Find Someone Who Believes in You
Hello!!
Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement from my first blog 🥲 I doubted myself for a while to see if I would ever start this thing, and the support I received was more than I could’ve ever imagined…which leads me to this next topic!
You might not think it is, but the games industry is tiny! Someone knows someone from some place, the whole six degrees of Kevin Bacon kinda thing. And - the majority of people are kind-hearted and willing to lend a helping hand. Especially with how shitty the last few years have been for job security and overall mental wellbeing, I think we’re all trauma bonded at this point *cries*.
This blog was originally supposed to be about networking, but to be honest, I don’t think I’m the best at networking because talking to people is scary for me, SO I’m taking a different spin on it *triple axel* and using my experience to write about finding someone that believes in you. I will also share networking tips around building authentic connections and referrals!
And of course, memes.
Find Your Champion
Story time!! In my last blog, I mentioned that when I first tried to make the switch to production, I had someone tell me I had no transferrable skills and the skills I did have were only good for the role I had then. What a stinky attitude to have, right? I didn’t believe them, of course, and it only fueled my fire even more. But still, this was someone I once considered a mentor, and it really stung.
Fast forward a year, I cold applied to Maxis and met the best recruiter I’ve ever worked with. It was the first time I had ever talked to someone where I truly felt like they believed in me. They were extremely authentic and honest with me throughout the whole process, and took the time to build trust and know me on a personal level. Even when I didn’t think I could do it, they were there with words of encouragement and advice. I will always credit this person for my start in the industry. If it weren’t for them taking that first look at my (very bad) resume with no gaming experience and giving me that chance, I would not be where I am today. All it takes is one person.
When I got laid off in December, a former studio leader coached me through it since it was the first time I had ever lost my job. I had no idea what to think, what to do, where to start, etc. but they were there to talk me through it and process it all. We talked weekly about the industry, giving me their insight on what was happening, and even sent each other roles to apply to. They were always willing to go the extra mile to introduce me to more people in the industry. All it takes is one person.
Now, I’m not saying “hey go find someone that you only reach out to when you need something.” People can sniff that crap from a mile away. We’ve all been on the receiving end of that, and it’s awkward. What I am saying is to take a different look at networking. Surround yourself with people that believe in you. I’m talking an authentic relationship where you both recognize each other’s talents and willing to lend a hand if needed. This could be anyone - a coworker, friend, family, manager, mentor, someone you met an an event, etc. These relationships keep you grounded, humble, and confident. Better yet, these relationships just come naturally and become stronger over time. They don’t happen overnight, and they aren’t forced. A real, organic / non GMO / cage-free friendship <3 Even if you’re not the best at networking, there are people out there that believe in what you can do, you just need to know who these people are and give ‘em a big old hug!!
Referrals & References
These are also the people you should feel most comfortable with referrals and references. Think about it, if you ask some random who knows nothing about you for a referral, how do you expect them to advocate for you on your behalf? On the flipside, if you refer anyone to work at your studio, this person might not get a fair chance because you can’t speak to their talents and work. What if this person doesn’t hold the same values as you? Take the time to get to know someone before getting to the referral and reference conversation. Ask them questions about their role, how they like the studio, and if they know anything about the role you’re interested in. Give them an opportunity to ask you questions so that they might feel more comfortable being your internal advocate. I know times are tough and we all want a way into these studios, but having a stronger relationship with someone will allow for a better referral, and to that avoid that awkward conversation!
At first, I felt really conflicted about having this mindset, as of course I want to help people find roles. After talking with a few people in the industry, I realized it’s important to set these boundaries for yourself and to do what you’re most comfortable with. It’s a disservice on both ends to refer someone you don’t know. At some studios, their referral program even asks what the relationship is between you two, so it’s encouraged that you have some sort of knowledge of each other. Whenever I receive a cold referral request, I always offer to answer questions and get to know the person first, and they either ignore me or just say “thanks but no thanks.” This is not the way!! Be intentional with your reach-outs. Trust me, it’s very telling that you don’t actually care about me and just want to use my name.
TLDR; find your hype squad and never let them go! If you aren’t sure who these people are or genuinely don’t feel like you’ve identified anyone in your network, try networking to start fostering these relationships! Of course, some of these people can be met from traditional networking methods, which I’ll talk about…now!
