Cameron Williams

It is awful. Truly awful. Around 15% of Intel Corporation's staff (meaning over 15,000 people) are facing layoffs this year. I want to provide as much support as I can about this happening. I know that Intel is not a games studio, but the amount of support they are giving games studios is not to be under-estimated. When I worked at other games studios in the past, we had wonderful working relationships with them, getting support through driver optimisations, supporting technical tests, even offering to feature our games on their network and providing exclusive access to gamers to our closed alpha or closed beta tests. This kind of relationship was special. Regardless of which areas of Intel are going to feel layoffs, with 15% of the workforce, that will be felt everywhere in the organisation. Those of you who worked even remotely in gaming, please make use of my resources below: 🥇First, reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past months I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines, and I would urge you to check them out, if anything just to see what would be available to you: https://lnkd.in/eWvkdYjk You can find over 6,000 jobs there. 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ I urge you to check out the areas in particular about CV support and mentoring, as these will help you no matter what industry you are hailing from or are looking into going next. 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #intel #layoffs

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🎮 Want a job in the video game industry? 🎮 Begin with the end in mind.* ➡ When you drive to work do you just turn left or right based on how you feel that day? 😅 (I hope you left extra early that day) ➡ When you gather data for a project, do you grab monthly active users, popular breakfast items and breeds of dog? 🤐 (This report might be fun but your boss will not be happy) ➡ When you schedule a doctor appointment, do you call random numbers in the phone book? 🙃 The same applies to...well...applying for jobs. ❔ Do you look at the minimum requirements for a job or do you click easy apply on cool titles? (Although, I might as well shoot my shot for Game Director) ❔ Do you update your resume with your most relevant experience when you apply? What is your desired outcome? Work backwards and you'll see at least some of the steps in a path to get there. This is not easy to do, because there is no perfect way to be the best fit for a job. Everyone's journey is different. What steps have you taken to get to your goal or how have you been successful in your journey? *One possible end goal pictured #Letsgetyouhired #RecruiterAdvice

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How I play video games with my non-gamer partner 🎮💑 (𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 2017) So, Vessel of Hatred just dropped. Since Diablo is our go-to game, I've got some hard-earned wisdom from years of roaming the Sanctuary together. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝘀𝗵. I'm all about the endgame. I would just storm through the initial stage, but I let my gf take the lead. I don't need to optimize for every 0.5% of damage. I'm just enjoying slaying demons 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗲𝘆. She can ask, "Where do I heal?" and "Where do you click to get on the horse?" as many times as she needs. Not everyone is used to playing games. She might have forgotten how the controls work, so I'm just being helpful. 💡 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲. I don't freak out when she's building a character as she likes. Just because I wouldn't play that way doesn't mean she isn't having fun. 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿. If she says after 30 minutes that it's enough, then it's enough. Games can be overwhelming. I'm very used to playing Diablo and half the time I'm just looking at the health bar and CD on my skills because I have no clue wtf is going on the screen. Honestly, I'm writing this down more as a reminder to myself. While I'm casual, I do like to optimize every damn 0.05% of damage I can get! 😅 But at the end of the day, I'm just grateful to have a partner willing to enter the Burning Hells with me. That's the real mythic unique loot. (Terrible joke, I know, even I cringed.) Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. 🎤 Fellow gamers, how does it look at your households? What would you add to this list? 👀

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Bit late talking about this one but huge news coming from 343 Industries, both a re-brand to Halo Studios and confirmation that they are switching development to Unreal. 🗞️ This comes off the back of 343's struggles with development of Halo: Infinite. We've seen many other studios move away from their own engines to Unreal, notably CD Projekt Red! Are proprietary engines going out fashion? 🤔 For those who have worked on both proprietary engines and Unreal, what have you found to be the key advantages of working with Unreal? #gamedev #unreal #halo

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Let me echo Chris T.'s post (ty, ty!) on this one as he was spot on on something that I face A LOT when interviewing for YAGER. One of the talking topics on the interview for TUTORIAL stage (you can check more about our process here: https://lnkd.in/eN5HHDdw) is motivation. A very common response to the question "What motivated you to be here on this interview?" is "I love games!". Well... Me too! Tell me more! What do you love about games? Be prepared to deep dive and explain what specificaly drives you when it comes to games. I promisse you, this will be a game changer.

