Are For-Profit Game Dev Schools Still Worth It?

Back in March, The Princeton Review released its 11th annual ranking lists of top schools to study game design. Split between undergrad and grad, the lists were compiled using data gathered from its 2019 survey of administrators from 150 different institutions. The survey itself was developed with input from faculty working at top schools and professionals from leading companies in the gaming industry. 

Due to the number of schools offering degrees in game design nowadays, these rankings could prove useful to potential students. Even acting as means of staving off the anxiety associated with picking a future alma mater; these lists are essentially saying “If you want to learn how to make games and possibly land a job at a notable development studio, go to one of these schools.” It would almost seem foolish not to take a peek at the rankings. 

Given the perception that a college degree is required to be successful (in a number of fields), the pressure to seek a higher education is always present. That’s certainly the case for the games industry. The thing is though, not everyone is convinced that a degree is needed for a career in gaming. Some even caution against it, noting the cost and overall necessity of attending. No one wants to accrue a ton of student debt while trying to figure out if they should or shouldn’t be pursuing a particular degree. Especially when attending a for-profit school. While they may provide solid programs and world class facilities – there’s a reason why universities like DigiPen and Full Sail are highly praised – they also come with a hefty attendance fee, grants and scholarships notwithstanding.

There’s also the idea of being self-taught. Thanks to free development software like Unity and Unreal, people can learn how to code at home. And with the buzz surrounding the indie scene, whereas it’s possible to build up a brand or portfolio independently, more and more people are finding success. That’s not to mention the modders out there who eventually land positions at various studios by fine tuning their hobby. Basically, the barrier for game development is lower than it’s ever been. 

Each route has its various risks and rewards. A plethora of successful individuals and more than few horror stories. Who’s to say what’s right or wrong though. Is it better to be indie? Are for-profit schools still a wise investment? To try and answer that question, I spoke with several developers from both indie and major studios. There were some differing opinions. Mostly based on how they got to where they are now. Surprisingly though, most of them agreed on certain aspects. Like how having a strong portfolio is much more important than a degree. 

Xalavier Nelson Jr., former journalist turned IGF-nominated game developer, was particularly candid on the subject. “I never asked where people went to school. I don’t know many hiring people who do,” he said during a Skype call. “We just see previous evidence of work completed because we need the work done and we need it done now. And no matter how great your marks were at Full Sail, or any other university, if you don’t have that portfolio already, then frankly, we don’t give a damn.” 

Nelson’s path into game design was an interesting one. He started out writing about games, eventually landing bylines at publications like PC Gamer, Polygon and Waypoint. It wasn’t until he created his first game using Twine – another free, open-source development tool – that he pivoted towards making games professionally though. This led to his current successes, including his collaborations on games like SkateBird and the formation of his company, Strange Scaffold. 

Nelson was a self-taught designer. Now he’s a narrative director working who hires others to help develop his company’s games. It’s understandable why he wouldn’t necessarily champion the college route. That said, Nelson’s views on gaming academia isn’t solely based on his early beginnings. It also has to do with the aforementioned notion of degree equals success. “I will not disparage that there are people doing very good work in games academia,” he explained. “But I will say that the perception that schooling is necessary to succeed within video games or even to get your break is based upon the same erroneous assumption that millennials are currently wrestling with now.”

He made mention of the various game design programs that are freely available and how just getting out there and making games was the way to go. That you learn by doing. When asked if he felt the same way about other aspects of gaming, like sound design or music, he brought some interesting points. “That’s a very good question,” he replied. “And it relates to a critical misunderstanding that arises when you look at how games are made. We often reduce that down to coders and artists, but the range of people that work in games [is immense].” Nelson then explained how these people would intersect after starting in different fields. How a classically trained musician might decide that they’d like to work in games. Still, their training wouldn’t be Nelson’s primary focus. As in the case with his latest game, An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs. “The process of making [the soundtrack for the game] was very simply talking to people. Hopefully finding good people and seeing whether or not their music fit.” 

