- Pronouns
- he/him
Hello everyone,
I’d like to present this special article written for Famiboards. One of my friends works in the gaming industry as a developer, and so I thought it would be really great to interview them on their first hand experience of entering the games industry. This interview is to provide all users who are interested in having a career in video games, and for members who are interested in some of the processes of creating a game.
While we tried to mimic the great styles of Iwata Asks , unfortunately my interview skills won’t quite match the same quality. That said I hope this inspires any readers out there.
The interview
My friend would like their privacy with regards to their work and so we will be referring to them as Kamek.
Introduction
Jaysc
Thanks for taking the time for the interview. I really appreciate you being here able to answer these questions.Kamek
No problem! Happy to be here.Jaysc
Lets start with some introductory questions before we dive deep into topics.What company you currently work at?
Kamek
I currently work for a US based AAA game studio.Jaysc
What’s your job and what do you do?Kamek
I am currently a gameplay programmer. I work closely with a team of designers to make new features and systems for the current and future projects.Jaysc
Some gaming ones now to understand your background. What’s your first memory of playing video games?Kamek
Hmmm, first memory would be tough to pin down. The two consoles of my early childhood were the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Nintendo 64. Super Mario 64 is the first game I have vivid memories beating for the first time, but I have fond memories playing the first three Mario games on the NES, Zelda, and Metroid.Jaysc
Oh very Nintendo centric, are you favorite games Nintendo based?Kamek
I’m still a major Nintendo fan, I’m currently making my way through Tears of the Kingdom, but I have since branched out to taste other areas of gaming as well. The Horizon games are a blast, as is Yakuza 0. Minecraft and Roller Coaster Tycoon are some of my PC favorites, particularly the modding community surrounding both. Modded Minecraft and the open source reimplementation of RCT (OpenRCT2) are in my opinion the premiere way to play both titles.
OpenRCT2 is an open-source re-implementation of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2.
Jaysc
Here’s a misc type of question. Do you have a preference over cinematic style games like The Last of Us, or more gameplay eccentric games like the Mario games?Kamek
That’s tough. I suppose if I really had to pick I’d go gameplay over cinematic but I really like both. It’s a common trend these days for some games to be criticized for being glorified movies, but if the story is good… I suppose I don’t mind? Yakuza 0 comes to mind when thinking of a game I played recently that has really fun and engaging gameplay but I’m also looking forward to the cutscenes to follow the characters through the story. Even Tears of the Kingdom, which has some of the most creative gameplay systems ever seen in an open world game, has (by Nintendo’s standards especially) some impressive cinematic moments.The Job
Jaysc
I see I see. Lets get back to your current role then and start from the beginning. When and why did you decide to become a games developer?Kamek
I have always had a passion for making or tinkering with games. When I was young I downloaded Lunar Magic to make my own Super Mario World levels and romhacks. My levels weren’t very good and nobody else ever played them, but it was pretty eye opening to see something that I created be a part of something like a Mario game. There’s something special when seeing something you created displayed on screen, ready for anyone to play.Lunar Magic is a level editor for Super Mario World. It allows the creation of rom hacks that can change every aspect of the game.
Jaysc
But how did you know exactly that you wanted to be a game’s developer and not just a avid player?Kamek
Well, my highschool offered three programming courses, two courses that taught Visual Basic 6, which was incredibly outdated even when I took the course (ah ha ha), and one AP course that taught Java. Even in Visual Basic I found ways to make games, I’m guilty of making a shameless Pokemon ripoff; a bit of a rite of passage if you ask me. This all goes to say that I enjoyed programming and making games at a young age. I was then able to point myself in a direction that could turn my fun hobby into a career. I went to college to pursue a degree in Computer Science and took the game design classes that were available. After college I obtained an internship at the company I currently work for where I was then hired on as a full-time developer at the conclusion of the internship.Jaysc
Oh I see, that’s really nice that you were able to internship and get a full position in the end, especially in a big company. Did you find it difficult landing the job?Kamek
I had a bit of a unique situation because the company I work for had a relationship with the college I attended. This gave me a bit of a boost in exposure when applying for the internship. It wasn’t a guarantee, I still had to apply and take a programming test, but it definitely helped. My suggestion for anyone looking to attend college in hopes of landing a job in the game industry would be to see if that college has any connections for such opportunities. Either for internships, partnerships on a senior project, etc.,. Then playing the game of life it never hurts to have a couple aces up your sleeve.Jaysc
Then of course the things you learnt in college were actually applicable to the job then? Sometimes people feel like the things they learn from higher education can be completely different to the real world.Kamek
Absolutely. For programming specifically, you need to know your stuff. In my case I learned C++ in college which is the dominant language in modern larger game engines. The bottom line for any job is that you need to advertise yourself as someone who can do the work. If you’re an artist that would probably mean an impressive portfolio. If you’re a designer you’d want a collection of games or pieces of games that you created.
