Does it even matter anymore when it comes to what 3D app to use for portfolio?

ModBlue

For the topic of Maya, Max and Blender, does it matter when it comes to portfolio nowadays? I mean specifically for modeler positions. I know that in archviz it seems Max is still widely preferred, but when it comes to games it seems not to really matter considering how many jobs list "Maya or equivalent" or "Must know Blender, Maya or Max".

I'm guessing this is because Blender has become a more feature rich and stable tool, along with being free. So my question is...if this is the case then what use is there in using Maya or Max to build a portfolio out of for someone looking to get into the industry over Blender? I'm just not seeing any real advantage here not for modeling atleast.

Neox

To some degree yes. You should at least know the production base good enough to get data in and out cleanly.

If you know how to do that in Maya you should be good for the majority productions.
In the majority of production (from my point of view) this is Maya these days. Max used to be the main thing a while ago but i think about 10 years ago almost all bigger productions shifted away.

Now that being said, if you know 3dsmax you might be in a worse position than someone knowing Blender. Not because of skill, just because a Maya based pipeline studio might not want to pay for maya AND max at the same time. As a blender user you might be able to just slip in, with luck your blender experience is something that could be beneficial for the maya modellers inhouse. 

Max seems to ve a dying breed, and I say that as a native and active max user.

ModBlue

Thats a good point about Max users. They probably would be less considered than a Blender one simply due to studios not wanting to pay for a Max license if they have a Maya one already. I don't think Max has that much use in games anymore, not based on Artstation atleast given most professionals I see on there largely use Maya. I want to say I've seen about the same amount use Blender and Max, but its definitely growing in terms of Blender users whereas Max seems to be dying out.

I also wonder if studios are basing some of their choices off what they see people using instead of just looking at it from the standpoint of what software they prefer in their pipelines?

Right as Blender got 2.8x and up released, I've noticed Max has not gotten much attention anymore as people started shifting largely towards Maya and Blender when it comes to modeling stuff like characters and environments. I mean if you go to Youtube right now and look up tutorials for game modeling, everything you get is either for Blender or Maya. Only a few results come up for Max and most were years old. Its things like that which make me question how studios are looking at things when viewing someone's portfolio.