Video game experts give their advice on breaking into the industry in Melbourne

WORKING in the video game industry once meant moving interstate or overseas, but a new generation of entrepreneurs have made Melbourne their home. Here’s their advice on getting into the industry.

SAMURAI Punk managing director Nicholas McDonnell wanted to reassure his parents that being an artist and studying video games would lead to a viable career.

“I remember telling my parents, ‘I want to be a game designer, I’ve done my research; here’s a bunch of studios and big companies that would hire a junior just out of university,’ “ the 25- year-old said.

But those big companies — so called AAA studios — were closing in Australia in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis.

By the time McDonnell completed his Bachelor of Games and Interactivity at Swinburne University of Technology there was only one way to guarantee a job.

He and fellow graduate Winston Tang set up independent studio Samurai Punk.

It was a steep learning curve, from learning to run a business to pressing on when their block puzzle game Hazumino didn’t cut through the crowded app market.

Their second game Screencheat, a split-screen shooter game for PC created with programmer Justin Whitfort, hit the mark.

Samurai Punk’s Screencheat, a split-screen shooter game for PC, has helped the independent studio succeed.

“That has been the driving force for the studio up until our newer releases,” McDonnell says.

Samurai Punk is one of 34 independent studios based at The Arcade in South Melbourne, now the epicentre of Victoria’s flourishing “AA” games industry.

These studios produce games for niche global markets and Samurai Punk’s satirical virtual reality game about gun culture, The American Dream, appeals to a more intellectual player.

“When I talk to students they think all we do is creative work and throw it out to the world and hope for the best,” McDonnell said.

“In reality we spend a lot of time working with the press, and with our fans and community.”

The Interactive Games and Entertainment Association’s figures showed video game consumption in Australia was $3.23 billion in 2017, up nine per cent from the previous year.

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The typical player is now a middle-aged woman playing Candy Crush on an iPhone rather than a teenage boy playing Fortnite on a console or PC.

On a global scale, intelligence company Newzoo predicted 2.3 billion gamers would spend $137.9 billion on games this year.

McDonnell said secondary school students could kickstart their video games career at home by using free online tools.

“You can download Unity, find a couple of tutorials on YouTube and start building projects,” he said.

Samurai Punk’s satirical virtual reality game is selling well in North America and Europe.

About 30 Australian tertiary institutes have relevant courses, ranging from diplomas to bachelor degrees.

Swinburne University of Technology’s Bachelor of Games and Interactivity gives students a broad introduction to game history, philosophy and production.

“We end up with a lot of really strong game designers,” course director Andrew Trevillian said.

“These are the people who design your experience playing the video game, who plan and plot out how you are going feel moment to moment.”

A team of his students, known as Glitch Crab Studios, won the inaugural Student Game Award for the puzzle game Level Squared at the Game Awards in Los Angeles last year.

Trevillian said artistic students could combine the games degree with a Bachelor of Animation and learn from the likes of Academy Award winner Adam Elliot.

The combined Bachelor of Computer science and Bachelor of Games and Interactivity often attracted students who had been coding and making games or websites while still at school.

“This is the one most likely to give a direct career outcome,” Trevillian said.

Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the number of women working in the Australian games industry rose from 8.7 per cent in 2011-2012 to 15 per cent in 2015-2016.

Trevillian said increasing diversity had led to more interesting, nonviolent games, such as Mountain’s Florence, which won an Apple Design award.

“It is a Melbourne-produced game set in Melbourne, and it’s about a first love relationship blossoming and then declining,” he said.

Infinity+2 communications manager Gabriella Lowgren says women in the industry support each other.

Infinity+2 communications manager Gabriella Lowgren, 26, who liaises with players of the ongoing game Gems of War, said there were more roles in the industry than people realised. She said young women interested in a video games career should hone a specific skill set, such as specialising in two art or programming styles or doing a communications degree.

“It may be a tough industry to get into, but if it’s what you love it’s extremely rewarding,” Lowgren said.

PlaySide CEO Gerry Sakkas, 31, said the increase in women working in the industry had made it stronger.

“We have three producers who are women. They all come through our company as artists and were promoted. Our lead designer is also a woman. I’ve found it works better. The girls we’ve got are super strong, and the guys just listen more,” he said.

Playside CEO Gerry Sakkas visits universities to find the next generation of talented artists, designers and programmers.

Sakkas, a graduate of RMIT’s Bachelor of Arts, Digital Art and Games, has built PlaySide into the “go-to studio for Hollywood”.

The studio’s AR Dragon is the most downloaded augmented reality game on Apple’s app store.

He said he visited universities at the end of the year looking for talented artists, designers and programmers, but some of the best in the industry were self-taught.

“If you’re just good at art and you spend all your time learning on YouTube or whatever and hand in a portfolio that’s insane, then I couldn’t care what university you went to,” he said.