Now that we’ve heard from all of the alumni guest speakers, I’m able to write and reflect on everything they’ve said; What I’ve learnt from them and how I can use that to inform my actions and decisions in the future for the sake of my career.
Summarising each talk
| Speaker | Role + Background | Key Topics | Main advice | Reflection |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Blacknell (Play360.ai) | Developer Started in indie Moved from generalist to specialist | Indie workflow, communication, networking, developer portfolios | Soft skills > hard skills, adapt to different tasks, keep portfolio clean with finished projects, be visible in communities, communicate clearly with non-technical teammates | Motivated to improve communication, polish portfolio, join more jams and be more active in industry spaces. |
| Bea Grove (Kwalee) | Senior Game Designer Moved from freelance UI/UX to design | Mobile/PC publishing workflows, cross-discipline communication, design responsibilities | Show ownership in portfolio, tailor CV/cover letters, analyse games professionally, be honest, prepare examples of teamwork, AAA isn’t the only path | Encouraged to strengthen portfolio explanations, create more prototypes, improve documentation and tailor applications. |
| Olivia Gregory (Chapel Arts Studios) | Digital Artist Entered industry through volunteer/assistant roles Limitbreak mentorship | Non-linear career paths, mentorships, networking, process-focused portfolio building | Say yes to opportunities, get involved in communities, volunteer, focus portfolio on clarity + contribution, consider roles like QA/freelance early on | Reassuring that entry paths vary; plan to join communities, mentorships, keep portfolio focused and stay open to alternative entry roles. |
| Rhys Shepherd (Epic Games) | Technical Artist Career path across QA, programming, indie, tech art | Tech art overview, studio entry paths, messaging studios directly, tools, interviews | QA is a strong entry point, stay in-engine, message smaller studios, build projects blending art+tech, show your learning process | Helped clarify that it’s okay not to specialise yet; plan to work more in-engine, improve FMP and reach out to studios when applying. |
| Megan Matthews (ustwo games) | Multidisciplinary Game Designer Currently on Monument Valley 3 | Level design process, prototyping, playtesting, team collaboration methods | “Level design your portfolio,” show greyboxes and breakdowns, restructure portfolio per job, practice natural networking, communicate clearly | Reinforced value of clear design reasoning; plan to tailor portfolio, improve clarity and embrace being between design and programming. |
| Jade Carter (Snap Finger Click) | Producer Entered through QA after office job Worked on major titles | What production actually is, planning, remote work, breaking into industry | QA as an entry point, one-page CV, enthusiasm matters, research studios, communication and reliability are crucial | Reassuring that careers aren’t linear; motivated to keep options open, stay persistent and focus on reliability and communication. |
Reflective Essay
To preface, before starting this essay I wrote a small analysis of the module information/profile that is on blackboard. This will help inform the structure and content of this essay, that analysis is in the following post:
Start of essay [Word count: 3,140]
Introduction
Throughout this module, we got to hear from a few alumni guest speakers who work in very different corners of the games industry. Each of them had their own path, their own advice and their own way of thinking about making games. What stood out most to me is how varied the industry actually is. Before these talks, I had a fairly narrow idea of what breaking in looked like: build a portfolio, apply for jobs, hope for the best. But hearing how these industry professionals actually got their roles (Including the parts that didn’t go smoothly) helped me understand the reality behind recruitment, job markets, portfolio expectations and working in the industry,
This essay touches on the key things I learned across these talks and reflects on how they apply to me as a game designer and programmer. I haven’t committed to specialising entirely in design or programming yet and a few of the speakers’ stories really resonated with that feeling. As I worked through my notes and began structuring them for this essay, I realised how much their advice connects directly to the learning outcomes of this module. So each section looks at one of those areas:
- Recruitment
- Current job market
- My own direction
- Research methods
- Academic context
- Time management
- Digital literacy
Together, these form a picture not just of what the games industry is like right now, but also where I think I’m heading within it.
Understanding How Recruitment Really Works
The biggest culture shock behind recruitment came from realising just how inconsistent and chaotic it can feel from the applicant’s side, even for people who have already “made it”. Nearly every speaker said that applying for roles isn’t a neat, logical process – it’s competitive and sometimes unfair.
