Industry Insider - January 2009

Come on in, the Water’s Warm!

by Eric Marlow

Graduation season is upon us, and some of you might be contemplating what you may do next. If you are a graduating high school student, then you may want to consider what lies ahead for you as you continue your education. If you a university senior, then it’s high-time to get out there and get a job! In either realm, did you know that you can make games for a living, and get paid well for doing it? If making games for a living interests you, then read on!

Prior to 2000, there wasn’t much opportunity in the Philippines for people interested in doing game development. Slowly over the years the number of companies has increased, and now there are at least 15 viable companies that are located here in the Philippines that are doing some kind of game development. Each one of these companies tends to focus on a different kind of development, and knowing what is out there may help you choose a path toward gaming goodness!

Are you artistic? Colorful? Creative? Do you like to draw or use a computer to Photoshop pictures? Do you like to draw comics or make your own animated films? Then you might be interested to know that there are many opportunities for you to join the ranks of game artists. Whether you focus on 2D style drawings or you have jumped into the world of 3D animation, computer games require highly sophisticated art to populate their worlds. And they require a lot of it! This is why in a typical game development studio there are at least four artists for every one programmer on a project.

Are you logical? Do you like math, physics, or programming computers? Then you might be happy to know that game companies require programmers too. Every action and reaction in a game you experience must first be programmed. Such disciplines as graphics, sound, physics, and artificial intelligence are highly sought-after skills for game programmers.

Be warned though – in both instances of game art and game programming, these are unique skills and typically cannot be obtain through traditional art or computer courses. Both disciplines use unique tools and techniques, and require an understanding of how games are constructed. You cannot easily become a game developer by taking your school’s general art or computer science classes. Your training has to include specialized courses that are tailored to the skills needed for making computer games.

But all is not lost – there are some schools located here in the Philippines that are offering game development courses as electives, and some schools are starting to contemplate full blown tracks or majors in game development. Every school is unique, and I would encourage you if you are interested in a career as a game developer to inquire about game development, and even challenge your school’s administration to offer game development courses if they aren’t doing so now. Only with the specific game-related instruction and the opportunity to work on real game-related projects will you graduate with the necessary skills to jump into game development as a career.

Game development here in the Philippines is a viable career path. But learning the craft requires passion and self-motivation to seek out opportunities to learn about the process. You must seek out ways to obtain the knowledge that you will need, and sometimes this means pushing yourself and others to dive in test the waters. Don’t be shy – come on in, the water’s warm!


Eric Marlow is General Manager and Head of Studio for Kuju Manila, Inc. Please feel free to drop an email with any questions you may have. Space permitting we’ll answer your questions in upcoming editions. You can reach him at theinsider@octobereighty.com. Game On!