Getting Started as a Game Developer

Every year, there's an annual event, the Game Developer's Conference, held in San Francisco. It bills itself as the "official trade event by developers for developers. "You can read about it at www.gdconf.com.

Job seekers should also look into the International Game Developer's Association, (www.IGDA.org), which has chapters worldwide. According to its website, "the IGDA is a non-profit professional society that is committed to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community."

If you'd like to find out where game development businesses are located throughout the world, you should check out www.gamedevmap.com.

By clicking on a location on this interactive world map, you can easily find out what studios are in your area. Many of them are clustered on the West Coast - San Diego, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, and Seattle. There are also a plethora of game development companies in a number of European countries. Notably, England and Germany, as well as in Japan and India. Indeed, a quick look at the map will show that there are game companies scattered throughout the world.

There are also several websites that recruit for game development companies, such as www.digitalartistmanagement.com. Like JobMonkey, these sites are a good place to go to read about jobs and job requirements, as they give a broad oversight of the jobs currently available in the industry. But if you visit most any game development company's website, you're bound to find computer game design jobs posted.

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