Growth in the Gaming Industry

There are multiple inroads into the world of gaming. Business, engineering, designing or the visual arts – if you have majored in any one of these and have a raging curiosity in games and game designing, forge ahead

Business Standard in 2009 reported that the Ministry of Human Resource Development has predicted animation and the gaming industry as one of the hottest careers that will emerge in the times to come. The proliferation of television channels, mobile phones and the internet has made the gaming industry a hot career choice for many. The Indian animation industry is projected to touch $1 billion by 2012, as compared with $494 million in 2008, while the global animation industry is expected to touch $100 billion in 2012 from $68 billion in 2008.

If you have the ability for visual imagination along with technical and designing skills and are well familiar with the gaming world, then this is what you could choose to do. You could decide to design educational software for classrooms or the next best war game for young children and adults.

Can only game designers make it in this industry?
There is a gamut of avenues you can explore. The principles of game designing are applied to various forms of games such as board games, video games and card games. You can go into game mechanics, programming, visual arts or the production process. There is more. You can enter at the level of designer, concept artist, texture artist, sound programmer, physics programmer, user interface programmer, artificial intelligence programmer, programmer, and animator.

Where should I go and what should I study?
If you do decide that you are up for a challenging and exciting career in gaming then one of these courses should work for you. An Advanced Diploma in Game Design, Diploma in Game Designing and Gaming, or Video Game and Design and Development degree. But specialised degrees in the visual arts, hard sciences or engineering also will help you pursue a career in gaming. Game programmers need to be good at logic, mathematics and physics and have strong analytical thinking. It is best to start with programming in Flash AS2/AS3 for simple games or mobile games before moving on to advanced technologies used in developing a game engine or AAA titles, such as Game Logic programming, graphics programming, artificial intelligence, physics, sound and video, special effects and tools programming.

The best institutes in India for this field are: National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad), International Institute of Gaming and Animation (Mumbai), Digital Academy Film School (Mumbai), Image College of Arts, Animation and Technology (Chennai), Asian Academy of Film and Television (Uttar Pradesh) and Colorchips Animation Training Centre (Hyderabad).

Prospects
In India, companies like Synapse, Smackall, Csharks have made a name for themselves in gaming. It is a booming industry. Right now there is a shortage of talent in the field. But this is predicted to change rapidly in coming days. You can even earn big bucks in game testing which basically includes making the software bug free and offering suggestions as to how improve the quality and structure of the games.  Or you can completely focus your energies on business development. This would typically require a degree in business management. With the diversification in the content of mobile games, the introduction of AAA titles and GTA IV in India, and the shift in online games from client to browser-based, India’s talent pool has much to contribute and even more to gain.