Jaysc
Do you think it’s difficult becoming a game’s developer then? Obviously your college had good connections, but have you spoken to other people and heard their stories of entering the industry?Kamek
[Thinking] Hmm, I would say game development is a complicated industry to break into, it’s a catch-22 of plenty of jobs that require you to already have industry experience. I have seen people have success starting in QA to get experience and moving into preferred roles after, but it’s certainly not for everyone. I think it is best to keep an open mind and cast a wide net.QA means Quality Assurance. Degrees varys between company, but in general it involves testing the game for any bugs, crashes, and gameplay problems. Typically doesn't require extensive programming knowledge.
Jaysc
Lets dig deeper into your role. What exactly do you do at work?Kamek
I mentioned briefly that I program gameplay systems. This is separate from something like mission programming or engine programming. Gameplay is the medium between the two taking the core functionality of the engine to make features that are used by missions and open world. I enjoy this happy medium between the two extremes of the discipline because it means I’m making the fun toys that are used everywhere in the game.Jaysc
That’s a really interesting position. Do you think that involves doing things differently to other roles, or in the end it’s just the same programming skills?Kamek
Some of both perhaps. All programmers have at least some familiarity with the various gameplay systems, but where I'm at in gameplay I need to be familiar with AI, Animation, Visual Effects, Audio systems, and countless others when creating something new. I need to know how all of these systems play together so my new feature use them to their full extent. Other fields of programming such as mission programming would require knowledge of know the various mission systems work. Checkpoints, enemy waves, etc. . Programmers on the engine team have highly specially knowledge of the engine, knowing how memory is passed around, how things are spawned, pictures rendered.Jaysc
Right I see. It sounds like you need a grasp over a wide range of things rather than being a specialist in a specific area.Did your expectation of being a game’s developer match the reality of your job?
Kamek
Surprisingly, yes. A lot of what you hear about what working at a game studio is actually true. Unlimited soda and snacks, pizza every Friday, ping pong in the arcade room, etc.,. This also includes some of the negatives though; crunch, while relatively uncommon at our studio, does happen, and the stress of working on such a large project is a bit nerve-wracking at times.Crunch is a term meaning a period of time where staff are pressured into completing work as soon as possible in order to meed a deadline. This means overtime is enforced with longer working hours in a day.
Jaysc
Crunch has been a big problem for multiple industries for a long time. Do you think your company are addressing these concerns actively?Kamek
They have addressed crunch in some ways better than others, however as a whole there has been active improvement in the recent years. QA is usually hit the hardest but that has been turning around with some recent changes. When there is crunch it is usually for short periods of time right before deadlines. Our production team works hard to ensure that crunch is a last resort.Jaysc
That’s good to know they are actively looking at it.As you’re working in a large company, do you still have a lot of creative freedom when designing things?
Kamek
Yes and No. The broad strokes of design are handled by designers, it’s their job after all, but there’s still plenty of room for suggestions and personal flair. I work so closely with design I inadvertently end up steering the feature whether on purpose or not.Jaysc
Have you ever considered becoming a Indie developer to gain the full freedom?Kamek
All the time, but probably not full-time anytime soon. There’s no shortage of game ideas that I’d like to work on, I have three games in mind that I’d like to try making at some point… there’s just not enough time in the day to do everything.Jaysc
Lets talk about the process.What are the steps when creating a new product from start to finish?
Kamek
In general, projects will start with a discovery phase where you determine the high level mechanics and ideas. If there are major technical hurdles, this is where proof of concepts would be created. Next you move into pre-production. This is when the rest of the systems come online; creating all of the building blocks that will be used to create the game.Moving into production is where (hopefully) the majority of the work is. Making the content, missions, etc.,.