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TONIGHT AT 6:30 PM join us for an improvised version of PVP Circuit and help us rebuild our local community brick by brick. I still can't believe I get to work in the video game industry. My 6-year-old would laugh, and then cry once she realized what it means to work in the creative technology sector. That's why IMO everyone could use some levity during these unprecedented times. Join us for a fun evening to raise funds for the Trevor Project. Event link >>> https://lnkd.in/g7tBuP6d Frequently Asked Questions: What if I can't attend the event? - If you can't make it, please consider purchasing a ticket to help us raise money for charity or get one on behalf of someone impacted by layoffs. What if I want to join but can't justify the cost? - If you want to join but find the cost prohibitive, DM me and we'll make it happen (see point above). Do I have to pitch at the event? - No, you don't have to pitch if you prefer to observe. It’s a great way to see how it's done. Will there be another event like this? - We plan to host our community again, but I can't specify if this event will be the focus. #gamesindustry #event #comedy <3

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 received FOUR nominations for next month's 2024 'The Game Awards!' 🎮✨ 🎧 Best Audio Design – For the explosive soundscapes that immerse players in every battle. Every reload, explosion, and stealthy footstep wouldn’t be the same without the genius behind the audio. 👥 Best Multiplayer Game – Redefining the multiplayer experience yet again with modes that bring players together and keep them on their toes. If you’ve squad-ed up, you know the magic. 🔥 Best Action Game – Where adrenaline meets flawless execution. Black Ops 6 doesn’t just raise the bar—it rebuilds it. 💡 Innovation in Accessibility – For making sure everyone can jump into the action. This one’s about breaking barriers and ensuring the joy of gaming is universal (shoutout to Steve Saylor!) Huge congrats to the incredible teams at #RavenSoftware, #Treyarch, and our many partners who made this possible. #TheGameAwards #BlackOps6 #CallOfDuty #GamingCommunity #GameAwards2024 #AccessibilityInGaming

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After nearly 5 years of placing people in gamedev, here are 3 surprising things I've learned along the way: 1. It was always hard to be a junior Today there are 282 vs 1777 jobs on hitmarker in favor of Mids and Seniors. But even when money from investors was flowing in ungodly amounts, studios were more inclined to hire experienced people. My conspiracy theory is that junior people had it easier back then because regulars and seniors just weren't available for studios. Sometimes because salaries were inflated, sometimes they literally couldn't land the hire, because there were multiple offers on the table for candidates.  Instead of saying it's not a great time to be a junior, we should just admit it's not a great industry to be one. 2. Most people are playing less than I expected When I started I thought everyone here played games all. the. time. And I thought I was the odd one out with my heavily limited playtime. Turns out there are more people like me, who are just playing a couple of hours per week or sometimes not at all. There are of course the opposites who wish they played more (looking at you Michal Witkowski 😎) 3. You kinda need to be into games Even if your role has nothing to do specifically with production, having an interest in games or playing them in your own time it's ALWAYS a green flag. I knew it might be the case, but what was surprising is that it's true for literally every role in a studio. It's not like not playing them eliminates you from getting the accountant job. It doesn't (I hope). But the topic "What are you playing" somehow always finds its way and sneaks into the conversation. What are your surprise learnings?

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Horrible news last night with Humanoid Origin announcing shutting down the studio. "Despite efforts to shield the studio from broader challenges in the industry, an unexpected shortfall of funding left us unable to sustain operations", the message starts. You can read the full post here: https://lnkd.in/egmFZqqT To those impacted please check out the following resources: 🥇First, reach out to us at People Can Fly Studio, we have many roles open right now in Canada, the UK, Ireland and Europe, please check them out here: https://lnkd.in/eWpV5PbA 🥈Next, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past months I have created 10 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines, and I would urge you to check them out, if anything just to see what would be available to you: https://lnkd.in/eGE2vzUt You can find over 5,900 jobs there. 🥉 Third, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ I urge you to check out the areas in particular about CV support and mentoring, as these will help you no matter what industry you are hailing from or are looking into going next. 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #humanoidorigin #layoffs

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Complaining won't get you hired. Sending hundreds of applications without a reply sucks, I get it. And job hunting in game development is tough in 2024. But hear me out: No one hires out of pity. People hire because you show value. Instead of complaining about the market, focus on creating value for others: • Share common best practices • Contribute to professional topics • Create useful solutions or courses • Make a tutorial on a complex issue Or go a step further: prepare a list of recommendations for the company you want to join and send it with your CV (and also share it publicly). How so, you might ask? Do something for others for FREE? Yes, absolutely. It's called "content marketing." You create value upfront, become more recognizable, and gain a reputation. And then you get hired easily because you provided value upfront. If you're willing to spend hundreds of hours on interviews, spend some time creating value for others. It'll pay off in the long run.

