Portland, Oregon is a hub for innovation, arts, and design. Even though there aren't a lot of extremely large video game design companies, our community has a variety of thriving smaller operations, where video games are being created and marketed with great success.
Given the remote-friendly nature of game design, working from Portland (with occasional trips to other places where there are larger video game company hubs) is entirely possible. With major video game companies headquartered in Seattle as well as various areas of California, you're well situated to live the Portland, Oregon lifestyle while working as a video game designer. To explore the full breadth of remarkably talented indie game developers - explore Portland Indie Game Squad (PIGS) and get involved with their network.
Game development is a competitive field, and even highly decorated video game designers and developers find themselves between game design gigs occasionally. Because there are many elements to the field, it helps to be open to developing your skills through training and coursework as well as through diverse work history and experience. Each experience you have makes you a better candidate for the next video game design and development position you find in Portland, Oregon.
What are some other ways you can put your video game design and development skills to work in between work assignments? Here are just a few ideas.
Continue Growing Your Skills With Remote Career Training
When looking for work, it never hurts to be finding new elements of the video game design and development world in order to expand your knowledge base. Portland Community College offers remote career training in a variety of Arts and Design disciplines, including video game design and development. Because video games combine storytelling with animation, graphic design, and often web design as well, most designers have at least one area in which they'd love to see continued improvement or at least practice under the supervision of an experienced instructor.
Dovetail Into Other Software Development Work
A great element of video game design and development is that you learn more about the inner workings of computers and often develop skills as a software programmer as well. As you see your own skills progressing, consider working on your software skills overtly so that you have the opportunity to work in other software application development jobs when you aren't currently developing a game.
While job markets are particularly competitive, software developers have an edge: the outlook for growth in this field is 22% from 2019 to 2029, meaning that there are likely to be more and more of these jobs over time. While software applications may or may not become your main pursuit, knowing more about the structure of computer languages can only help you in future computer gaming work.
Spend Time on Your Own Entrepreneurial Pursuits
Video game design can often pay quite well, especially if you have a few years of experience, and if you have the chance to save up and take some time off between jobs, it can be an exciting time to develop your own game from scratch. Working in a startup atmosphere or just creating a game in your free time can really bring your creative juices to the forefront. Even if you don't have the ability to launch a game at a commercial scale, the marketplaces for games created in Portland, Oregon and shared online can give you some fame inside the world of video game creators and can serve as a valuable portfolio piece for your next job opportunity.
Showcase Your Creative Talents In Other Design-Focused Fields
Everything from how to create realistic or interesting game characters to the lighting and perspective angles in a video game are design elements that require a thoughtful application. If you find yourself drawn to the artistic elements of the game most, there are many other areas of work where your video game development training will come in handy in the world of design. From architecture to graphic design, being a person with an eye for what is beautiful and functional will help you go far. Even if you only take brief forays into other design fields, you can bring what you learn in those work roles back to your next video game project, a bit better equipped for those design elements of the next game.
As you can see, the multidisciplinary knowledge needed for video game design and development in Portland Oregon actually makes you a great candidate for all kinds of side projects as well as full-time work. If you haven't yet taken the plunge to get started as a video game design student, why not try a remote career training course today?
Portland Community College offers in-depth online professional development where you can flexibly work around other commitments you have while getting trained up for an exciting new career. Whether this class informs a passion project that you work on over the weekend or becomes your full-time job, you'll be glad you expanded your skills and made new connections.
