· About Alex Johanson
According to his Twitter info, he is an independent game developer working with Unity and Stencil with a large portfolio of indie games that he’s been working on. He’s been working on Morse, NOWT and Narcissus just to name a few.
· What I learned
During his talk I had a bit of a reality check. He made me aware of the struggles of being in the game development industry and how it affects an employer. I appreciated the honesty and the fact he mentioned the ugly side of the industry.
I learned that:
o Staying in the games industry is even harder than getting into;
o There is a lot of stigma around games that don’t end up succesfull;
o The success of one game doesn’t guarantee a succesfull career;
o The Game Industry is a really exclusive group;
o Your degree won’t save you-you have to put in much more effort;
o “The hardest year of university is the year after”
o There is a stigma around people who don’t get a job right away;
The advice he gave us on how to use our time here at university was also an eye-opener. I learned that I must learn all I am given for university-and much more. I must not be afraid of getting into coding and any other area that could prove useful, as well as start going to events and game jams. Sometimes you just have to get started-use any game engine! If you want to create a game- teach yourself how to build it.
He also advocates that university time can be used for full creativity-this is the time for our passion projects! We might not have the same time and freedom later in our career.
· What I found interesting
Alex is all about getting head first into the industry and launching your career. This inspired me to get over my fears and just start making games. As he claims “No one cares what your games are built in-just use the tools you like most”.
His advice on how to stay into the games industry. According to him, “you have a certain numbers of games left in you”. This means that in order to not burn yourself out, you need to take care of your body and mind to fuel that creative energy. Game development is a job that requires a lot of sleepless nights-we must not forget to take care of ourselves.
He also claims we have to get over our fears and anxieties in order to build connections.
Other advice I found very motivating:
· Build alternative controlers
· Do something that would launch your career
· Make your safety nets and communities NOW-not after you graduate
· Find local game dev networks
· Make sure you get people’s details
· You have a certain number of games left in you;
· Take care of your body;
· Trying and Failing is far better than doing nothing
· You need to afford to lose money-in order to create something you need money first
· Uni should be used for full creativity and creating whatever the fuck you want
· Do your passion projects first
· People notice that you tried, not that you failed
· You have to do your passion projects first
· Uk Games fund And Transfuser Scheme
· Take advantage of your differences
I liked this talk because it gave me a strategy and despise the pessimistic view, I feel more confident and aware of the future I have to face.
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