Pathways into the Game Industry
Source: Unsplash
For some emerging game developers, ‘getting into the game industry’ is imagined as a single destination: securing a role at a well-known studio and working on a commercial title. In practice, the Australian games industry offers multiple entry points, pathways, and definitions of success. These approaches differ significantly in scale, stability, creative control, income, availability, and risk, and it can be beneficial to understand these differences as early as possible in an emerging career.
Australia’s games sector is growing, but overall it is still relatively small. We are geographically dispersed and shaped by a high proportion of independent studios, short-term contracts, and project-based work, which exists alongside a handful of larger, internationally-owned studios. As a result, Australian game developers will typically move between roles, studios, and forms of work over time, or combine game development with teaching, research, or adjacent creative industries.
Pathways into the game industry are not mutually exclusive, nor are they linear. When developers describe how they entered the industry, their pathways are almost always idiosyncratic, involving detours through varied roles, other creative industries, or entirely different forms of work. These journeys are shaped by the specific historical, geographic, and economic circumstances the individual experienced, and often cannot be easily reproduced. There is no single ‘correct’ career path in games, so the priority becomes making the range of viable options more visible, as well as the work involved in pursuing them and the trade-offs they entail.
AAA or large studios
What this pathway looks like:
Working at a large or ‘AAA’ studio typically involves contributing to commercially funded games with sizeable teams, specialised roles, and structured production pipelines. In the Australian context, this means employment at either a local branch of an international studio or at a small number of larger domestic studios. Local branches of larger studios tend to focus on specific parts of development, such as live service, peripheral work (e.g. marketing for the Asia Pacific region), or specific disciplines, rather than end-to-end ownership of a title. While some large international studios do offer remote work arrangements, these opportunities are uncommon for entry-level roles and are more typically available to developers with established industry experience.
In large studios, roles are often narrow and specialised. Emerging developers may enter as junior programmers, artists, designers, quality assurance testers, or production coordinators, with clearly delineated responsibilities. Work is usually salaried and relatively stable compared to other parts of the sector, but creative decision-making is distributed across teams and hierarchies. Work is usually salaried and relatively stable compared to other parts of the sector, but creative decision-making is distributed across teams and hierarchies. In some cases, employment at larger studios may also involve contractual restrictions, such as non-compete or intellectual property clauses, which can limit or prohibit work on personal or independent projects outside of paid employment.
This is a very visible pathway, with lots of game developers imagining they might be able to work on a specific blockbuster game they love. Working for a large studio can set emerging developers up for success by offering exposure to professional pipelines, large-scale collaboration, and long-term career progression within a defined discipline. For these reasons, competition for entry-level roles is high. Australian studios recruit from a global talent pool, and graduates are often competing with applicants who have prior industry experience, shipped titles, or strong specialist portfolios. Emerging developers who have their heart set on working in AAA may need to start their career elsewhere to get some experience on their resume or be prepared to move internationally to make that dream come true.
Steps to get there:
Develop a discipline-specific portfolio
Focus on one primary role rather than presenting yourself as a generalist.
Tailor portfolio pieces to industry-standard tools, workflows, and expectations.
Demonstrate production readiness
Show evidence of key skills like working within teams, using version control, tracking tasks, and iterative development.
Completed student projects are useful, but only if they clearly communicate your individual contribution.
Target entry points strategically
Contract roles, internships, and graduate programs are common points of entry.
Be prepared for roles that are adjacent to your long-term goal, rather than a perfect match.
Find ways to stand out from the crowd when applying; think about who your competition will be, and highlight skills and experience that make you distinctive.
Engage with industry locally
Attend conferences, meetups, and showcases to create a network early.
Build professional relationships and a good reputation rather than relying solely on online applications.
Understand the trade-offs
Be realistic about having limited creative control early in your career.
Recognise that studio closures and restructures are part of the global AAA landscape, including in Australia.
Indie or smaller studios
What this pathway looks like:
Working at an independent studio in Australia often involves smaller teams, limited budgets, and a higher degree of role overlap. These studios may be self-funded, supported through government funding bodies or publishing deals, or sustained by engaging contract work alongside original projects. Indie teams are likely to handle an entire project lifecycle in-house, from concept through to release and post-launch support.
Gamemakers entering this space are often expected to be flexible and self-directed. Roles may be less rigidly defined and it is common for team members to contribute across multiple areas. Employment arrangements may include short-term contracts, part-time work, revenue share, or a combination of paid and unpaid labour, particularly in early-stage studios. It’s important to pay close attention to the terms of these arrangements, including expectations around workload, compensation, and intellectual property, to ensure comprehensive understanding of all potential risks and trade-offs involved.
