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How can I get into video game marketing?
I am approaching the end of the my senior year in college with a degree in Business and a minor in Computer Information Technology. Like many other students, I have yet to figure out what I want to do with my life. Without knowing much about the job, I am considering pursuing a career in video game marketing. I've always been very interested in video games and the industry itself, however, I am unsure on how to get my foot in the door, especially when companies are laying off more people than they are hiring.
After doing some google (and mahalo :)) searching, I figured I would ask the internet. What tips, advice, suggestions, experience, etc. do you have to share? Should I be looking for an internship, entry level QA (quality assurance) position? Getting a job in a desirable field has a lot to do with who you know. How can I make connections with people in the industry and first hand knowledge about the position?
Thanks in advance for your time and answers.
After doing some google (and mahalo :)) searching, I figured I would ask the internet. What tips, advice, suggestions, experience, etc. do you have to share? Should I be looking for an internship, entry level QA (quality assurance) position? Getting a job in a desirable field has a lot to do with who you know. How can I make connections with people in the industry and first hand knowledge about the position?
Thanks in advance for your time and answers.
answers (2)
Video games are seldom the path to video games. Do really good at something (in your case, marketing it sounds like) with a company, any company really, though you get bonus points if it is youth or technology related. While working at your marketing job, doing well and building a good relationship with your co-workers, begin networking with those in the video game crowd.
You could try to get in touch with some indy developers, check out the Independent Game Festival: http://www.igf.com/
Contact some of these smaller developers, if you are lucky they might be able to pay you to help market their game, otherwise, consider doing it pro bono.
Another good place to network would be with folks writing for sites like IGN.com. If you have good press connections, you are half way there in game marketing.
If you start making connections with the press or get a gig marketing with an indy developer, you will get noticed in the gaming world and there is where it starts to come together.
You will have professional experience (even though its in a different industry) and will begin getting noticed because of your other efforts in the game industry. At that point you are in a position to start applying to some of the better game studios. From there the path you choose is your own. EA games will lead you to the corporate world whereas working for a smaller developer like Blizzard will get you long hours with less pay, but you will be around people who love games.
You can also check out sites like:
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/
and
ahttp://www.gamasutra.com/
But these site are preying on recent grads who are lost and want into the game industry. Very very few people get hired on sites like these. Use them to just get an idea of what jobs are out there, don't think you will get hired directly. (Unless you happened to graduate from Stanford Business or something)
Finally consider working with some of your classmates who majored in CS. Maybe they are looking for someone to market a game they are making. It would be a low time commitment, fun and maybe useful in the end if the game turns out to be a hit.
You could try to get in touch with some indy developers, check out the Independent Game Festival: http://www.igf.com/
Contact some of these smaller developers, if you are lucky they might be able to pay you to help market their game, otherwise, consider doing it pro bono.
Another good place to network would be with folks writing for sites like IGN.com. If you have good press connections, you are half way there in game marketing.
If you start making connections with the press or get a gig marketing with an indy developer, you will get noticed in the gaming world and there is where it starts to come together.
You will have professional experience (even though its in a different industry) and will begin getting noticed because of your other efforts in the game industry. At that point you are in a position to start applying to some of the better game studios. From there the path you choose is your own. EA games will lead you to the corporate world whereas working for a smaller developer like Blizzard will get you long hours with less pay, but you will be around people who love games.
You can also check out sites like:
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/
and
ahttp://www.gamasutra.com/
But these site are preying on recent grads who are lost and want into the game industry. Very very few people get hired on sites like these. Use them to just get an idea of what jobs are out there, don't think you will get hired directly. (Unless you happened to graduate from Stanford Business or something)
Finally consider working with some of your classmates who majored in CS. Maybe they are looking for someone to market a game they are making. It would be a low time commitment, fun and maybe useful in the end if the game turns out to be a hit.
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Thanks for the response!
A friend of mine was very much so into video games, and he got his foot in the door in public relations, and marketed video games. He started off doing some unpaid and paid internships at public relations firms in New York City that promoted video games. It would be recommended you contact the PR firms that work with the video game companies, and send them a cover letter with an interest in interning. If you can afford to do it, accept an unpaid internship, as that will get your foot in the door at some firms that otherwise may not work with you. Why unpaid? The firms are more likely to take you in if you're so interested, you're eager to learn, and help out. You might even get paid when it's unpaid, because they will see your work, and effort, which will help out the company with marketing the games.
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