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[Pineapple]

I want to get into independent game programming as a career. I'm good at making games and I've finished several smaller games over the past couple years. However, considering this is a first step into the land of salaries, it'd be an absurd concept to suddenly start my own company. I need to know what college degree to pursue (If any - I often read that portfolios are much more important than education) or what actions to otherwise take in order to get a game programming job with a decently-established indie company either within a bit less than a year (ending my high school education) or in around four (after going to college).

[Evan Balster]

I was recently contemplating dropping out of college in order to get a start on an independent dev career, and talked it over with my family.  The end conclusion (in my case) was that I decided to take low-credit semesters, maybe even staying in school an extra year, so I could keep up the college lifestyle and keep working on projects.

See, college is a great environment to hone your skills and start making achievements as an indie developer: you have free time on your hands (if you don't overload yourself), you're in proximity with smart, creative people, and you have lots of other resources and learning opportunities you wouldn't otherwise have.  It's also a much easier place to make friends than the real world.

So, get whatever degree you think is relevant.  But go to college and take advantage of all its upsides.  Get things done.  Works for me.

Oh, or you could go to one of those tech colleges for game development.  DigiPen will work you like a slave animal, but you'll be guaranteed an (industry) job at the end.


Actually, that's one additional thing.  "Getting a job with a well-established indie company" is a fairly hard thing to do.  If you want stable work that you can apply for, go industry for a while or work for some smallish place making a mobile game or something.  Indie dev tends to be a lot more risky, and most indies team up rather than hiring.

[TeeGee]

I suggest getting a job in the industry. Gives you way more actual experience. Also, you are getting paid instead of having to pay.

College/university is fun, but go only if you feel like it or if it matches your interests. I would also suggest getting a broader, more universal degree in that case. Who know where you will end up in few years, and general science or liberal arts degree has more options than "game developer".

Personally, I dropped out of university to focus on making games. By the time my friends were finishing their studies (5 years here) and got their first jobs, I already had enough experience to land a lead game designer position.

[Chris Pavia]

While I'm not sure if the exorbitant price of getting a degree these days is worth it, I got my first job in the industry directly because of my going to college for a game design degree. One of my instructors liked my skills and work ethic enough to recommend me to one of his former employers.

That being said, stay away from the Art Institute's game design degree. There is almost no programming or technical skills taught (when I went there at least). I highly recommend UC Santa Cruz's game degree though. It's a very technically-focused degree, the student body is amazing, and the school takes the subject very seriously. I'd like to pursue my masters there when I finish paying off my current student loan.

[Hoody]

Did the first year of a games dev degree course last year, apart from the C# module it was lousy and I ended up bailing even though I had passed the year easily. If I were to do it again I would go for a comp sci course I think.

[Fallsburg]

Here are my suggestions:

1. Get a degree in a technical field (assuming you are interested in the technical side of things). i.e. math, cs, ee, phyics.  Whatever.  Unless you are going to grad school, it doesn't really matter that much.  Essentially every science based degree will involve the same two things, programming and math. The only things that differ is specific flavors of math and programming and the proportion of the two.  In my experience, having a hard science degree means you are readily employable and as long as you demonstrate the necessary skills it really doesn't matter what your specific background was (as long as you have said degree). 
2. Personally, I'd urge you to avoid a "Game Development" degree.  I won't say that they are categorically bad, but I would say that the large majority lack rigor in their course work (I would also say the same about a lot of university's cs programs [those that teach programming, not cs]). My stance is that it is much better to have a rigorous technical background and if you wind up never using it, fine, but it is a lot harder to have to make up for lost time when you are actually working.

[sanspants]

IMO:

If you're going for programming skills, definitely get a standard, ordinary CS degree.  None of the specialized schools I've seen have the breadth of experience that would make it worth the extra cost.

If you want to know more about the business end of it, I don't know if I'd bother with a degree - make good friends with a lawyer and take some business classes on the side.

In general about schools: as always, college is what you make of it.  I'm going to the Art Institute Online (formerly the one in California - San Fran, but I got a job) and watched my fellow classmates.  If they're genuinely interested, they get the help they need.  If not, then they make their grade and keep going.  It's expensive as hell, and the classes won't work magic on you but if you actually pay attention and put forth effort, you will get a nice education that will expose you to a lot of the basic art stuff as well as good trade skills.  If, of course, you're willing to put in the time to learn.

(I've been having to remind myself of this at times - college + work = hard, so hard sometimes)

[Evan Balster]

Regarding college, I'll just say this: government loans cover your living expenses for a while and yeah, you'll have to pay them back.  You'll learn in classes, but most of that you could pick up on your own if you really wanted to.

But the best thing--again--is the environment.  Time to work, space to think, people to pal up with and start projects.  It's wonderful stuff.  A large, public university offers all these things in spades, even if it means going for a general degree like CS.  While you're there, if you're skilled and want some income, go for an on-campus research job.  I've made a lot of interesting finds and acquaintances through mine.