Research Into Job Roles in the Industry

Job applications

Senior Licensing Manager Softness

For a job like this, I imagine that the person who is applying for the job would have to have a lot of prior experience in the game industry. The person would need to have good leadership abilities to be able to communicate and instruct people on what to do. Good communication skills would also be vital due to the fact that the job requires you to talk to other people within the job, or to retailers. You must also be able to go into this job without any kind of hesitation due to the fact that you have to inspire the people around you.  Being adaptable is also a trait that is required for this due to the fact that you may be asked to go to live in a different location.  

Senior Artist

For this job, it requires a person who is extremely talented on the artistic side of things. The person must be able to envision what they want to make for the game, which requires both vision for what the final product would look like and the skill to execute the final design. Prior experience with both the game industry and being able to create art on a digital format is also required. Experience is needed due to the fact that the job wants for you to have experience in the industry, while being able to work in a team is required due to the fact that you will be a lead artist in a small team.  This requires skills with people so that there will be no conflict within the team. 

Lead System Gamer Designer 

For this job, the lead designer job, I feel that you will need quite a few things that most people won’t have. Unlike the other two, which are more on the technical side of things, such as the art, or the ability to write and communicate, this job requires a passion for making and playing games. That’s not to say that the other jobs don’t require a passion for games, because they obviously do, but this requires both a passion for making and playing games, which can only come with experience with games themselves. There also needs to be an understanding of game balancing and the mechanics in the game, which means that the person has to have had an understanding of both what makes a single player game and a multiplayer game. A lot of prior experience is required, which means that this isn’t a job for someone who is just starting in the business. Good communication skills are also required due to the fact that like the others, you’ll be working within a team.

Digital Store Games Editor

For this job, you will be working within a company where you would be involved in the maintenance of a digital store, which sells most forms of media. Unlike the requirements for the other jobs, this one is completely dependent on your ability to market something within the game industry, as opposed to creating something within the game industry. One of the requirements for this job would be to make sure that you’re aware of both the popular games that are coming out and the indie market. This would be needed to make sure that both the releases that are put onto the platform are the popular games that people will be expecting to be on there, while also introducing people to new games that aren't as popular, yet the platform would give them a pedestal to gain popularity. I would say that the most important thing about this job is the fact that you’d have to be in the know, when it comes to the current innovative games that are currently being released. Some games don’t get the spotlight that they deserve and you would be giving the games that truly deserve it a chance to shine. 

                                                          Artist - All Experience Levels

This job requires less than the last four jobs, due to the fact that the other four relied on prior experiences with other jobs that are similar in the field, but this is more focused on raw talent and a willingness to actually be creative. This doesn't mean that you’ll be able to go into the job without knowing what you’re doing, but they are willing to take you under their wing when it comes to getting a start. A lot of the jobs that I've shown require previous experience, but the problem with those jobs is the conundrum of “How are you supposed to get a job if all of the jobs require experience”? Well, this job breaks the trend, because they’re willing to give you the chance, but you must have experience with Photoshop and a good amount of experience with a 3D modelling program. High attention to detail is listed in the requirements, but that’s something that comes with being able to re-create something in any form of art. Good communication skills are listed, but this seems like it’s for being able to communicate within a team, unlike leading a team. This job is the least “statistical” of all of the jobs in a sense, because you can’t really teach someone to be creative, yet that’s obviously appealing to a lot of people, due to the fact that you would actually be able to throw ideas out to other people, in a creative collaborative process.