Jade’s story captured this perfectly. She applied to around thirty jobs, while working an office job and heard nothing from most. From this, she only got one in-person interview that led to a job. Hearing that from someone who now works confidently in production made the process feel slightly less intimidating and more realistic. She emphasised that junior applicants often underestimate the importance of clarity and honesty. She insists on one-page CVs, tailored cover letters and portfolios that get to the point quickly. She said the applicants who stand out aren’t necessarily the most skilled – they’re the ones who clearly understand what the studio does and why they want to be there.
Megan reiterated some of the same ideas from a design perspective. When she applied to ustwo, she shaped her portfolio to match their style and the types of games they make. She even described her portfolio as something you “level design”, meaning you control how recruiters move through it and what they see first. That idea genuinely stuck with me, because I’ve always treated portfolios as something you fill with work, whereas she treats them like an experience with an intended flow.
Rhys added another angle to this conversation through his own path. He didn’t start as a technical artist – he started in QA testing gambling games. He admitted that QA wasn’t glamorous, but it taught him discipline, communication and pipelines. His breakthrough moment into the industry came from directly messaging small studios. One message to the CEO of Two Point Studios got passed along to 22cans, which eventually hired him. That sort of direct initiative never occurred to me before his talk.
Bea’s advice was extremely practical. She explained interview expectations clearly: no lying on CVs, be specific about your contributions and show ownership of your work. Her hiring team looks for candidates who can explain why they made certain decisions, not just what they made. She also reminded us that mobile studios hire far more juniors than AAA studios, something I didn’t know before.
And finally, Jamie tied all of this together by bringing up the importance of soft skills in recruitment. He said that when his studio interviews a candidate, they almost always choose the person who is easier to talk to over the one with slightly stronger technical skills. He described communication as “the real filter” for juniors. That reframed recruitment for me – not as a competition of who knows the most, but who can work well within a team, explain themselves clearly and behave professionally.
Taken together, all of these perspectives made the recruitment process feel less like a system meant to keep graduates out and more like a way to see which individuals fit in certain studios.
Where would I fit in the Games Industry?
Before these talks, I thought the job market mostly consisted of a few predictable roles: junior programmer, junior designer, junior artist. What the speakers helped me see is that the industry is much broader and more adaptable to people’s skillsets.
For example, Bea’s talk made the mobile publishing world feel much more substantial than I expected. The studio she works for, Kwalee, cycles through many prototypes constantly, meaning designers shift between genres and development stages week to week. Because of this, she said adaptability is one of the most valuable traits in a designer. That made me realise how different studios can be in pace, culture and expectations.
Jamie brought a different angle by explaining the unpredictability of indie work. When he joined Pavia.io, he wasn’t just programming – he was helping with marketing and even some sound design. This reminded me that smaller studios don’t have rigid walls between disciplines and responsibilities, which can be great for someone like me who enjoys wearing different hats. His current role at Play360.ai also highlighted how newer spaces like TV-based party games are creating new niches in the industry that aren’t as represented or seen as much.
Rhys’s path helped me understand hybrid roles better. Technical art wasn’t something I was familiar with before, but hearing how he blended programming and art throughout his early career helped me see how a multidisciplinary background can open doors in newer, hybrid positions. Roles such as Tech art, which focus on: tools, shaders, VFX and pipeline optimisation.
Olivia, although an artist, reminded me that the wider creative industry is unstable but interconnected. She worked in games, freelance illustration, art residencies and mentoring programmes, sometimes all in the same year. Her journey showed how creative disciplines overlap more than we think. You don’t always have to enter the industry through a traditional route. There are many adjacent industries that will help you build your skills.
Megan’s experience also reflected how referrals and networking shape the job market. She didn’t apply directly for some of her roles – they came through people she met during programmes like Code Coven. That made me reconsider how important visibility and networking as a whole is.
All of these stories made the job market feel less like a ladder and more like a web. There are so many points of entry: QA, internships, indie studios, mobile publishing, hybrid roles, technical roles – and each can lead to something entirely different later. As a graduate, that’s reassuring. It makes the job market feel less intimidating and more flexible, as long as I stay open to exploring different opportunities.
Finding My Own Direction as a Developer
Planning this section of this essay probably affected me the most, because I’m still figuring out where exactly I fit in the industry. I enjoy programming, but I also enjoy design. Sometimes I worry that not specialising early enough makes me less appealing to studios, but several speakers challenged that assumption.
