PROFESSIONAL CONTEXTS
OVERVIEW
Professional contexts is a module designed to help develop an understanding of the creative industry, especially in 2025’s economic climate of shrinking job opportunities in the creative sector, and rapidly advancing technology starting to outpace human production. It also highlighted the culture specific to working in games, and the social environments, expectations, and opportunities that provide the foundation in breaking into professional games design.
This essay is an analysis of the various advice given by the alumni and how it reflects the state of the industry at present, as well as a critical examination of my own work and what I can do to improve my portfolio/CV, boost my social network in the game development sphere, and overall become more employable.
NETWORKING
The biggest, most emphasised, most important piece of advice was impressed on us, individually, by every alumni that came in: networking.
The value of networking, in this industry, is insurmountable. The UK games scene is small, and has a close community. Olivia Gregory in particular mentioned that not many job listings were posted on boards such as Linkedin and Indeed, and instead were offered to those already in game development spheres – it’s important to curate an internal connection by going to events such as EGX, Develop Brighton, and PG Connect. Jamie Blacknell advocated the importance of game jams, joining discord servers, and being an active member of the game development community to foster positive social interaction.
Megan Matthews’ advice was most valuable, as it addressed the more awkward, professional angle of networking; namely, that it shouldn’t feel transactional. Those who are too blunt about only appearing at events for a job not only make bad impressions, but also are fundamentally going about it the wrong way – these are spaces for game developers to connect over a shared passion and learn together, not just for a job. It can be casual, fun, serious, professional or friendly, and shouldn’t feel like a chore. In fact, it can build confidence, thwart imposter syndrome, and allows the game industry to feel friendly and fun – particularly when you start getting to know people and making friends.
Additionally, building a network need not only be with superiors. While Jamie Blacknell advised us to connect with large industry figures and ask questions, building a path up the ladder, Megan Matthews additionally stressed that curating connections with other peers and students creates a support group that can learn from each other and benefit in the long run, as they’re more likely to recommend, remember, and share opportunities later.
The biggest skills required in networking are social ones. Asking questions is very important – it shows not only that you’re listening, but engaged, curious, and passionate, which will positively enforce your social image. It’s also perfectly fine to open conversations to people you know only from social media and online spaces, or even to complete strangers. Because of the UK game industry’s small scale, it’s easy for a poor interaction to have long term consequences; however, this also means that a good impression can travel just as far, so being friendly, polite, and open-minded are vital.
Even so, once having “broken in”, developing a network is not a one-time event; it is something that requires constant social re-enforcement. The games industry is a volatile place, with many layoffs occurring in increasing volume from AAA studios in particular, so maintaining connections with people is necessary. And on the other hand, making a network is something that can take years to lead to an opportunity, but that shouldn’t discourage from staying in these spaces.
PORTFOLIO
A portfolio must be coherent, concise, and display skills in a neat and tidy manner – a website that is not easy to navigate, or in which a hiring manager doesn’t know what role the applicant is applying for, will likely be discarded.
Megan Matthews, again, had the best advice for me: to design your portfolio akin to designing a level in a videogame. This means knowing how to guide the “player” to specific sections, while keeping it unique and interesting. She advised to have an overall “project” page in which to demonstrate your wide-ranging knowledge, and subsectioned under each project, include your role in its creation, diagrams, and pipelines of work, each with a few digestible bullet points explaining each. Keeping everything short but punchy is the goal.
She also highlighted a few important points to avoid. Sexual content and extremely graphic imagery are to be avoided, even if they were appropriate for the specific game being made, and portfolios should not have long paragraphs describing each asset in detail. Additionally, if work taken from other people should not disparage the person you took it over from. Criticising others’ work is considered bad form.
Another huge point of advice was from Olivia Gregory, in which she stated to cut as much as possible out from a portfolio, and only keep your absolute best work. This is to ensure impressive work isn’t “watered down” by more mediocre pieces. Jamie Blacknell also stressed this point, claiming quality will always be picked over quantity – and that employers, moreover, wanted to see people enjoying their work as well as demonstrating skill.
Similarly, a CV needs to follow the same format. Bea Grove went over the importance of having all the most relevant information displayed clearly, easily accessible in a one-page document, because hiring managers will see hundreds of CV’s in a day – easy access to the most pertinent information is vital. They should also link back to a portfolio, and skills in any relevant industry-standard software ought to be listed.
However, a portfolio website and CV are not the only criteria needed. Many of the alumni heavily recommended owning and participating in a collection of social medias and online sites, such as LinkedIn, Bluesky, and ArtStation, each one with its own strengths, weaknesses, and web culture. This also links back to the importance of networking; the more work you can display on platforms, the more people will see it, creating community. Curating an online network also opens a lot of doors, especially since not everyone is able to attend in-person social gatherings.