This pathway can offer greater creative influence and a clearer sense of authorship than large studios, but it also comes with increased financial uncertainty. Sustainability varies widely between studios, and career progression is often less predictable or formally structured.
Steps to get there:
Build a visible body of small, finished games
Prioritise completed projects over ambitious but unfinished work.
Public releases, even at a small scale, signal reliability and follow-through.
Develop generalist skills alongside a core strength
Maintain a primary discipline, but demonstrate competency across multiple related areas.
Small studios value people who can adapt as project needs change.
Participate in local indie ecosystems
Engage with game jams, coworking spaces, and community events.
Many indie roles emerge through informal networks rather than advertised positions.
Understand funding and sustainability models
Familiarise yourself with Australian funding pathways, such as grants and state-based support.
Recognise the implications of revenue share and contract work before making commitments.
Plan for precarity
Expect periods of instability and be proactive about financial planning.
Consider supplementary income streams without framing them as a personal failure.
Contract and freelance work
What this pathway looks like:
Contract and freelance work in the Australian games industry involves providing specialised labour to studios on a short-term or project-by-project basis. This might include programming, art, animation, audio, quality assurance, production support, marketing, porting, or live-ops assistance. Gamemakers working this way may be engaged by local studios, international teams, or companies operating in adjacent creative sectors.
This pathway offers flexibility and variety, but places responsibility for income stability, tax, superannuation, and career development on the individual. Work is often intermittent, and gamemakers may need to manage multiple clients simultaneously. Freelance work requires also requires ongoing self-promotion, negotiation, and relationship maintenance, so is best suited to individuals with a high degree of motivation and self-management capabilities.
For some emerging developers, contract work functions as a transitional phase into studio employment or studio ownership. For others, it becomes a long-term career model, particularly for those with in-demand specialist skills.
Steps to get there:
Define a clear, marketable service
Identify the specific tasks you can deliver reliably and independently.
Avoid positioning yourself as ‘available for anything’.
Produce professional evidence of work
Create portfolio pieces that clearly demonstrate deliverables, timelines, and outcomes.
Where possible, include post-release examples and testimonials from clients.
Learn the business fundamentals
Understand Australian tax obligations, invoicing, superannuation, and contracts.
Factor unpaid labour, downtime, and administrative work into your rates.
Build repeat relationships
Identify clients who may have repeat business for the specialty skills you’re offering.
Prioritise reliability, communication, and follow-through.
Ongoing clients are more sustainable than constantly sourcing new work.
Manage risk explicitly
Use written agreements, even for small jobs.
Be cautious of speculative or unpaid work that is framed as ‘exposure’.
Founding or co-founding a studio
What this pathway looks like:
Founding or co-founding a game studio involves creating a legal entity to develop and release games, often with a small team and limited initial capital. In Australia, new studios are frequently formed by recent graduates or early-career developers who have already collaborated through university projects, game jams, or prior contract work. These studios may pursue original intellectual property, client work, or a hybrid model that combines both.
This pathway offers the greatest degree of creative and strategic control, but also carries the highest level of risk. Founders are responsible not only for development, but also for business operations, funding applications, publishing relationships, marketing, and long-term studio sustainability. Income is often irregular, particularly in the early years, and many studios do not survive beyond their first few projects.
Founding a successful studio should not be seen as a linear extension of university work. Creating a successful studio requires time spent developing skills beyond technical expertise, networking with gamemakers, and learning about industry realities.
Steps to get there:
Build working relationships before formalising
Co-founders should have prior experience working together under pressure.
Align on values, workload, and financial expectations early.
Don’t make a studio with your friends without thinking about how you will divide responsibilities, solve disagreements, and maintain work/life balance.
Avoid being idealistic; there will always be problems and challenges, so plan for the worst case scenario.
Start small and reduce scope
Focus on achievable projects that can be completed and released.
Avoid scaling teams or budgets before establishing revenue or funding.
Prioritise quickly building evidence that you can ship projects together; this can help you secure future funding and publishing opportunities.
Understand the business environment
Learn about company structures, intellectual property, and funding requirements in Australia.
Treat grant applications and pitches as professional work, not secondary tasks; factor it into your roadmaps and task lists.
Plan for sustainability, not just release
Consider post-launch support, marketing, and long-term income streams.
Assume that your first project is unlikely to fully fund future development.
Accept the personal cost
Be realistic about long hours, delayed income, and opportunity costs.
Treat burnout and financial stress as structural risks, not personal shortcomings.