Rhys was the first to make me feel genuinely reassured about being multidisciplinary. He bounced between programming, art, QA, small indie teams and eventually into technical art at Epic Games. He didn’t have a fixed path – he just followed the roles that let him keep learning. Hearing him describe technical art as “the space between artists and programmers” sounded almost too perfect for the way I naturally think. I also felt like this role applied to me heavily, as I unknowingly fulfilled this role when working on Lament during second year.
Megan’s talk also resonated with me for similar reasons. She described herself as a multidisciplinary designer and her path wasn’t a straight line either. She tried art, game jams, puzzles, level building and gradually found a direction that made sense. She wasn’t worried about committing immediately; she let her interests guide her projects until a pattern emerged.
Bea’s talk gave me a more structured perspective. She made it clear that design isn’t just ideas – it’s communication, documentation and understanding how the rest of the team works. That reminded me that I enjoy systems design and scripting partly because they require both code thinking and design thinking.
Jamie helped me understand my strengths in a different way. He talked a lot about communication and being approachable, which are things I try to prioritise when working in teams. As the lead technical designer for Lament last year, I’ve already had moments where I needed to mediate between different disciplines. Jamie helped me see that as an actual skill – not just something I do by accident.
Olivia’s message of “finding your thing” rather than just finding your style also stuck with me. She found hers through anatomy, environments and iteration. For me, I think “my thing” is sitting somewhere between technical design and player experience – making mechanics feel good, building systems that support gameplay and creating interactions that intrigue players.
These talks collectively made me feel more confident that I don’t need to fully commit yet. I can keep refining my interests as I build more projects and that variety is an actual asset rather than a liability.
Using Research Properly as a Game Developer
One thing this module emphasised was the importance of research – not just academic research, but the kind of ongoing, applied research that professionals use daily.
Megan gave one of the clearest examples of this. She uses research for balancing spreadsheets, analysing other games, watching playtests and understanding accessibility guidelines. She treats research as part of the design workflow, not something separate.
Bea talked about research during the hiring process – studying job descriptions, matching keywords and understanding a specific studio’s tone and priorities. That’s a form of professional research I didn’t really consider, but definitely seems essential when it comes to being hired at the right place with the right role.
Rhys mentioned researching tools constantly. He said technical artists live in a space where engines, workflows and tech pipelines evolve so quickly that you always have to stay curious. He recommended visiting websites like “tech-artists.org” and experimenting directly in-engine as a form of research.
Olivia listed a huge catalogue of learning resources: mentorships, art communities, online courses and job boards. The scale of the resources she mentioned made me realise how much ongoing research is expected in creative work.
Putting all of this together helped me understand that research isn’t just reading endless pages of text. It’s staying active in the community, studying other people’s work, analysing decisions and continuously observing how players respond. Writing this essay also showed that process – I used notes from each talk, compared perspective and pieced them together to form a bigger picture.
Contextualising my practice through Academic approaches
Another part of the module required using academic frameworks or industry theory to analyse what the speakers said. At first, I wasn’t sure how naturally this would fit or what this even meant, but as I reflected on the talks, I realised many of their points shed light onto this.
For example, a lot of Megan’s level design insights tie into classical design theory: teaching players through level progression, ensuring clarity of direction and avoiding player frustration while still offering challenge. When she described watching playtesters struggle without helping them, it highlighted academic discussions of “player-centred design”.
Olivia’s discussion of iterations, orthographics, isometrics and environment design tied into visual communication theories – how clarity, silhouette, composition and character/environment readability can shape the player experience. Even though I’m not an environment artist, understanding these principles helps me think about games. Especially working as a technical designer that collaborates with artists and translates their work to in-engine projects.
Highlighting these frameworks helped me go beyond simply reciting what the speakers said and led me to think more critically about why these principles matter and how they align with established knowledge. This kind of analysis feels closer to the kind of reflective practice that game designers actually use.
Time Management and Professional Organisation
Time management came up repeatedly, usually in subtle but meaningful ways. Jade talked about how producers always plan for contingencies because delays are inevitable. This made me rethink how I schedule my own work. I often plan too optimistically, assuming problems won’t happen. Hearing that professionals build in “failure time” made me see that as normal, not sloppy.
Bea explained how mobile studios operate across multiple prototypes at the same time and how designers hop between tasks all the time. That showed me how important it is to not get too attached to one idea when working in a fast-paced environment.