Let’s Talk About Networking
It’s not easy to network! It’s kind of intimidating. Put me in a room with people I don’t know and I shrink. I haven’t gone to a games conference, mainly because they’re so expensive, but part of me is scared to go because it’s a sea of people that I want to talk to but don’t know how to take that first step. Maybe it’s an anxiety thing? I’m trying to get better at it, which is partly why I started this blog so I could meet new people, but it’s a real thing so I wanted to mention it as some of you can relate.
You can still network even if you’re just a little shy guy like me. In this section, I’ll cover different ways to network based on your level of comfort. These tips apply to anyone, whether you’ve been in the industry for a while or still trying to find your path.
Game Development Communities and Organizations
Finding a community you can relate to is one of the best ways to start networking. You already have something in common with people, so use that as your olive branch! It doesn’t even need to be game development related. Maybe there’s a game you really enjoy playing and you find other people to play with, or there’s a studio whose games you’re interested in. These are forms of networking!
If you’re not sure where to start, try looking up communities in your area. The best place to start is to see if your area has an IGDA chapter, which is the Independent Game Developers Association. IGDA is membership based, but some of the local chapters will still let you be part of their online community! If your area has a strong gaming presence, there’s probably self-started games industry groups as well. Support Buff LA focuses on social events in the Los Angeles area to connect gaming industry professionals, most recently holding a resume review for those who were laid off. While a much bigger example, Virtual SEAsia is a fantastic group that was started by people in the industry to bring people together!
There’s also several game organizations and non-profits focused specifically on making the industry more accessible for a specific community. These groups do amazing work like organizing mentorship programs and game jams, holding panels and interviews, awarding scholarships and sponsorship for school or events, and just bringing people together. Here’s some of the groups I’m personally familiar with:
There’s several Discords dedicated to a specific tools or role in game development as well. You can use Discord’s discoverable servers feature to search for specific communities so as long as their Discord is set to a community-based one. A quick Google search will also pull up communities you can join as well! Look up organizations like the ones above to see if they have a public Discord you can join!
Game Jams
If you have no gaming experience, try signing up for a game jam! Game jams are a great way to learn what it takes to make a game in a short amount of time. You can do a solo project or join a group! Some game jams are run by small communities that focus on a specific genre of a game. For example, there was a Thinky Game Jam where people were encouraged to design and develop a game that sparked creative problem solving. There’s also larger ones like the Global Game Jam! Some game jams are sponsored by studios or other organizations, so it’s a great way to get your name out their and start building connections.
Games Industry Events
As long as it’s safe, comfortable, and accessible, one of the most common ways to network is by meeting people at an event. All over the world and virtually, there’s conferences, meetups, and conventions where people get together to celebrate games. Some of these events are more niche where it’s a specific game genre, indie game focused, or discipline focused, but others are more general.
I bolded safe, comfortable, and accessible above because I encourage everyone to do your research on events prior to signing up and attending. Check their accessibility accommodations, review pass prices, and read up on event safety and culture. I’m not a fan of crowds, and I’m definitely not someone that could go to a big event alone, so travel in numbers if you can! Usually when these events roll around, people will post their travel guidelines and tips so be sure to read up on those. Fortunately, lots of events have gone virtual, allowing you to have a similar experience in the comfort of your home.
Game Developer Conference:
The event people are most familiar with is Game Developers Conference (GDC), which is held in San Francisco each March. If you’re unable to attend, they also have GDC Vault, where you can access panels, talks, and other resources. I can’t speak to GDC personally because I’ve never been, but from what I’ve heard, people from all over the world come together to hear others present about their work, pitch games to publishers, demo their games, and even meet others for potential job opportunities. There’s also an awards ceremony where games are recognized for their excellence! There’s also lots of social events surrounding GDC, which most people go to just to hang out and have fun.
