A career in video gaming?   

Have you considered a career in the video gaming industry?

The UK video gaming market continues to grow at a rapid rate, according to Ukie (the sector’s trade body) the market reached £7 billion last year, a huge increase of 29.9% on the previous year.  This level of growth and value has resulted in a thriving job market for gaming, and more and more young people are interested in how to begin a career in the sector.  They are attracted to this fascinating and fast moving industry, keen to innovate and bring new ideas.

I spoke with Rupert Brooker, Production Director for video games developer Ninja Theory.  Brought up and educated in Weybridge, Surrey, Rupert started his career in television production at Sky Sports and then moved into the video gaming industry.  Rupert is responsible for co-ordinating the work of around 100 game development staff to ensure games are released on time and on budget.  A highlight of Rupert’s career was the production of the game ‘Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice’, which deals with themes of mental health, and won several awards including 5 BAFTAs.

I asked Rupert some questions about the video gaming industry:

How do you even start making a game? 

“Good question.  With video games, you can literally create anything you want:  create a narrative adventure, or a flying simulator, or a puzzle game; set it in space, or underwater, or anywhere on Earth; the only limit is your imagination.  So often the difficult part is deciding what you should set out to make given the endless possibilities.  We like to create story-driven adventure games, so often we'll start with an idea for a story we want to tell.  Then we can start working on some concepts for how it might look, how it might play and what we want the player to experience.  We also need to think about what makes it special and unique.  There are so many games released each year, what will make ours stand out from the rest?”

What is the most difficult part in making a game?

“I would say the very beginning and the very end!  At the start you have to commit to the game you want to make (which means discounting all the other possibilities at that point), and at the end everyone wants it to look, play and sound as good as it possibly can before we run out of time, and we also have to go through rigorous checks from the platform holders (Xbox, Nintendo etc) to make sure it all runs properly.”

How many people are usually involved in making a game

“Some games can be made by just one person doing everything, and at the other end of the scale you have the big publishers making games with thousands of people.  It all depends on the scale of the final game you want to make.  At Ninja Theory, we have around 100 full time development staff across all the disciplines you need to make single player, narrative-driven, cinematic, action-adventure games.

What's your favourite video game of all time?

“This is very difficult to say because there are so many great ones. I think my top 3 would be Inside, Rayman Legends and Assassins Creed 2.  I loved Super Mario Galaxy too. The game I've played the most is probably Pro Evolution Soccer.”

What do you think the future looks like for the gaming industry?

“I think streaming games will become much more common (so just playing a game through your TV or phone just like you would with shows and movies on a service like Netflix), as well as further graphical improvements as games becomes more and more realistic (especially with human characters).  Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality experiences are also likely to get better and better and much more accessible as the hardware improves.  I think it's also about continuing to push creativity, so it's not all about technological advancement.  Games can deliver a truly immersive, interactive experience that enable players to engage with stories, characters and gameplay and it'll be exciting to see where it can go next.  It's also about bringing together friends and players across the world.  We've seen a big uptake in shared gaming experiences during the recent lockdowns as people find new ways to stay in touch with friends and interact.”

What advice would you have for someone who wanted to pursue a career in game design? 

“Play lots of games.  See what you find exciting, and think about your own ideas and what you would love to play.  There are incredibly powerful game engines available for free now, like Unreal and Unity, and they have lots of excellent tutorials on how to make your vision come to life.  It can seem quite complicated and daunting at first, but it's all logical and they are always finding ways to make these tools even more user friendly.  The current generation has grown up with phones, tablets, PC's and consoles and you never know where the next Fortnite or Minecraft will come from.”

If your children wanted to play on computer games for as long as they wanted would you let them or would you set a limit?

“I think games can be lots of fun, as well as sociable and educational, but you still have to do your homework!  My daughter enjoys playing a game called Roblox with her friends.  We don't set an exact limit, but we try to ensure she doesn't spend too long on there and still has time for school work and her other activities.  Of course, I can play as much as I like because it's my job!”