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Another big publisher set to fire 600 employees. This post is intended to support those who were recently laid off. Please share it within your community and tag studios and recruiters who are actively hiring. "We'll hear troubling news from the offices of Zynga, Gearbox, 2K, and even Rockstar—a far cry from earlier statements about layoffs from Take-Two's CEO." To combat, I am adding 5 resources below for all impacted professionals : 1) Our flagship Full-stack game programming bootcamp worth $11,000. We're giving course content out on 100% scholarship for anyone who's willing to transition into game programming or upskill in programming. (Mail: community@outscal.com) 2) Join our Discord Community and help professionals who are asking questions related to portfolio building, job seeking, interviews, and broadly their next career step. We have added help roles for programming, Unity, Unreal, DSA, Careers. Pick these roles and only get notified when someone asks questions related to your expertise. 3) Your team is hiring? Here's a list of 900+ professionals who were laid off recently: https://bit.ly/49Ah2vT Do them a favor by sharing this list with your 1st degree connections who're hiring. 4) We now have 14368 gamedev jobs from all over the world. https://lnkd.in/gerWUkc5 5) Become a volunteer: If you're a senior professional, you can mentor these professionals, conduct mock interviews, assess their portfolios and give feedback on what would work for them and what wouldn't. Join by adding your name here: https://lnkd.in/gwPhHen4 Get more out of Game Dev community on LinkedIn 🍄 Amir Satvat is back on LinkedIn with the OG list of resources. 💼 Caitlin Cooke is the fastest source of fresh jobs in the industry (yes, remote jobs too) 🎤 Follow Jordan Mazer for greatest tips and pointers around game jobs & interviews. 🔥 Hailey's feed will keep you updated with everything that's happening in the gaming world. 🔝 Connect with Arin Goldsmith and be part of her amazing #SocialSunday initiative. #games #gamedev #jobs #layoffs

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I understand the challenges many face when trying to break into the games industry and find the right role. Before contacting a team member or recruiter, I recommend checking the job listings on the company's careers site to identify suitable positions. This approach not only demonstrates professionalism but also expedites the process. Simply reaching out to inquire about available roles may not be the most effective initial contact, as it can lead to a less fruitful conversation. For those interested, here is a link to all the current open roles at WB Games: https://lnkd.in/enp8Q8YN #GameIndustry #CareerOpportunities #Professionalism

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Alright, I can't keep quiet anymore, These Layoffs are getting too much. 🫠 Please tell me I'm not alone when I feel nauseous just from this week's. Intel Corporation - ~20 Thousand Bungie - 220 Jam City - 85 Game Informer - SHUT DOWN. On top of the thousands still looking for work, how are Jobseekers and those looking to enter the Industry meant to cope? Every time there's a layoff, I've ALWAYS without fail seen my friend Amir Satvat 🔜 Gamescom post the news. However, as someone who's been trying to amplify said reach... It's exhausting. Multiple layoffs from prominent companies in just one day. There's hardly time to breathe. To those who've lost access to their Slack channels without warning, woke up to their company emails deactivated, or even found out their termination via a Twitter post: This isn't your fault. Our current Industry is bleeding itself dry with some labeling it as a New Path while those at the top continue to remain unaffected. We need more powerful voices like Geoff Keighley, Game Developers Conference, or dare I say, current Studio CEOs to address this without hiding behind a blanket company statement. I refuse to be just another number. #IndieRevolution #GameIndustry #GameDev #Layoffs #Support #Jobseekers #OpenToWork #EntryLevel #Recruiters #Hiring #Network #Community #OpenToNetwork #AI #SocialSaturday #Tech #Art #Student

