career for their children. Move over architecture, medical, or veterinary school, gaming might be the new answer to ‘what do you want to be when you’re older?’
It’s easy to see why. The future of the gaming industry is looking bright, with global gaming revenue worth more than the film and music industries combined. In Australia, the video game development industry doubled its revenue to $226 million since 2016, according to results from the fifth annual Australian Game Development Survey (AGDS) 2021. The survey also revealed that the industry expects further growth locally, contributing to the growth of the global market, which was worth $AU240 billion in 2020.
On top of all that, the federal government is jumping on the trend with the announcement of a Digital Games Tax Offset, a scheme that grants gaming businesses earning more than $500,000 a 30 per cent tax offset.
The current generation of parents and students have a vastly different attitude toward pursuing a career in game development than just a few decades prior. The average gamer is 35 years old, and many of these ‘millennial gamers’ likely have children of their own. This is very different to when I started my own career in the industry, when my parents had never even seen a video game, let alone played one.
However, just because your family loves gaming, that doesn’t necessarily mean your child is destined for a career in the industry. After all, does loving watching Netflix necessarily mean you’re destined for the future in film and TV?
I have found that many parents decide that their children will make great developers because all they do is play games, but a passion for games is just the first step. In fact, the first thing I tell students commencing game courses at AIE Institute is that they will not have much time to play games anymore.
The good news is that there are many other key attributes that might give parents a clue about their child’s potential career in the gaming industry. Take, for instance, the ability to learn new skills. Gaming technology is constantly changing, and an aptitude for adapting to new challenges and ideas is key.
Productivity and the ability to work on one project for a long time are also important. A typical game takes anywhere from 15 to 200 people working on it for 18 months to as long as five years – and its hard work. The graduates that I have seen succeed have been the hardest workers, typically putting in double or triple the hours they spent in class on their own projects.
Game development is rewarding but it’s not easy. Completing projects is hard when you’re in a team of highly creative people that think in different ways and have different approaches in how they tackle problems. So is maintaining the passion and dedication it takes to bring an idea to fruition. If your child has these skills, then they might very well have a bright career in gaming ahead of them.
Today, the industry is a tried and tested career path for many. In order to help all those young students who love gaming but aren’t sure how to turn it into a career, we’ve recently launched AIE Institute, a higher education provider that will be offering a Bachelor of Game Development for the first time in 2023. So, if you’ve got a motivated, passionate, productive child on your hands, a career in the gaming industry might very well be the step they’ve been looking for.
By John Margheriti, Chairman and CEO of The Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE). John established the AIE which is today Australia’s most awarded 3D animation, game design and visual FX educator. Created as a non-profit organisation to grow the creative digital sector, AIE pioneered the development of specialist game qualifications and offers a Bachelor of Game Development, including three separate majors in game art, game design or game programming. By providing students with real avenues to employment and further studies, the AIE Institute conducts innovative and interactive programs that combine current knowledge and role-based learning within a project-based professional environment.