How to become a game developer

Choosing education

To work as a game developer, you need the appropriate skills. For most, that includes getting a formal education. However, many game development skills can also be picked up or improved by learning by yourself.

The vast majority of the people in the games industry have a formal education, and have spent countless additional hours developing their skills in their spare time. Basically, you don’t need a formal education to work in games, but it certainly helps.

There is no formal bar you need to pass to become a game developer, so it’s impossible to say how long it takes before anyone can start working in the industry. For most however, it involves completing at least one university level education.

High school

If you’re still in middle school and have yet to choose a path for high school (gymnasium in Sweden), here are a few things to consider if you aim to become a game developer:

General tips

A technology education (teknikprogrammet in Swedish) focusing specifically on game development generally provides a great foundation for future studies
Most natural science programmes (naturvetenskapliga programmet in Swedish) teach subjects that are valuable for an aspiring developer, such as programming and game design
If you’re mainly interested in pursuing a career in for instance graphics, animation or music, an arts programme (estetiska programmet in Swedish) is probably the right choice for you

Schools to choose from

In South Sweden, there are two game specific high school educations (gymnasieutbildningar) an aspiring game developer could choose from:

LBS kreativa gymnasiet

Törnströmska gymnasiet

For individuals aged 9-18, Malmö Kulturskola also provide three different courses in game development, find more information here.

Here’s a link to all high schools in Sweden.

Many good choices

If you are unsure of which education to apply for, talk to the student counselor at your school, or the schools that you’re thinking about applying to, or a career counselor (studie- och yrkesvägledare in Swedish) who can help you find the right education. You can also seek the advice of people already working in the games industry.

If you're unsure in your choice, you should also find comfort in the fact that there are many ways in which one can become a game developer. Getting accepted to a game specific education can get you a long way, but it’s not the only way. Plenty of people working in games have a background studying and working in completely different fields, so don’t get discouraged if you choose the “wrong” education or couldn’t get accepted to your preferred choice. Besides, working with the necessary tools for game development and practicing your skills on your own in your spare time is always a must and it doesn’t require a specific education.

University

If you’re still in high school and have yet to choose a path for university, here are a few things to consider if you aim to become a game developer.

First and foremost, there are different types of post-secondary education in Sweden: university, higher vocational education (yrkeshögskola in Swedish), and folk high school (folkhögskola in Swedish). There are differences between these, the main one being that universities provide a broad foundation which prepare a graduate for many types of jobs, whereas the other types of education suit those who know exactly what profession they want to pursue. Here’s an overview of the two most common types of educations among game developers:

Higher vocational education

Length:
1,5-2,5 years
Internship as part of the education:
At least a third, in general one semester is spent at a company
Student finance (at Swedish schools):
Yes
Amount of theory taught:
Low to middle
Research preparation:
No
Requirements to apply:
Focus on work samples

University

Length:
3 years for bachelor, 5 years for master
Internship as part of the education:
Usually not
Student finance (at Swedish schools):
Yes
Amount of theory taught:
High
Research preparation:
Yes
Requirements to apply:
Focus on grades

Here's a link for more information on the difference between higher vocational education and university (in Swedish). And here are links to find all higher vocational educations in Sweden (in Swedish), and all university educations in Sweden (in Swedish).

General tips

Some more general things to consider:

Many individuals in the industry have a game specific post-secondary education of some kind. Both higher vocational education and university education are very common in the game development industry. One of the major differences between the two is that game specific higher vocational education almost always leads to a job in the game development industry, whereas a university degree, even though it is game specific, does so to a lesser extent. One important reason for this, is because a higher vocational education is tailored to the industry’s needs, a university education is not. However, many roles in the games industry require education that is almost exclusively offered by universities - educations that often are sought after also in other industries.
Higher vocational education focuses on practical skills, and as part of the education you’re often provided with opportunities to work on your own projects as you would at a professional game studio.
Folk high schools work similarly to higher vocational education, and there are plenty of schools teaching various game specific or game related subjects. Folk high schools can be great educations in themselves, but they can also be a great way to build a portfolio which can be used when applying for a higher vocational education. Here’s a link to find all folk high schools in Sweden (in Swedish).
The skills required for working in game development are universal, meaning you can study game development anywhere in the world, and basically work in the games development industry in any country in the world.