Post production can be seen at the polish phase. Ironing out bugs, improving things that need improvement, making sure your new game is shiny and attractive. After this depends on the type of game you’re creating. Live service games or games with DLC plans would continue development, additional bug fixes if necessary.
Jaysc
Do you have experience creating DLC or live service games? I’m wondering what’s the developer schedules are like for these.Kamek
I have experience creating DLC. The schedule starts immediately after the game is finished, no time to wait around. You work under the assumption that the game will be a success and scale accordingly after the release. The DLC schedule is a lot like schedules for the main game but compressed. For example a DLC could add a new mission with some kind of new tool. You still have to prototype out the tool, gray-box the level the mission takes place in, etc etc., building it up from there. Sometimes DLC can be a place where we can revisit something that was unfinished and cut from the base game due to any number of reasons. The "cutting room floor" is often deep with things that didn't make it in the final game.Jaysc
What’s the feeling like at the end when you finally get to release the product?Kamek
You feel a wave of relief but also a strong desire for people to enjoy what you created. I just want people to have fun with the game I helped make. On the previous project we finished it was a relief that it was finally over, the development was quite long.Jaysc
I’m sure there’s a break in between right?Kamek
No break in the development schedule, the show must go on, but we do receive bonus paid time off at the conclusion of the project. The number of days was pretty sizeable and we could use it as we saw fit.Jaysc
That’s good to know you get something at least.I can imagine working for a large company with lots of moving parts, it’s unavoidable to have timeline pressure. Have you ever felt restricted due to timeline pressure? How do you even balance writing quality code against the hard deadlines?
Kamek
Yeah absolutely. In a perfect world every game would have an unlimited budget and you’d have infinite time to work on every feature you can think of. The biggest misconception a player can have about a game that releases in poor shape is that the developers didn’t know the game was bad, or that QA didn’t properly test the game. In most cases that can’t be farther than the truth. Game development is a balancing act of making continuously larger games with rigid timelines. Sometimes you have twenty bugs on your plate and there’s only enough time to fix fifteen. It’s heartbreaking but it’s the unfortunate truth. The best you can do is learn from the mistakes so the studio doesn’t run into the same pitfalls in the future.Jaysc
Yeah completely understandable in the real world things got to keep to schedules, especially when those sorts of things are out of your control.Have you ever felt you released a bad product then?
Kamek
I suppose if you look at the metacritic score I’ve released a bad product. It hurts to see something you’ve poured so much time into be poorly received, but through the negatives there’s still some fun hidden in there. We can see people on internet forums such as Reddit talking about the game(s), what they like and dislike. I enjoy playing it, and I hope others do as well.Jaysc
Switching topics slightly, do you develop for all platforms?Kamek
We develop(ed) for the generation 8/9 consoles excluding Nintendo. These days things are generally close enough in specs and capabilities you generally don’t need to worry about special considerations. If it runs on Playstation, it’ll run on XBox. The engine we use handles cross platform builds very well, and if needed we can use compiler flags to designate logic that should only run on certain platforms.Jaysc
Lots of people think you can just press a switch to port games all over the place. It sounds like that’s the case for your engine at least?Kamek
I can imagine some peoples exposure to this topic comes from using an engine such as Unity or Unreal where you can specify any number of build targets such as PCs, phones, consoles, even web browsers. What this fails to account for is the technicalities when it comes to memory restrictions and porting low level feature sets to the various targets. For example, screen rendering on one platform might use DirectX 11 or 12, and another might use Vulkan. Niche features such as Playstation's adaptive triggers, Xbox has impulse/rumble in their controller's triggers, PC allows the player to seamlessly swap between controller and mouse. Different platforms also exponentially increases how much bandwidth you need for testing and QA. You might have your basic version of the game that most people will play, but some countries have special censorship restrictions when it comes to gore, violence, religious iconography, etc.. QA already needs to test every version of the game, and now they need to test every version on every console as well! The worst is when you receive a bug report that is only reproducible on Playstation, it happens more often than you think. Tiny, usually insignificant, differences between the hardware (how variables are initialized for example) leads to something behaving one way on PC but entirely different on console. So while porting starts with the click of a button, it ends with months of additional dev time.