Nelson went on to talk about how game development boils down to the work being done. That the people who make things happen with the resources they have are the ones who’ll be successful. But before they could do that, they’d have to figure out what it is that they enjoyed about game development. Like how he went from thinking he wanted to be a game’s journalist to writing for games. “Then I realized, what I actually cared about was how the storytelling…how multiple elements of the game come together to tell a story. Then I realized I didn’t actually care about having my hand on every piece of the game. I cared about the bigger picture. And this progression of steps led me to a place where now, I love what I do,” said Nelson. “If I had gotten burned out, two, three years into my professional career after four years in a game development program [pursuing the wrong degree], then all of the possibilities, all the things I could have done, all the passion I could have had for my work, that would have been lost”.

Xalavier Nelson Jr. story is that of indie success. His experiences working with different individuals along with his personal journey are what colors his view. As it should. That doesn’t mean that his thoughts on gaming aren’t shared by developers who graduated from for-profit schools. The need to build a solid portfolio certainly is. 

Take Joe Lubertazzi, a programmer at Respawn, for example. While enrolled at DigiPen, he ended up interning at Blizzard; it didn’t take him long to get his foot in the door at a major. Upon graduating back in 2015 and landing another internship at Respawn, he’d eventually come on full time, spending the next four or so years working on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Given he rapidly went from graduation to shipping a big video game, I figured he’d have a different view on higher education. And to some degree, he did. 

Lubertazzi certainly values his degree. He talked about how DigiPen prepared him for the industry by requiring him to work with other students in order to develop a solid portfolio. “Every single year, you basically had to build a team with other students at the school in other disciplines to work on a project together,” he explained. “You’d basically get all of your homework done so you could spend all your time working on your game.” 

He made mention of how DigiPen provided a great environment to develop and grow. The school was full of creative people all working towards the same goal. Again, he mentioned the importance that was placed building a great portfolio. “DigiPen would put on career days. So, if you were close to graduating, you would basically set up booths around their open space and different companies would come, walk around and see your projects and kind of talk to people. A lot of people got opportunities out of events like those.” 

Providing the opportunity to be scouted by majors was great. That didn’t mean that students had it easy though. Joe Lubertazzi expressed how important it was to work more than what was required. “On the more objective disciplines like programming, you can be taught how to code, you can be taught how to do design or be put through classes to make you a better artist, yada, yada, but really, it comes down to how much effort you’re going to put in individually.” He went on to say that there were semesters when he had over 25 credits but was still putting in six to eight hours a day aside from schoolwork, to be a better developer. “If you are going to go to the school and just go to your classes and not really putting in any extra effort…I don’t really know if DigiPen or really any school that teaches you a creative skill is worth it, to be honest.”

He continued, “And take that with a grain of salt as well considering like, if you can fork out the finances for it. Because if you feel like hey, ‘I want to do this, but I’m putting myself into financial risk,’ you better be prepared to put in all this effort to make your projects so good that employers can’t ignore you.” In other words, just squeezing by won’t cut it. 

Interesting enough, that wasn’t the first time we spoke about the financial side of things. Lubertazzi was quick to say that he was very, very fortunate to be able to go to DigiPen. “My parents were pretty well off and were able to help fund me [going to school]. So, I didn’t really have a lot of problems paying my way through school.” His acknowledgement of that fact made his stressing the aspect of hard work more impactful. Privileged as he might have been, Lubertazzi made sure he was being seen by potential employers. His college years weren’t all fun and games.

DigiPen didn’t just teach Lubertazzi the importance of hard work. The school also taught him how to work well with others. A skill that’s needed before one professionally enters the game industry. “That was definitely a big thing when I got to DigiPen. Like, oh God! Now I have to work with these people and help build things for them to make a game,” said Lubertazzi. “[I also] had to learn how to communicate with them to resolve creative differences or issues within the team.” He talked about how game development was an extremely collaborative process. This was a key element to keeping a position at a major studio. 

Despite all of the praise he gave to DigiPen, Lubertazzi did express how he doesn’t believe everyone needs a degree to work in game development. Especially when it comes to tuition; there’s always the chance that things won’t work out and you’ll be stuck with a large amount of debt. When I asked what advice he’d give would-be developers, he said that he’d tell them to try out free game development software first. That way, they’d learn whether or not they enjoyed making games. “It’s pretty easy to figure out you know. There are so many ways, like you said earlier on, there’s so many different tools out there now to go and try it out. Do a game jam in Unity or try and make something small in Unreal. Even download Dreams on your PS4.” He continued, “There’s so many ways to see if this is something you might be interested in.” Ideally without racking up a ton of debt. 

