Description
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The video game industry is an area of work that consists of many fields. Now more mainstream than ever, it surpasses even the Hollywood movie industry in terms of revenue. Specific tasks within the gaming industry may include programming, 3-D modeling, character and story development, public relations, and IT management. Each of these broad categories offer the possibility of promotion, and advancement of salary.
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Entry Level Positions
Entry level positions at a video game company often include roles in Quality Assurance. A person working for QA may play-test games in order to help developers and programmers locate and fix bugs in the game. Also, they may contribute suggestions for improving gameplay; when a certain area of a game is too difficult or easy, a game tester will report their assessment to programmers and developers.
A person that holds a degree in Computer Science may find their first job as an entry-level programmer. An "entry-level" programmer may differ from others in that they spend their time coding software as opposed to designing it or applying learned theory.
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Technical Requirements
Most gaming companies will require that their programmers be fluent and experienced in C/C++, and assembly. Scripting languages such as Perl and Python are advantages, as well. One source explicitly stated that Java is not employed in the gaming industry simply because it is not as fast as C/C++. Several sources emphasized that above anything else, it is most important to be able to write clean code, because others will be maintaining and using your code.
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Salary Ranges
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Salaries can range from about $40,000 - $150,000. The lower end is what an entry-level position may earn while a lead programmer will earn the larger sums of money.
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Local Employment Opportunities
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