Jaysc
Quality of course is a big thing. I’m assuming you must have Quality Assurance (QA) testers. How much do they influence your game? I have a friend who worked as a QA in video games and they have told me it can be a pretty bad experience.Kamek
QA is the backbone of any game studio. They know the game better than anyone else in the studio and generally have a pulse on the state of the game at any given moment. It is unfortunately true that they are underappreciated, QA is often incorrectly seen as a job that anyone can pick up and accelerate in so they are treated as disposable. In recent years that is starting to turn around ever so slowly, though it may still be a while until they are treated with the respect they deserve.Jaysc
What about game developers? There’s a stigma that they are overworked and underappreciated. Do you think that’s true?Kamek
Videogames as a whole can be some of the most diverse and difficult to create pieces of modern media to create. Hundreds of people with all different skills and backgrounds come together to make something for the benefit of all to enjoy. I believe that video game developers are overworked and underappreciated not due to deliberate malice from the general community, but due to lack of understanding of the craft.It's easy to compare one game to another without full understanding of monumental efforts behind either of them. Nobody wants to release a bad game, but like many things in life we're bound by our circumstances. Whether that be time, budget, manpower, etc.,.
Jaysc
Lets end this section with some questions about the video game industry.What’s your view on the current state? Recently big AAA companies have been releasing very sub-par video games. Even positive companies like Bethesda releasing Redfall, or Blizzard handling of Overwatch 2.
Kamek
It’s pretty interesting out there. Games have been becoming ever increasingly larger, becoming more and more complex with each title expected to outperform the last. We’ve reached a point where in order to make these grand AAA blockbusters like Elden Ring, God of War, etc., you either need more time or an increased amount of staff working on the game. This leads to bigger and bigger budgets which leads to bigger and bigger risks. We’re seeing companies tend towards live service games because they can start with something smaller, make their money, and build upon it. The yearly releases of sports titles are also symptomatic of this problem, especially when they need to cram an entire development cycle in a year (assuming they don’t develop multiple year’s titles concurrently).Jaysc
Do you think the gaming industry is healthy? In regards to working conditions, variety of games, even the cost of developing a game.Kamek
That’s a hard question due to how wildly one company can vary to the next. For that reason alone I suppose you could say that it’s unhealthy. Despite that, I do believe that it’s getting healthier. Crunch is becoming more and more looked down upon and work-life balance is becoming more of a priority.Jaysc
What about the price increase of video games? Do you think that’s justified?Kamek
Nope
Ah ha, just kidding. This is a sensitive topic for almost everyone involved. It doesn’t take a business degree to see that games cost more than ever to develop in a world where the 60 dollar price tag hasn’t budged for decades. What I would like to see is more variance in both directions in the AAA space. We’re actually already starting to see this more and more where Tears of the Kingdom costs 70 dollars, but Metroid Prime Remastered only costs 40 dollars. Save a bit in one place to spend a bit more in another? Again, it’s tough. Nobody wants to spend 70 dollars on an incomplete game with microtransactions, but spending 70 dollars on Elden Ring might make sense for some people due to the size of the game. It makes me wonder if more and more people will start waiting out for sales, the “patient gamer” strategy where you play everything a few years behind so you can buy everything at a discount.
Jaysc
Ah yeah, I’ve been hearing more people talking about being a patient gamer . Even myself I’ve had to look away from some games to my financial situation.Speaking more about workers, what’s your thought about AI in the industry? We know generative AI are affect the creative industry directly, but it also influences other areas. Do you think it affects your job?
Kamek
Where we sit in AAA games, I don’t think AI will affect the industry in ways most people think they will. Tools already exist for worldbuilding that aid in automatically creating vast landscapes complete with trees, foliage, rocks, ground texturing, and more just by dragging your mouse around on the screen. AI could possibly make these tools stronger, but world/level designers would still be required to make environments where gameplay could actually take place. I believe the same could be true for any discipline in the industry. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if that doesn’t stop people from trying, some genres would most likely get hit harder than others. I would worry most for visual novels.Jaysc
Ah yes visual novels. You definitely need a solid story primarily, but the art really does seal the deal.Lets end this section with this question. What do you think makes a good game?