Hard work. That and the ability to collaborate with others seem to be key ingredients to game development. Still, the question remains. How does one go about getting their foot in the door? Just because it seems like major dev studios seek out graduate students, that doesn’t mean that their diploma will lead to multiple triple A games being shipped. And while going the indie route might circumvent large amounts of school loan debt, it isn’t without its risks either. Speaking with Emma Kidwell, a narrative designer with a background that’s similar to Xalavier Nelson Jr, I learned about some of these risks. 

Emma Kidwell started as a freelance writer. She too wrote for sites like Polygon, Waypoint, and Rock Paper Shotgun before eventually being hired at Gamasutra. Kidwell wouldn’t decide to get into games writing (as in, writing for games) until she played Nina Freeman’s Freshman Year. “I remember sitting in my apartment playing through her game and telling myself ‘I’m going to do what she’s doing.’ She’s the one who inspired me to want to go indie and write personal, autobiographical-style games.” Since then, Kidwell has worked on a number of games. Some bigger than others – she worked on Dontnod’s Life is Strange 2’s script, making them more accessible for an English-speaking audience. 

Kidwell is currently working with a major studio (though she can’t say which at the moment). Before that though, she freelanced/worked in the indie scene while in school. “I went to a local community college for a few years to get a general associate’s degree while I figured out how exactly to ‘get in’ to games. I had no idea where to start or if a degree was even necessary. But eventually I transferred to a state school with a game design program.” Unfortunately, the writing program was cut shortly after, forcing her to change things up. “I learned a little bit of everything – programming, 3D modeling, narrative design, etc.” 

It was during this time that Kidwell faced some of the difficulties of being independent. They weren’t the usual financial burdens one would expect to hear about. “I’m incredibly privileged when it comes to this. I was able to afford college with the help of my parents, I worked throughout my teens to build up a savings account, and I always had access to the Internet and networking tools,” she explained. “I’m fortunate that I have an education, safety net, and a full-time job in the industry to help supplement my indie work. With that being said, I think the biggest thing [I’ve faced] as an indie is pretty universal – finishing what I start, wondering how to market myself and my games, and wondering how to stand out in an environment where games are published every day.”

Kidwell went on to say that she was incredibly lucky that she was able to find gigs through word of mouth and networking. There’s still a level of uncertainty there though. “It hasn’t been easy and I still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing.” That said, she expressed how she wouldn’t do anything different considering things turned out well. And while she’s happy that she got her degree, she doesn’t believe it was required to be successful in her field. Stating that, “Unless we make higher education free for all Americans, I don’t think it’s necessary to go to a university to become a developer. There are perks to attending school (especially grad school) because you have access to expensive programs and tools, research labs, and plenty of time for experimenting.” She continued, “But game development is more accessible now than it’s ever been. Kids are learning how to build levels in Minecraft. Hobbyists are making games in Dreams or Mario Maker. There are thousands of online courses for engines like Unity and Unreal. Twine is free and easy to learn!”

I spoke with several more developers. Jeff W Murray, indie developer and author of such books like Game Development for iOS with Unity and Building Virtual Reality with Unity and SteamVR, felt like a degree might have been helpful. “If I could do it again, I think I’d probably go to college after school just because it would be a good move in the right direction toward what I wanted to do,” stated Murray. Jason Canam, founder/Director at Household Games (Way of the Passive Fist) who has a bit of college under his belt. He feels similar to Emma Kidwell, in that a proper school can be helpful, but it wasn’t necessary. “The strength of your portfolio is the number one thing that gets you hired. [Speaking anecdotally] to like what I would look for when looking for people to work with is what games have you made?”. Canam wouldn’t ask about their educational background. 