Megan described how some days are purely creative prototyping while others are documentation-heavy. Helping me realise that “productive time” can look very different depending on what stage of a project you’re in. Jamie talked about avoiding crunch by communicating early when something isn’t realistic, time management can also be communication management.
Even Rhys touched on time indirectly when talking about how juniors aren’t expected to know everything and shouldn’t waste hours silently stuck on a problem. Asking for help saves time for the entire team, especially for graduates and juniors who aren’t expected to know everything.
Applying these ideas to my own coursework, especially for our FMPs, made me more conscious of planning ahead, communicating better with my team and leaving room for any problems that might show up. Even writing this essay required similar planning – dividing the work into sections and working at it gradually as opposed to rushing it all at once.
Using Digital Tools to Support Professional and Academic Work
The final learning outcome for the module deals with digital literacy – something that felt quite natural given how much of game development happens through digital tools anyway. But the guest speakers showed how wide that skillset actually is.
Jade talked about JIRA, communication platforms, remote work setups and how staying organised digitally is essential for production. Olivia mentioned online learning sites, digital portfolios, newsletters and job alert systems. Together, their advice showed that digital literacy isn’t optional; it’s baked into every role in modern game development. Whereas, Rhys listed a plethora of tools that apply more specifically to game development: Unreal, Unity, Perforce, Maya, Houdini, Substance, Photoshop – and explained how a technical artist jumps between them constantly.
For my own work on this essay, digital tools were essential. I organised my notes using OneNote, used LLM AI to assist me with research and reflected on multiple sources from online platforms the speakers recommended. I also used digital tools to create my own portfolio website and thought about improvements based on what all of the speakers shared.
In a broader sense, digital literacy also includes navigating LinkedIn professionally, maintaining an online presence and engaging with the communities that surround game development. All the speakers emphasised the value of networking – not in a negative, transactional way, but in a genuine, curious, human way. Many opportunities come from online interactions, referrals, or discords etc. Understanding how to navigate these online environments is becoming a larger part of being a game developer.
Acting on these talks
Before this module began, I created a website portfolio. That way, I could show each guest what they thought and gain insight from each person. Having industry professionals critique a portfolio that future recruiters will see will help me when I begin applying for graduate jobs.
The first piece of advice I received was from Jamie, our first guest talker, who suggested I showcase tools and software I use that are seen as a skill that recruiters will be interested in. Before this piece of advice, this section below didn’t contain Trello and GitHub, important software that is often deeply integrated into game studios.
The second piece of advice I received was from Bea, which was about overall web design, instead of portfolio advice. Which I think is equally just as important if I want recruiters to take my portfolio seriously.
She said that a portfolio should be easy to navigate and that I should reduce the amount of clicks it takes to get to where a viewer may want to be. Therefore, I added a navigation bar to the top of my website that allow the viewer to automatically scroll to certain sections of my website. I also added links to itch pages of specific projects, so that a viewer wouldn’t need to go to my itch page and look around if they wanted to see a specific project.
The piece of advice I received that most drastically changed how my portfolio website looked was from Olivia Gregory who mentioned “level designing” my portfolio. She suggested I added a clear ‘Project’ section that recruiters could use to get an idea of what I’ve done, then could choose to look at any one project in more detail if they wanted to.
Before this, I had the more detailed sections about each projects at the top. This was a lot more cluttered and put viewers off of looking at my portfolio.
The last piece of advice I received on my portfolio website was from Rhys Shepherd, who told me that I should showcase my thought/design process to recruiters.
So, for my larger projects, I created separate pages for them entirely that do into more depth about my process and how I designed them.
This is an example of me going into further detail for my second year project, Lament.
[Link to my Portfolio Website]
Conclusion
Reflecting over all the talks we heard this semester, It’s become much more apparent to me how valuable it was to learn from people who are actually living the realities of the games industry. Each speaker had a different background, a different set of skills and a different narrative about how they arrived where they are now. But together, they highlighted an honest and encouraging image of what working in games really looks like.
This module helped me move from seeing the industry as an abstract goal to something real, obtainable and genuinely exciting. I’m still figuring out exactly where my strengths will take me, but I feel far more prepared – and far more motivated – to continue building towards a career in game development.
End of essay
Leave a Reply