Kamek
It has to hook me somehow. It needs to drive me to pick it up again after I save and quit for the evening. Whether that’s through gameplay, story, graphics, music, etc.. There’s too many games where I play it for a solid 2-3 hours and never pick it up again.Nintendo
Jaysc
Being a Nintendo centric forum, I have to ask you for some thoughts regarding Nintendo.Quick easy one - What’s your favorite Nintendo game?
Kamek
No way I could pick just one. For the current (Switch) generation I’d say that Tears of the Kingdom is phenomenal and Mario Odyssey is a wonderful love letter to 3D mario games.Jaysc
Speaking of Tears of the Kingom, has that influenced you in developing games?
Kamek
Tears of the Kingdom highlights how important it is to build your core gameplay mechanics early, make them fun, and make them core to the game experience. What makes Link’s abilities fun is due to how they all work together in servicing the gameplay. In BotW, Stasis was was best ability due to it being able to be used everywhere. Magnesis had metal limitations, cryonis only worked on water, and bombs were weak at everything but blowing up rocks. Additionally, none of these abilities work together and none of them are particularly useful in the open world (I may be exaggerating a bit here but stay with me for a second…). Tears of the Kingdom does a complete 180 where all of the abilities are useful pretty much everywhere. Ultrahand a chest into the air, swap to recall to keep it there, use ascend to teleport on top of it. Now you have a vantage point to attack some enemies with your fused weapons. Everything plays so well into the gameplay loop.This is a long way of saying that TotK is a platinum example of a game with a strong foundation that the developers were able to build upon.
Jaysc
Haha it definitely sounds like you’re enthusiastic about the changes made.Has any other Nintendo games ever influenced you?
Kamek
I think it would be impossible to pick a Nintendo game that somehow didn’t influence me. Super Mario 64 most likely kick started my love for gaming, and Super Mario World romhacking is where I got my start making games.Jaysc
Do you have any that sticks out to you? A game that you think is special out of all others.Kamek
I feel like I need somewhere to bring up Pikmin. I love this series and no other games really scratches that same itch. Pikmin 1 especially was so fun and yet so stressful as a kid. I remember having a sinking feeling in my chest when I watched the intro cinematic where the ship breaks apart, it actually stressed me out, ah ha ha. You get attached to your Pikmin as you command them around the world. The game is pretty unique, Nintendo’s own take on the RTS genre. The indie game Tinykin evokes similar feelings but is still its own thing, relying more on platforming than RTS combat.Jaysc
Haha yeah, Pikmin really did scare me when I was young, but I really enjoy the atmosphere and the style of the game. I also could never finish the first game due to the 30 days time limit.I also agree Tinykin evokes a similar feeling, but I find it more of a platformer style game.
Do you have anything to say about Nintendo games when analyzing them from a developer’s perspective?
Kamek
Nintendo is really special when it comes to their core IPs. Part of the reason they are able to release back to back blockbusters is because they have the time and budget to perfectly craft every inch of their games. When the next 3D Mario game comes out it will undoubtedly be a 10/10. While part of that will be due to excellent design choices, it will also be due to Odyssey coming out six years ago; the new one has more than enough time to cook in the oven.Finishing off
Jaysc
Lets start wrapping up this interview.What do you want to achieve in the future?
Kamek
In addition to creating fun and enjoyable games, I’d like to work on more side projects. It’s important to keep those creative juices flowing.Jaysc
What are you looking forward to next?Kamek
Metroid Prime 4. No idea how Retro is going to pull it off, but after seeing how they put Prime Remastered on Switch, I am confident that they can do it again. They are an incredible team of developers.
Jaysc
Any advice for future game developers?Kamek
Start small, start early, and work your way up. You learn to walk before you learn to run. Make some levels in Mario Maker, make an adventure map in Minecraft, make a map in Garry’s Mod. Do anything that stimulates the game developer senses.I hope you all enjoyed this interview! I really think getting a first-hand insight of a developer in the game's industry isn't common enough so I hope this helps all readers understand their work more.
Huge thanks to my friend for taking their time to answer my questions.
Contributing
Interested in showing off your own article? Please contact me or the team! We're looking to expand this sort format more so if you think you have something worth writing about please contact me or the team via DMs or the ticketing system!