LinkedIn is the foremost site for publishing work and connecting with others, and has been highly recommended to use by all the alumni, even if it shouldn’t be our main form of networking. More artistically-focused alumni such as Olivia Gregory and Rhys Shepard recommended hosting work on ArtStation, Bluesky, and Instagram, because these are picture and video-oriented sites. In the case of Bluesky and Instagram, it is slightly easier to foster a community and gain a following – however ArtStation, which is more focused on technical art as opposed to Bluesky and Instagram’s more social-media oriented nature, can almost be supplemented for a digital web portfolio. For programmers, publishing work on GitHub alongside a blog post describing your process is more constructive.
Another important note that Rhys Shepard called attention to was to refrain from “complaining” on social media. It’s easy to vent, or even just repost someone else’s vent, about the difficult state of the job market, or a layoff, or someone’s behaviour within a company – however this creates a more sour environment, and associates your image with negativity. “Moaning” is generally looked down on, and considered unprofessional.
INTERVIEWS
The process of employment in this industry has many avenues, but each alumni went over their personal recruitment process to illustrate an idea of the tests and practices required of potential new hires. This ranges from discipline to discipline, and as an aspiring 3D artist, I took advice mainly from Olivia Gregory, Rhys Shepard, and Megan Matthews, who worked adjacent to this role.
Recruiters begin by viewing a CV and portfolio, which as illustrated before should be concise and display all the necessary skills required for the role. Next will be a first interview, of which there are typically multiple. Jamie Blacknell highlighted the importance of making a good first impression by dressing appropriately, being on time, and in particular, coming in with examples of work, either digitally offline or physically – even if it’s not always necessary, it shows preparedness, and the recruiter might not have the portfolio on file, especially if there are many applicants.
Then there will usually be multiple interviews for even a junior role (due to the competitive job market), so it’s important to understand the company, its values and culture, and where you would fit in, and demonstrate this knowledge in each interview. Bea Grove in particular advised researching the company beforehand. She also expressed the importance of sounding passionate and enthusiastic to the interviewer, as this will display a level of commitment to the quality of the work. Being specific implies a deep knowledge of the field; companies want to know they’re hiring people dedicated to their craft.
The types of questions that will be asked shall typically be on deconstructing a particular design aspect – how it can be improved, what you would do differently, what you think its most important aspect is and how to focus on that. Interviewers want to know that you understand the role and its requirements thoroughly, can quickly identify the strengths and weaknesses of design choices, and how to build on the strengths while diminishing the weaknesses, so they can asses your critical thinking skills.
There may also be a “technical task” to complete, usually within the timeframe of a week. Jamie Blacknell was given two – the first given two assets and told to make it multiplayer, and the second to get a Unity project running on a TV. This is done to prove competency and efficiency in a field where tight turnarounds are to be expected, and to see if the game or company as a whole’s specific style can be matched. This is one of the final stages in the recruitment process.
Additionally, it is not strictly a waste of time if, at the end of all this, the job isn’t secured. A good network and impression on the interviewer will reach out to give you more opportunities and apply to different places, of which they might feel are a better fit. That’s why it’s important to stay professional and friendly!
THE GAMES INDUSTRY IN 2025:
The guest speakers usually started with a timeline of work history so we had an accurate perception of their growth, the studios they’ve worked for, and the types of games they’ve had experience with. Each one was as unpredictable as the last, with three of the six speakers having been laid off at one time or another (even Jade, who was let go from a senior role), while Megan Matthews had to step away from games for a little while after she hit burnout, and Olivia Gregory works another job alongside her freelance concept art role. Each experience reflects the brutal nature of the industry at present; going into games now is volatile, unpredictable, and unstable.
My research into the job market of games design backs up their lived experiences. According to Games Job Live, job postings in the games sector of the UK hit a record low in 2023, and haven’t really bounced back since (Williams, B. 2022). During the pandemic gaming boomed as people were in want for a way to interact without going outside — now, five years later, the bubble has deflated and studios are now looking to downsize and cut prices as they struggle to keep costs, since overall growth is slowing. The fallout of this rests on the shoulders of designers and developers, who are now being laid off to compensate. Even senior staff members have been facing unemployment, and have had to re-enter the job market. Because of all this competition, junior game roles are hard to come by, and even harder to secure. However, this has also led to senior professionals who were laid off going on to start their own companies, and indie studios are usually known for being artistically richer, because they’ll take risks that AAA studios aren’t willing to.
