Rick Gibson

Rick Gibson

CEO of the BGI, a new charity for games culture, skills, diversity and sustainability. Rick has been in games for 20 years, working with over 150 organisations to deliver change in the UK games sector

Location Sheffield, UK

Activity

  • Have a think about each role in turn. What would a programmer need to show in terms of technical skills? How would that differ from an artist or a designer?

  • Excellent questions and ones we try to answer as the course goes on

  • Spot on!

  • Excellent Andrea. It's worth taking a look at how Agile or SCRUM development methodology works, as these are common project management techniques in games

  • Inspirational thoughts Gerrit - thank you!

  • Excellent thought Andrea.
    Strong communicators who support development teams are one of the most pivotal roles in a games studio. The course will show you how Producers can demonstrate their strengths and work alongside programmers, artists and other developers. One of our video interviewees, Jess from Square Enix, does exactly that

  • Fantastic comment Jakub. Follow your dream, study hard, create stuff and you never know what might happen in a few years' time

  • Fantastic point about business Troy and very true. Understanding the business of games, as well as being a good programmer, artist or other role, is a very attractive trait in an interview candidate. You have to know your stuff though, so perhaps researching how games make money will be useful for you

  • Hi Irina. That sounds like a tough experience but it's not uncommon. Fighting to win that dream job will always be challenging. I'm not sure you did anything wrong though! You'll see that even successful candidates were knocked back several times and had to find ways to stand out from the hundreds applying for each games job. Ultimately, it's about persistence...

  • Hi Rohit. There are lots of routes into a games career but all of them involve investing time and energy in acquiring the skills that games companies are looking for. This course will tell you how to do that, but does not train you in technnical games development skills. There are other courses for that.

  • Thanks Gerrit. The games sector is growing rapidly and always looking for talent. While we're clear in the course that it's not easy to get that first job, it is possible so thanks for joining the course

  • Sounds like you've made a great start Milan

  • You're still very welcome Yolande!

  • We heard repeatedly from games studios that there's no such thing as a perfect candidate so I'm relieved that you've persisted and are thinking of ways to plug gaps. The message is 'Keep going!'

  • Thanks for this feedback. We will do our best to take it on board and think about how we could communicate this more sensitively.

    There's a very real issue at work here which is more than just a nod for us at BGI. There are friction points for women, people of colour and those with many other indicators of diversity, including mental health, that...

  • Thanks Jalell, great observation.
    Studios are indeed looking for talented people with a working knowledge of how games are marketed and sold.
    Rick

  • Great point Chris. Horses for courses - by which I mean that no 2 developers are the same.

  • Thanks Scott and Chris
    There are definitely times where developers work by themselves, but even the simplest game has many parts often developed by different people and so integrating those successfully has to involve communication, or the rework cycles can get really challenging.
    You're right Chris that this kind of collaboration is more likely to deliver a...

  • Some great discussion here!
    Rick

  • Exactly right CT. Collaboration is at the heart of games development.
    Rick

  • Thanks Kizzy
    The best studios encourage ideas and input from all the teams, but this gets increasingly challenging the bigger the company. Sumo and Seuare Enix do a fantastic job at this.
    Conversely, the smaller the team, the more likely you are to work across several disciplines.
    Rick

  • Great observation Daniel. That's one thing that people working games development tend to enjoy - everything is always changing so you never stop learning!
    Rick

  • Hi Dan
    That's not unrealistic at all if you want to be an indie developer. But everyone tends to have strengths in particular areas, and to start a career in videogames development working for a studio, they like to see a focus on a specific skillset, with an understanding of other disciplines. Designers have to understand how games look, feel and are...

  • Hi Tavis
    Thanks for this useful question. The answer is yes! There are lots of cross-discipline roles which use skills from the 4 different roles and are called specialisms. We'll be discussing those a little later on.
    Rick

  • Apologies for the technical glitch on this video. Please find the correct video up and running now.