Thinking about moving to California and getting a job in the gaming industry.

VCs funding tech startups like crazy these days. I know I personally am spending a lot of money on entertainment; I think that’s proportional with global/national level crises.

One former-client-now-friend from California is telling me I’m crazy not to move with so many awesome companies hiring right now:

Of course I can’t forget a few giants from my current web development industry also located there:

So I started looking into it, and turned up some expert industry insider advice:

Reasons I’m even considering this:

  • I’ve always loved gaming. Currently finding myself entertained by Valve’s Portal 2 and Titan Studios’ Fat Princess.
  • I can remember playing games as far back as ATARI days and feel like I must have beaten just about every game since.
  • I used to make maps for Duke Nukem 3D to play online with both local and remote buddies; so many good times with those.
  • Also designed maps for WarCraft II and StarCraft II.
  • I have scripted bots for Battle.net.
  • I’ve attempted 3D level designs with Quake2, and Half Life but its a lot trickier.
  • Tried Blender, Maya, 3DSMax, Lightwave, etc. for product and mechanical design.
  • Also tried AutoCAD for architectural design.
  • More recently love observing the innovative art, UI, and usability improvements.
  • Have successfully engineered hacks for multiple games

Current Employee Resumes and New Hires on LinkedIn:

NOTE: Many have Computer Science degrees from Universities OR former game industry experience. I noticed a few BYU and Weber State graduates. Was surprised to learn some people in my immediate network know employees at these companies. One is a CS Ph.D. (4-5 years)!

Interesting Presentations by authors from these companies:

Industry keywords:

  • Fractals

Whew! This is a bit of a leap for me. Maybe I am better off transitioning through what I am already expert in.

All this heavy C, maths, and higher level education time makin’ me hungry.

Lunch time! To be continued…