Will more game art positions become availiable in the future?
interpolator
While I'm 2-3 years away from having a presentable portfolio, I've been checking different studio's websites to see what their current hiring status is. That said, it seems the majority do not have many game art positions to be filled.
Now, is this something I should be worrying about? I know focusing on the portfolio is the number one thing but, what happens when no studio is in the mood to hire?
Is it possible we'll see more positions open up in the future? And if they do, which position would studios be in the demand for (i.e character artist, environment artist, animator etc)?
I'm also hoping with PS4/720, I'll see increased job opportunities so I'm working towards that or is this just wishful thinking?
Edit: I should also mention I'm looking at Canadian game studios.
Now, is this something I should be worrying about? I know focusing on the portfolio is the number one thing but, what happens when no studio is in the mood to hire?
Is it possible we'll see more positions open up in the future? And if they do, which position would studios be in the demand for (i.e character artist, environment artist, animator etc)?
I'm also hoping with PS4/720, I'll see increased job opportunities so I'm working towards that or is this just wishful thinking?
Edit: I should also mention I'm looking at Canadian game studios.
Replies
I know everyone thinks that the PS4/720 will lead to a boom but Bobby Kotick recently warned that the next gen might not be the magic bullet everyone expects, so keep an open mind to mobile & PC developers who've been stealing away the casual market from consoles.
For me the expansion of the PS4 and 720 may actually not be the great boom everyone think it is, if economic trends continue the way they are, many people wont be able to afford such expensive luxury consumer goods as new gaming consoles, and if that rings true then we have less game purchases, less investment, less studios, less jobs.
Then we have the rise in 3rd world educated people willing to work for less, a lot less(which is becoming a issue across all professions that wish to earn a living wage) company's will always seek to tweak those profit margins and juice them for every drop, I personally think if you aren't aiming to be in the top ten percent in this industry where employment will be based on your cutting edge skills you may just be wasting your time.
That's mainly a concern for countries that currently rely on cheap labor.
To be fair, software, technology, video tutorials has made making game art "easy street" compared to say 5 years ago and prior. It can only get easier and easier.
How long could one expect a reply (if accepted) in that case?
The flip side is they might just outsource everything as it becomes to expensive to pay that many artists locally
Other than those lovely automated messages, I've got no solid answer for you. The idea is to constantly put yourself out there and to continue to improve your art. At the end of the day this is a business and businesses look for problem solvers(generally speaking). If you can prove you're that guy, you'll always find jobs.
Thats how I got my first contract, hope it helps.
Edit: I forget the "if accepted" part, if they're interested you'll be contacted soon.
except nobody outsources to the third world
While you have a valid point when it comes to quality - because there are many shit outsourcers - I don't think you can simplify the situation like this.
Eventually game devs hav to find a way to spend more time, employ more people without having costs raise accordingly. Solutions could be better workflows, improving post FX, materials, lighting and rendering than spending more time on asset production, outsourcing/in-sourcing, and new monetization models (e.g. more in-app purchase methods).
Although with the Euro crisis, who knows, maybe it'll pay again to open studios in those countries with high unemployment and now lower costs/salaries.
Perhaps I had the luxury of the internet being different during those days. I just kept my head down. These days people are bombarded with content overload and a bunch of info on companies failing.
You just gotta keep going. Like many other things you'll just have to want it even more and like everything it is all about sacrifice. It could be that some places have the pick of the litter and they are finding people before they even really post. Make yourself that. That may mean getting to know people. Go to GDC. Get around. Then one day you will be hired and even though you probably wont care anymore cause you are set.. if you think about how you got in you may laugh and realize it was through odd means. Some guy approaches you on this forum. Or some friend recommends you. Or it could be through something like Digital Artist Management and you realize they got you a job that was never even advertised.
That reminds me. Try to get in on something like DAM. (Digital Artist Management).
I don't know what it is like out there anymore. I want to say that there are jobs and more coming and to just keep looking. But perhaps I should be saying "Learn chinese"
Outsourcing isn't as easy as saying "hey let's move to a cheap place". You can do that with an assembly line requiring untrained people assembling electronics. To create game or film art you need more than that and there ain't that many cheap countries with a stable political climate and a good resource pool.
Plus anything that requires an integrated pipeline won't be outsourced easily. I'd say as level artist your job is probably safer than as prop or character artist, unless you're top notch. Choose your job wisely and practice art, not Chinese.
I like the idea of being approached on the forum for a job. I'll definitely want to start posting some work to better those opportunities.
I just really have a fear of going through life unemployed and with this bad economy, it only heightens it. I'll feel more reassured if studios are still looking to hire even if their website doesn't say it.
And so I should be looking at level artist then for a safer position in the industry. I use to make custom maps in Starcraft and had alot of fun with it so designing levels should actually be a natural fit for me.
Justin has a good point - as games are a software product they are a technical product. It helps to show an interest in technical constraint and tech issues. People who can adapt to tools, workflows and know the limitations are better suited for productions than people with an attitude like "I'm an artist! I don't need to do this or know that!".
At some point you will reach your peak of artistic ability and you have to work on skills that set you apart from similarly skilled people, such as experience, technical skills (e.g. shader, unreal, rigging), mentoring skills, leadership skills. Never stop improving your core skills, but also keep working on those skills that set you apart from others.
Example? solid working Unreal Engine knowledge. Those people are hard to find everywhere - even in "outsourcer countries". E.g. a modeler who can import, create shaders and set up the asset properly in UE saves time and money because we don't need to have another guy do this.