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Trying to switch into game dev — go self-taught or pay for a course?

A topic by AlbertoNasare created 37 days ago Views: 287 Replies: 9

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Hey everyone,

I’m a backend developer looking to move into game development, already have some basic projects, and I’m seriously considering making the switch.

Right now I’m debating between two paths:

Path 1: Pay for a formal game dev course (pretty expensive, would require moving to a different city too).
Path 2: Keep my current remote job and spend a year building up my portfolio with personal projects, open source, maybe a small release.

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s gone the self-taught route or through formal education. What helped you break into the industry? Was it a strong portfolio, connections, a degree, something else?

Thanks in advance!

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No Time To PlayModerator moved this topic to General Discussion 37 days ago

No Time To PlayModerator37 days ago(+1)

(moved to the right category)

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redonihunter37 days ago

Do not quit your day job.

You might hear anectodes from successful people chasing their dreams, quitting their jobs and this working out. You do not hear from the thousands more people where this did not work out quite that well.

Also, you ask this on Itch. The developers and hobby enthusiasts are self employed. They are not "in the industry". They are indie. A very few have releases on the bigger platforms like Steam and you will even find some very small game studios here. Talking a few people. Nothing like whatever you work for by working on a back end.

You might want to ask at a place where actual employed non indie game developers hang. Although some of them might still visit Itch. But it does not sound like you want to become an indie game developer, but an employed one. Look here to get a glimpse of the general professional level on Itch. https://itch.io/board/10020/help-wanted-or-offered Maybe join a game jam for fun. https://itch.io/board/533649/game-jams

Sounds like you can code. Many people look for coders in those collabs / jam collabs. But this will be "indie" experience. Not professional game development experience.

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AlbertoNasare37 days ago(+1)

thanks!

My idea was to enter the industry (either an indie company or a big one) before trying to make my own projects. I’ve found that getting a job without previous experience is difficult, so I’m trying everything I can.

I guess in this case, it’s better to work on things like this board to have a better chance of getting into the industry.

The main reason I’m interested in this master’s program is that the instructors already work in the industry and have connections with current video game companies. The program is very focused on learning practical skills used in the industry. If it didn’t cost $10,000, the choice would be easy...

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redonihunter37 days ago(+1)

Sounds like a scam. Especially if they lure you with their own connections.

Or is this an actual reputeable university and the enroll price of one of those countries where education costs a fortune?

Maybe start with remote courses that are meant for people that have a job. Or better, do some jam games for free and fun. You can code. You will quickly learn, if game making is even something you wanna do. Apart from story, a game is nothing more than a complex algorithm. Making this fun and rewarding is game design. But coding it in the first place, would be a skill you should already have.

I think there is a big difference between a specialist coder working for a game studio and a solo developer or tiny studio. Solo developers very often do their own art and basically everything. Creating a game is such a big field of individual skills you can apply. Writing. Game design. Graphics. Classic AI. Level design. And so on. Including marketing.

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mutantleg37 days ago

- do not quit your job: at least not until you make more from making games than your job
- do not try to enter the mainstream game industry: we are in the age of digital games where anyone can sell games online
- self taught and online tutorials are best option: formal game dev courses are worthless and there are better free ones all over the net
you have made basic projects -> great, move on to advanced projects 🤔

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hechelion34 days ago(+1)

Video game development is an oversaturated market, and with the use of AI tools, fewer and fewer humans will be needed in this market every day.

The odds are against you. Spending thousands of dollars, even moving to another city, just in the hope of making contacts who can get you a job after a couple of years of study is not a good idea.

I don't know the future. Maybe if you get into this field, you'll achieve great things. What I'm telling you is, the opportunities are few. Besides, if you end up working in a medium-sized or large company, it won't be that different from any other job, since I understand you'll be working as a programmer, meaning you'll have to write code that someone else specifies for you.

Think about it carefully. My advice is to strip away all the romanticism from video game creation and think of it as any other field of work. That will help you make a better decision than just a few strangers can give you their opinions.

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VoidWalker94432 days ago

Use ai, don't pay for a course get chatgpt and trick it to teach you and then you get mostly free courses, it works out pretty well.

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Irog29 days ago

Build small projects on your own and see if you like the craft. Keep your day job and learn from free online tutorials. SDL is a great game development library for programmers (I made all my games using it).

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Evolutionary Games28 days ago

Check out Unity Learn. You can learn game development and Unity basics for free and at your own pace. If you like it, you can get certified which might open the door to some jobs. (Even if you don't intend to use Unity, it will give you a lot of insight into game development.)

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