Overview

Welcome to our careers guidance website - Blitz Academy Online.

If you or someone you know is interested in a career in games, or you're an educator or careers adviser who wants more information, then you'll find help and support here.

There are now a huge range of games available, from web-based puzzle games to mobile phone games, but the advice on this site mainly relates to the development of games played on the standard consoles (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii) and PC. It should also be noted that the job roles and structures of management will vary across companies; we're just aiming to give an overview and provide the resources you need to find out exactly what you want.

Game development is a serious and hugely enjoyable career, but it's competitive and demanding. Developing games now typically involves large teams working on big projects, a far cry from the old days when two guys could make games in their bedroom (although yes, that is how our founders started out!).

Games involve a combination of art (both 2D and 3D), animation, audio, game design and programming. It's very important to understand that we are looking for people who are skilled in and focused on one of those elements. We don't want people who can do a little bit of everything - making games is now too complex and expensive for that. So think about what you're good at and then get even better at it!

It's also important to know that, while it might be a good place to start, simply enjoying games is not enough to get a job. In fact, far from it! As you will see from the detailed job role pages, games development involves many different and complex skills. You need to be smart, creative, practical and have very good core skills. In addition to all that, you also need to be good at working with other people, able to explain your ideas and listen to other peoples' ideas and criticism.

We hope that you find Blitz Academy Online helpful and inspiring, and if you have any ideas on how to improve it, do feel free to let us know by contacting us at academy@BlitzGamesStudios.com.

Blitz Games Studios actively works with many educational establishments at different levels, to support and encourage best practice and provision. However, we only endorse those courses formally accredited by Skillset; please note that we do NOT endorse any other courses including distance learning courses such as Train2Game.

The Skillset-accredited courses are currently:

• BA (Honours) Game Art Design, De Montfort University, Leicester
• BA (Honours) Computer Arts, University of Abertay Dundee
• BSc (Honours) Computer Games Technology, University of Abertay Dundee
• BSc (Honours) Computer Games Technology, University of the West of Scotland
• BA in Computer Animation, University of Glamorgan - Cardiff School of Creative and Cultural Industries
• MSc in Games Programming, The University of Hull
• BSc (Honours) Computer Games Programming, Teesside University
• MSc Games Software Development, Sheffield Hallam University
• MSc Computer Games Technology, University of Abertay Dundee