Am i doomed to only get freelance jobs because of where i live?

goekbenjamin

I am seriously concerned...
I would love to work in the Game Industy (as an 3D-Character-Artist), but everytime i am looking at Jobdescription for example in this forum or at artstation i read: "Candidates must be legally authorized to work and accept new employment in the U.S." (or in other words)

The problem is, i live in austria. And in austria there is not a single Company in which i could work.
I also cannot move, i am married, has a newborn.
it's not that I do not want to, but i simply cant move to another land in the hope to get a job (i have to be sure to get paid because of my newborn), and besides that my wife also has to get a new job, and as far as i know, it is not that easy to get a greencard...

I would love to work remotely, but i am getting discouraged when i think about an job-apply:
The company could:
1. hire me (live in austria, so i would work remotely)
OR
2. hire thousends others who could move directly (or even live there)

When i am better a little bit than the others, i guess the companies are alway going to choose one from the near ones, because they could be getting better, so they dont have to handle with the "work remotely stuff" (how could they even handle meetings etc?)

Am i thinking negatively about it? Do I overcomplicating thinks too much? Or is it just the cruel truth?

Anybody here who like to share their experience in here?

Regards

oglu

do you have a portfolio..?

Moltar

You are not doomed at all.  I live in N.Ireland, a place were studios are rare to come by so I can relate.  Instead of worrying about moving to another country I sought out some remote outsourcing studios, but in the end they found me.  90% of those "studios" are 'internet companies' and they will never require you to relocate; if they do it's only for business trips or meet ups.

Post your folio and what not in the Jobs section - that's how I landed my current Job.

I have made a comfortable living with a secure Job and salary.  Trust me, working in a studio is not all it's cracked up to be.

EarthQuake

I mean, if you can't move and there are no local studios, then yes of course you will be limited to freelance / remote positions.

I'm not sure why this is so worrying to you though, there is a lot of this sort of work available if you have a competitive portfolio. I haven't worked onsite at a studio in 10 years.

Marshkin

Also - Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like Austria has quite a few game studios.
https://www.gamedevmap.com/index.php?country=Austria&state=&city=&query=&type=

What I've also seen done in the past is if a studio is located in a country but their primary development is done in another, they still sometimes hire people in the other studio if they're the right people. 

pior

"I also cannot move, i am married, has a newborn.
it's not that I do not want to, but i simply cant move to another land in the hope to get a job (i have to be sure to get paid because of my newborn), and besides that my wife also has to get a new job, and as far as i know, it is not that easy to get a greencard..."

I think you are simply largely misunderstanding the way the visa system works. No one in the game industry moves to the US then looks for a job, simply because ... well, that's illegal. You cannot just go to the US on vacation and settle there and start applying, because if you do you'll simply get kicked out on your next attempt to enter the country. Not to mention that by nature, game industry jobs do *not* require to be there in person in order to get noticed. You don't need to jump the border from Mexico - all you need is a portfolio.

So basically you are worrying about a non-issue. If your work is good enough to peak the interests of a big US studio (which is totally possible within, say, a couple years of hard work), then this studio will we willing to sponsor you for a work Visa attached to them. And if your work is truly stellar you might even qualify for a O1 ("exceptional talent").

The one thing you might want to do though, is to simply start looking into the way the US Visa system actually works. Understanding the points system in regards to years of education vs years of work experience, and so on.

Blond

Plenty of work is avaialable for freelancers to do remotely in the confort of their home or in a their personal studio. Half of the work of a freelancer is to find the gig and to establish a good network of known clients. I have a friend which is doing animation work working with various indies across the globe in Dakar, Senegal...

Of course, you need a good port-folio first...

I have never intended to freelance but just by displaying my work online, I have garnered attention and got proposed small gigs, so it shoudn't even be THAT difficult except if your work is really amateurish.
I might be wrong though.

goekbenjamin

@oglu
A few weeks ago i realized finaly what i wanted, i always thought i like to draw and make money with it (concepting stuff), i then got finally over it and tried zbrush, and oh boy this is just a lovely piece of software, it is just a joy to work in it (even with ist own very complicated ui )
Now i try to focus on 3d sculpting characters (i only wish i discovered my love for this in an much earlier stage of my life!)
Here is my "outdated and meaningless" portfolio (under "All" there are a few tryouts i did with zbrush)
... by the way, you have one new follower

@Moltar
May i ask you where you now work?
You say: "I have made a comfortable living with a secure Job and salary.  Trust me, working in a studio is not all it's cracked up to be."
It is indeed what i want, an secure job with an fix salar, it is not that i want to work IN a studio, i would love to work FOR a studio or did I misunderstand you?

It is nice to here that is not such a great deal if you live near the studios...

goekbenjamin

What the heck happend? XD i don't know how this happend, sorry for the quadruple post!
So what i have read so far, i slowly believe this is not such a great deal...
Are there differences of "remote work"?
like "permanently employed" and "employed for a single project"?

Thanks so much to everyone here who answered and posted! I really appreciate it!

JunkieKong

Hey there! I'm in a similar situation (living in an area with no available studio work) and I think the options are basically move or do remote work. I have chosen to survive for the past few years via the latter. It is quite possible to find long-term gigs on projects remotely if that's what you want.

You could also be sending applications into studios in other countries and hoping for the best, but I think the reality is you'll already be at a major disadvantage thanks to geography and all the hassles that come with relocation. However if your work is stellar and would be a perfect fit for the studio, you just never know what lengths they might go to to hire you.

goekbenjamin

Yes i am aiming to work remotely ,because freelancing is very frightening when yo have a family (i can only speek form myselfe o.c.)
Can a remote-work-job also mean that you are permanently employed? (other than a freelance-job in which you only work for one specific job, and have to look for another one, in the hope that you will find one)

defragger

There was an article on polycount about Project Cars 2 some time ago. Apparently most of the guys at Slightly Mad Studios work remotely.

You could also go to germany (same language even) or to poland which is not far away and has some of the best developers.

But first you will have to work on your skills and portfolio!

goekbenjamin

defragger said:

There was an article on polycount about Project Cars 2 some time ago. Apparently most of the guys at Slightly Mad Studios work remotely.

You could also go to germany (same language even) or to poland which is not far away and has some of the best developers.

But first you will have to work on your skills and portfolio!

Yes, to improve the skills is certainly a thing i am focusing right now

Moltar

goekbenjamin said:

@Moltar
May i ask you where you now work?
You say: "I have made a comfortable living with a secure Job and salary.  Trust me, working in a studio is not all it's cracked up to be."
It is indeed what i want, an secure job with an fix salar, it is not that i want to work IN a studio, i would love to work FOR a studio or did I misunderstand you?

It is nice to here that is not such a great deal if you live near the studios...

@goekbenjamin

Sorry for the confusion, I was just stating that working in a studio is not all that great in comparison to working remotely.

I am 1 of 2 Lead Artists in the company, Pm me with your folio and I'll see what I can do.

Zi0

You seemed to be focused on the US but there are a lot of great companies in Europe, maybe try Sweden or Germany. Although it is a decision you need to make with your wife, like you mentioned she would need to get a job in that country as well and both of you would need to learn the native language of that country.