bruh
I mentioned it earlier, but I’ve never been to GDC because it is expensive. And I already live in the US. The picture above shows the breakdown of GDC’s pass prices in 2024. This is just the pass - there’s also lodging, travel, airfare, food, visas, on top of other unexpected expenses to consider. Now imagine you’re an aspiring game developer from the Philippines who wants to pitch their game to publishers? It would cost a fortune. I’m not bashing GDC, but I think it’s important to highlight just how inaccessible the industry can be. However, there are a lot of free events that happen surrounding GDC and San Francisco at the same time, and that’s where you can still network with game devs! Peruse social media and LinkedIn to learn about these events, or visit EventBrite to see if anything is listed. If you’ve been to GDC and have actual knowledge on it please feel free to comment below and talk more about it. I’d like to go one day, but maybe once I’m financially stable *squints at student loans.*
Here’s some other events you might want to check out:
PAX: they have three locations: PAX East in Boston, PAX West in Seattle, and PAX AUS in Melbourne. Again, I’ve never attended, but from my own research, PAX pass prices are more affordable than GDC
Gamescom: Cologne, Germany
Games Accessibility Conference: London and Seattle, USA twice a year and virtually via Discord
Indie Games Fest: Cologne, Germany
Africa Games Week: Cape Town, South Africa
IGN Live: Los Angeles, USA
Games for Change Festival: NYC, USA
Game Devs of Color Expo: virtually online
D.I.C.E. Summit: Las Vegas, USA
EGX London: London, England
GameDev Summit: Boracay, Philippines
Indonesia Game Developer Exchange: Jakarta, Indonesia
BitSummit: Kyoto, Japan
There’s hundreds more, just do a quick Google search in your area to see if there’s one easily accessible to you. If you can’t afford to go, some of their websites will also offer free passes. There’s also scholarships from non-profits or sponsorships from organizations or studios that will cover some or all of the costs. If you have any organizations or events that you recommend, comment the links down below for others to check out!
Portfolios and Social Media
Websites like ArtStation allow you to showcase your work and see other artists’ work as well. This can be a great way to network and ask people about their art and any tools or advice they might have. There’s also a new app called Cara that some people have signed up for! I can’t speak to these types of apps as I don’t have art to showcase, but a few of my art colleagues use these when trying to find their next gig. I also made this website right here on Squarespace as a collection of my work, at least what I can talk about, as well as my work history. Anyone can reach out to me on here!
Twitter is shit, we all know that. Hopefully more devs move off to other alternative social media and microblogging platforms like Bluesky or Mastodon. Bluesky is nice because I have a specific feed I follow call “game dev” where I can see any content related to game development! I haven’t signed up for Mastodon yet, but I might give it a try. I’m trying to stay off social media because I’m just glued to my phone, but if you have recommendations on other platforms, share them below!
Lastly, there’s LinkedIn. I don’t find LinkedIn to be all that useful for the games industry, to be honest. Some of the best developers I’ve worked with don’t go on there. I personally struggle with LinkedIn’s lack of authenticity and constant encouragement of feeding their AI. I also find their job searching tool horrendous. Their algorithm is just all over the place, both from a job seeker and recruiter perspective. But still, it started out as a networking tool so it’s worth mentioning here.
If you want to learn more about a studio and the people that work there, LinkedIn is a good place to start. See what connections you have at a studio and if you recognize a name. People are also pretty good at sharing job descriptions and answering questions. It can be intimidating, but you can also send connections and messages to people you might want to get to know better to learn more about them and their role. I’ve had a handful of people reach out to me this way asking for advice, which is what actually inspired me to write a blog in the first place. It can get overwhelming at times, and I don’t go on as often as I used to, so sometimes I answer after a few weeks!
It goes for everything on the internet, but especially LinkedIn, just be cautious of who you’re talking to. There’s been an increase in bots and scammers pretending to be from a studio to take advantage of job seekers. There’s also the standard social media influencers that do and say anything for clout, so take some things with a grain of salt.
Final Thoughts
Bottom line - do what you are most comfortable with. Don’t feel like you have to network to get into the industry or to be successful. It only helps so much, but the more important part is who you are and what you believe you can do! And surrounding yourself with people that can hype you up will help you along the way.
I didn’t mention university networking because I honestly have no visibility in that space. My school had zero gaming culture, and not everyone in the industry has a degree. Still, if you have tips or thoughts to share about this, feel free to write it down below.
I visited LA!
I did some networking myself this week! I finally got to visit That’s No Moon’s studio in Los Angeles for a technical production summit. I got to meet my team in person for the first time and it was awesome! Here’s a photo of me and my coworker, Jin (she/her) on the right, an Associate Art Producer! We started on the same day so it was great to meet her.
Screens blurred out for privacy, y’all will get to see what we’re cooking eventually.
Would love to hear people’s thoughts around finding your champion and networking tips. Write them below, now that I finally figured out how to allow comments lol.
Not sure what I will write about next, whatever’s on my mind I guess? This month is packed with new show premieres so I’ll be spending a lot of time glued to my couch. But I’ll still aim to get one blog out a month!
See you next time!