Statistics from Equity show the UK is the fourth largest exporter of videogames in the world, with an increase of games service providers and game-related academic institutions of 31% since 2016. In 2022, there were 47,000 employed in the gaming industry (Equity, 2022). Additionally, TIGA has also found evidence of strong employment growth. But this also comes with a significant shortage of skilled developers. The game company mortality rate rose to a record high, with 248 game companies closing, 166 startups failing, and overseas-owned studios encompassing 62% of the games development workforce (TIGA 2024).
However, be that the industry is struggling, there does seem to be small improvements. Employment grew by an average of 9.5% every year from December 2014 to May 2024, and job growths have outweighed company closures, adding nearly 4,000 game development jobs to the pool.
Overall the job market is still unsteady – but this isn’t something that is particularly new to the videogames industry. Creative jobs are hard to come by in general, and UK-specific game jobs are a niche that requires an even nicher skillset. But there is also more support than ever with institutions such as TIGA and IntoGames.
MY PLAN OF ACTION:
My end goal is to become a 3D game artist, preferably with a lean towards environment, level, and puzzle design, which requires a strong portfolio of textured 3D models, a reel of puzzles with annotations, and soft skills in cross-disciplinary communication and organisation, as well as the ability to use software such as Maya, Blender, ZBrush, and Adobe Substance 3D Painter. Later down the line, I’ll also likely have to have several interviews, and perhaps even a technical task – depending on the specific company and role.
Before I take my first steps into improving my employability for the game design industry, I have to first identify the various missteps I’ve made.
Previous to this module, I had a wordpress portfolio for applying to internships and potential graduate jobs later down the line. In hindsight, this needs a lot of improvement. One quick chat with Olivia Gregory had me realise that I had oriented my work into role segments instead of by project (“2D art”, “3D art”, “Games”, and “Writing”), a flawed design for two principle reasons: the first that hiring managers won’t know which role I’m applying for, and that multiple project’s assets will be displayed side-by-side, creating an overall confusing experience. Additionally, like Jamie Blacknell advised against, there was too much information on the portfolio. I needed to pick out one or two quality pieces of work, instead of cramming it all in.
Olivia Gregory advised me not to section my portfolio by skills but by project, because this allows them to understand what roles I’ve taken on as well as what I can do as an artist. This should also make a more visually clear experience too. Additionally, I will cut down the amount of content to two or three big projects, along with creating a proper CV that matches, which I haven’t yet accomplished to my satisfaction. Since the main structure of my website can remain the same, I intend to get this done for the new year – hopefully by 2026 I can get my website up to scratch!
However, my main point of failure has been my social media presence. I have a LinkedIn profile and an Instagram dedicated to my pursuit of game design, and have hardly posted to either. My fear of posting sub-standard work, and inability to format pictures and create captions as quickly and perfectly as I desire, leads to my not distributing work as much as I could be. I managed to curate a perfectionist, “all or nothing” mentality about it – if it wasn’t flawless, then it would be an indictment of my professional character, and it’s better not to post at all. As a result, my online social presence is half-hearted and lacking.
This was an unhelpful attitude, and I see now that it’s not going to help foster a career nor a network. I also spread myself too thin, attempting to upkeep a LinkedIn, an Instagram, and an ArtStation all at once. Going forwards, in 2026, starting with the new semester, my goal will be to make one LinkedIn post a week documenting my study pursuits, even if I don’t feel like my work is perfectly satisfactory. I’m also going to sum up my first semester into a series of short posts over the winter break, and reach out more to other professionals. By focusing all my effort on LinkedIn and setting myself a reasonable goal, this should be accomplishable, and help get me on the “map” of game design.
CONCLUSIONS:
Overall, this module has been absolutely crucial for me in growing my understanding, not only of the games industry, but my own strengths and weaknesses in it. The industry is constantly in flux, now more than ever, so it’s important I understand the best way to break in and maintain my role in it, and through the insight of these various industry professionals, I feel I have a better grasp on how to do that. Now the task is more broken down, I can see a path for myself through it.
SOURCES:
Equity (2022). About the videogames industry. [online] Equity. Available at: https://www.equity.org.uk/advice-and-support/sector-specific-advice/video-games/working-as-a-video-game-performer/about-the-games-industry.
Williams, B. (2022). UK GAMES JOBS SUMMARY DECEMBER 2022. [online] Games Jobs Live, GAMES JOBS LIVE, p.2. Available at: https://gamesjobs.live/?page_id=1558 [Accessed 5 Dec. 2025].
TIGA (2024). WEATHERING THE STORM: TIGA research reveals UK games dev sector continues to grow, despite global sector downturn – TIGA. [online] TIGA. Available at: https://tiga.org/news/weathering-the-storm-tiga-research-reveals-uk-games-dev-sector-continues-to-grow-despite-global-sector-downturn.
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