The same goes for Rob Garrett, the Lead Gameplay Designer at ZeniMax Online. Even though he graduated from Full Sail, he doesn’t look for a degree when hiring people. “[When] evaluating potential candidates for our team that have gone to the schools, I’m more interested in what they did outside the classroom, right? Because that tends to be more demonstrative of their passion,” Garrett said via Skype. He wanted to see what they were working on besides what was required of them to get a degree. “I think that when you’re trying to get onto a real development team, you really have to be able to demonstrate how you’re different than everyone else is who’s going to these programs, right. And demonstrating that passion and looking beyond just what the curriculum is asking for.” Again, it comes down to a person’s portfolio more than anything else. 

Speaking with different developers at various stages of their careers was enlightening. They all seem to agree on most aspects of education, even if they themselves benefited from their degrees. They weren’t the only people I spoke to though. Reaching out to several school representatives, I wanted to get their side. Unfortunately, due to the craziness surrounding Covid-19, I wasn’t able to set up many interviews; the difficulties associated with trying to run a school/provide housing for international students right now are immense. In other words, their absence isn’t due to them not being willing to speak on the subject. 

I did get to chat with Chris Comair, the COO of DigiPen, though. His thoughts on the matter proved insightful. Responding via email, we talked about everything from DigiPen’s enrollment processes to the school’s fundamental goals. One of which being the ability to help their students find jobs in the gaming industry and how enrollment is tied to this desire. “[One] thing that should go without saying that drives enrollment targets is industry absorption and job placement,” Comair explained. “If we know a program has good industry absorption, we can feel comfortable allowing more students to enroll. On the other hand, even if we think we’ve got the best education possible in a field with low absorption, that just isn’t the right program to enroll folks into.  A lot of big-name traditional schools forget that. Our students trust their futures with us, and we take that really damn seriously.”

Comair expressed his displeasure with the idea of “attracting” new students. Of course, he wants people to go to DigiPen, but only after they’ve learned what the school is all about. “When I talk to our outreach and admissions teams, I tell them that their only job is to help people understand who we are and what we do here. It’s not for everybody, and it’s not a sales pitch.” The idea is to be the right fit. A lot of time and money goes into getting a degree. The game industry is a tough field to work in. The concerns are there. “The game industry is so massive at this point that the concept of ‘breaking in’ is somewhat outdated in my opinion. Most folks who ‘break in’ get kicked out pretty quick.” Comair continued, “It’s not pretty. There are plenty of ways to ‘land a first gig’, but I’m not concerned about a first job. I’m concerned about the first promotion, the first move to senior, then director, then VP, then founding your own studio, getting investors, and making a real impact on the industry. I’m thinking about the lifespan of the person’s career, even what happens if they pivot into a parallel field.”

Caring about a student’s eventual job placement is one thing. But what about their financial burdens? When I asked Comair about those types of issues, he assured me that DigiPen was mindful of the cost. “For the financial burdens of higher education, we are doing a lot to actively combat that. There is too much to list. Everything is a cost saving measure.  For example, we’ve gone to the extent of self-insuring our employees’ medical bills to widely cut out the middle-person (health insurance companies) for the sake of keeping overhead light,” said Comair. “This sort of mindset allows us to fund quite a lot of internal scholarships and grants for merit, diversity, and need.” An internally funded hardship grant was recently solidified – allowing students who want to complete their schooling, do so even when their funding is cut – thanks to these types of measures. 

Comair would go on to speak about other aspects of higher education and why he feels getting a degree is important. That said, when asked if a college education was needed for game design, he expressed that it really depends on the person. “Obviously, being the COO of a higher education institution, I believe that the most reliable path to success in the game, media, and tech industries is through rigorous learning experiences in a safe space to fail and pick back up.  It’s hard to recreate those experiences on your own. I was just talking to a professor about this who was telling me, ‘Any idiot can get in front of a whiteboard and babble away. The important thing about teaching is how I can identify where a student is struggling and help pull them through that.’ I feel like that statement is applicable to this question.”

It depends on the person…that’s probably the best way to look at it. Certain aspects are needed regardless of your level of education. Learning the tools of the trade, being able to work well with others, developing a solid portfolio, and being really lucky. Which all makes game development sound similar to most jobs in competitive/creative fields. That’s not to say that a diploma doesn’t help your chances; that piece of paper still means something. What we’ve learned is that it takes more than a degree to be successful in this industry. Times are changing. There are multiple avenues leading into game development. One of them might be right for you.