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What a battleground you’ll find in the comments. All because Chris Heatherly touched the taboo subject and used the taboo word. We all need to recognize, politics divide. Sometimes companies put their politics blatantly in the game content itself, and some big percentage of would-be customers are instantly removed from the purchasing audience. Sometimes it’s more covert, with politics contributing to the development decisions or the messaging or the optics of any of the companies involved (IP holder, publisher, developer). This still creates a detectable undercurrent that can subvert reception. Games are always messy, and are a sum of many parts. It’s impossible to discuss why a game succeeds or fails without hitting it from many different angles. If a game is “good enough” it can overcome the negatives of a political agenda. But “good enough” depends on a million factors not the least of which includes how strong the political messaging itself is. Any company making a product should want as many customers as they can get. And then, quietly, they can use those funds to further whatever values and politics they hold dear. You can have your cake and eat it too, but to do that you don’t put the politics into the product. You make the best product you possibly can. Ruthlessly executing toward greater sales/reception. The better it does, the more you can do with it. And it’s worth mentioning that sometimes politics steals the limelight from potentially bigger issues that tanked a game. It may have been just one of many factors, but people will be quick to point to politics as the nail in the coffin (especially during an election year). Before throwing further comments into the mix, let’s all remember the blessing it is that we share this world and life together, and that our differences give life a unique and complex flavor. Internet platforms make it easy to forget our humanity and robotically attack the entity on the other side of the screen. It’s another person.

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Stoked to reach the milestone of 50+ player reviews on Hive Jump 2: Survivors, just a day after 1.0 launch. https://lnkd.in/g2yMxnDa That "Very Positive" review label matters a lot to Steam when deciding how "valid" our game is (not to mention impacting customer perceptions). It's a hard label to achieve. It has to come from paying players. It excludes any players who received a promotional key (hence the two numbers in the GIF). It also filters by your languages preferences and region, to some extent, too. So, yes, stoked to say the least that our team at Graphite Lab has met this mark with our first sequel. Of course, if you want to add to the good vibes with your own review, all you have to do is pop over to Steam and for the price of a latte you too can see what all the fuss is about. https://lnkd.in/g2yMxnDa If you are curious about the impact reviews have on games released through Steam, take a look through this 2022 article. It gets right to the point and (for the most part) is still valid today. https://lnkd.in/g9D5feGC

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I am GIVING AWAY 1 seat on my next Game Production course for FREE, worth $1,200!!! There are a lot of people who could benefit from taking my course but due to their current situation do not have the means to do so. I'd like to personally help 1 person, so I'd like to offer 1 seat on my next Game Production course - https://lnkd.in/gec77gcq - to anyone interested, who is currently between roles and who qualifies. This is not a sponsored event, I just want to help someone. I won't share the name or details of the person selected, and will reach out via LinkedIn DM, and organize their sign-up with them - they will have full access to the course and all materials. To qualify you must: - Be over 18 years old - Have a LinkedIn account - Be currently out of work or between roles, with an #OpenToWork banner - Personally comment on the ORIGINAL post with the phrase "I'd like to attend the next Game Production course" (if someone else comments for you this will not qualify you) - Have access to Zoom and a reliable internet connection - Be available to attend the course during lesson hours - course runs October 1st to November 7th, US PST 6:30pm-8:00pm - Be interested in Game Production as a career - you want to level up your skills, move up into Game Production, have just left college, or want a lateral move from another industry outside of Games - Like and repost the post - Follow my LinkedIn account - I try to post good content :) DO NOT: - DO NOT post your email or other personal information, your LinkedIn profile with the above phrase will be used - DO NOT message me with questions on the course or this give away - DO NOT be a bad person This offer closes on September 24th at 12pm US PST, accounts posting after this time will not be considered for selection. Qualified candidate LinkedIn accounts, using the above phrase, will be placed in a spreadsheet and 1 account will be selected using the random number generator from (https://www.random.org/). I will send a LinkedIn connection request to the successful candidate and then DM them by September 25th. If I don't hear back from that account by September 26th at 12pm US PST I will re-run the random number generator and select a different candidate - if you are selected and miss the connection request and DM there will be no take-backsies, so please make sure you're watching your LinkedIn! - I reserve all rights to make changes to this giveaway - I reserve the right to change these terms at any time I am running this my-own-self(tm), on my-own-time(tm) so please support where you can and be a good citizen of our great Game Development community! Follow me on LinkedIn for more posts and information on Game Production and Game Development!