Research and academia
What this pathway looks like:
A pathway into research and academia involves studying, teaching, or conducting scholarly research related to games. In Australia, this typically requires further study beyond an undergraduate degree, such as an honours year followed by a higher degree by research. Academic roles combine research, teaching, and service work, and are shaped by institutional priorities, funding availability, and publication expectations.
This pathway offers emerging developers the opportunity to explore games in depth, contribute to knowledge production, and support the next generation of developers. It can also intersect with industry through practice-based research, funded projects, and collaboration with studios or cultural institutions. For this reason, tertiary educators and researchers are often actively encouraged to continue their creative practice, as developing and releasing games can help maintain industry relevance and strengthen both research and teaching. However, academic employment is highly competitive, often precarious, and increasingly reliant on short-term contracts—particularly in the early stages of a career.
This pathway suits emerging developers who are motivated by curiosity, critical reflection, and long-term projects, and who are comfortable working within a structured and sometimes slow-moving tertiary education environment.
Steps to get there:
Test your interest before committing
Undertake an honours year or research-focused project to assess whether this career pathway suits you.
Seek supervision from academics working in games research.
Develop research and writing skills
Build experience in academic writing, presentation, and peer feedback.
Learn to explain how your creative practice is research that furthers the game studies field.
Engage with scholarly communities
Attend conferences, seminars, and reading groups related to games studies.
Publish and present where possible, even at small or emerging venues.
Understand academic precarity
Be realistic about casual and fixed-term contracts early in your career.
Plan financially and geographically for limited permanent roles.
Maintain industry relevance
Continue making games or engaging with industry practice, as this strengthens your research quality, teaching capability, and professional network.
Adjacent or alternative pathways
What this pathway looks like:
Not all careers involving games take place within game studios. Many emerging developers work in adjacent or alternative roles that draw on highly transferable skills like game design, development, or production. In Australia, this includes work in serious games, simulation, education, cultural institutions, virtual production, interactive exhibitions, and software development more broadly.
These roles often offer greater employment stability than game studios, and may exist within universities, government agencies, start-ups, or established companies. Because this work typically sits outside the commercial games market, it rarely places developers in direct competition with game studios. As a result, these roles are less likely to impose restrictions on independent creative practice, allowing developers to continue making, releasing, and experimenting with games in their own time alongside paid employment.
While these alternative pathways may not always align with an emerging developer’s initial expectations of ‘the game industry’, the work frequently involves similar tools, workflows, and creative problem-solving practices. For some, this pathway becomes a long-term career; for others, it functions as a way for juniors to sustain themselves while continuing independent game work alongside paid employment, acquiring work experience and establishing a portfolio that can greatly improve future employability in game studios.
Steps to get there:
Translate skills explicitly
Learn to describe game development skills in language legible to non-game employers by emphasising aspects like systems thinking, iteration, user experience, and technical problem solving.
Target relevant sectors
Look for roles in education technology, simulation, interactive media, creative technology, and software development.
Avoid assuming that only job titles that include the word ‘game’ are relevant to your skillset.
Adapt portfolios and applications
Reframe projects in your portfolio around outcomes and users rather than genre or platform.
Include documentation to support how and why decisions were made to demonstrate your transferable skills like problem solving and critical thinking.
Maintain a connection to games
Continue making games independently, if that remains important to you.
Attend games industry events and meet-ups, and maintain a professional network; this will make it easier to transition into a more games-specific role later, if that’s your goal.
Reassess success regularly
Allow your definition of a ‘games career’ to evolve over time.
Recognise that stability and sustainability are legitimate career goals.
Conclusion
For emerging developers, entering the games industry in Australia is less about choosing a single, ‘correct’ pathway and more about navigating a set of overlapping and evolving options. Large studios, small teams, contract work, starting a studio, embarking on research, or pursuing adjacent industries all offer legitimate ways of building a career that involves making, studying, or supporting games.
These pathways are not fixed stages in a hierarchy, nor do they unfold in a predictable order. Gamemakers commonly move between them in response to opportunity, financial pressure, creative goals, or life circumstances. Rather than asking whether a particular pathway is the ‘right’ one, you are often better served by asking what kinds of work, risk, stability, and responsibility you are willing to take on.
In a sector shaped by small teams, project-based labour, and rapid change, adaptability and self-awareness are as important as technical skill. Developing this flexibility early can help people make more deliberate, informed decisions when pursuing sustainable, meaningful gamemaking work within the realities of the Australian industry.
References
Screen Australia. (2023). Digital games industry snapshot. Screen Australia.
Interactive Games and Entertainment Association. (various years). Australian video game industry reports. IGEA.
Whitson, J. R. (2020). What can we learn from studio studies ethnographies? A “messy” account of game development labour. Games and Culture, 15(3), 266–288.