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🕰️This was Breshna’s MVP 3 years ago Clunky, bare bones & not very pretty 😅 I almost cancelled our MVP launch 6 hours prior because I was too scared, too embarrassed, too skeptical! (thanks to Rizwan Nusrat’s 3am pep talk, we stayed on track)! Since then we’ve: ✅Completely revamped the user interface ✅Added 21 new game templates & 3k+ game assets ✅Integrated RTL script ✅Enabled custom uploads ✅Enhanced data analytics ✅Introduced co-creation of games ✅Implemented mobile optimization ✅Developed foundations for security & scalability ✅Procured a patent for our tech stack ✅Built an AI powered text to game engine & 3d metaverse Today Breshna is delightful to use, is now a beast of an ecosystem with 180k game makers & 2m game plays and is only getting started! The thing about momentum is, it needs building blocks! You gotta start somewhere, so start today, start with the bare minimum, start with something you’re not fully sure of in it’s current state but it’s potential is crystal clear, let the present be uncertain so you can cement your future vision! *************** If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late. – Reid Hoffman ***************

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Hippity Happy Monday! Another week, ANOTHER JOB! Do you like Gameplay AI? Are you Crazy for Creatures? Mad for Mobs!? I don't have any more alliterations in me right now, but we're looking for someone to create believable creature behaviors for our game. If you've seen any of the nature docs and ever thought that it would be awesome to somehow make one within a brand new universe (specific dream, I know), then this might be for you! This is a mid-level (3-6 yrs) role, but if you have a couple years of professional dev in C++ and Unreal games, and have a genuine love and desire to learn gameplay AI we could chat too. What we can't train up is the very solid use of C++ and dev experience in Unreal. Sorry Unity-only folks, we really need someone w/ some prior experience here. Just like I said in my last post I will read every app and cover letter, but please only write a cover letter if you think it has something your resume couldn't tell. I do not prioritize folks that have one vs not. One thing I'd love to see in that section is any work you've done with creature AI behaviors if you got any. Anyway, gl;hf! Also sharing is caring, so please share w/ your network! Thanks!

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"Required: X titles shipped" I've been involved in a few conversations lately with aspiring or junior developers who are frustrated that so many job descriptions require shipped titles. It gets even more difficult when a JD requires specific types of games shipped. These job seekers become more infuriated to find out that a lot of recruiters or hiring managers don't really count their game jam titles or solo games as "shipped" for purposes of these roles. Why is that? What exactly are hiring managers looking for here? Does it even matter? To answer that last question first: yes. It matters. First off, let's be clear on a couple of things here. As a general rule, you shouldn't be seeing shipped title requirements in true entry level positions. In those cases, any experience is better than no experience, so you should call out your jam, student, or solo games whenever you don't have anything else to show (or just call them out anyway if you're still relatively new or you're particularly proud of something you've worked on or built). But the reason you see a lot of jobs asking for shipped titles is less about the end result and more about showing that you've got experience working in a particular environment. If I'm asking, it's because I want to know that you can work on a team in the first place. You've been through the process already and have gone through the reviews and planning sessions and discussions that you simply wouldn't get building a game on your own or even in a quick jam. I've been through this a lot, with games that shipped and those that unfortunately did not. I've seen it on tiny teams where we could fit everyone in a single room and the entire schedule took months to teams which numbered in the hundreds across continents with multiyear schedules and the differences are very real. I've seen how different it can be in having to ship a boxed game through first party submissions or maintaining a liveops MMO that only existed on PC or mobile. Different processes. Different tools. Different methodologies. Different scales. I know how rough the market is out there. I know it seems hopeless at times and utterly unfair. I know it can really hurt to find a role you think you're just perfect for but then you see they want "shipped titles" experience or you need to have "worked on AAA teams" or "must have liveops experience" and it just doesn't make sense. Your challenge is in trying to show how you have the skills without the direct experience, while also competing against others (potentially dozens of others) who already have both. I wish the process could be easier for you. At the least, I hope I've added some context from the other side of the table here.

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