Are there really many job opportunities for a games programmer??

Question

How competitive is the industry?

Answer 1

The gaming industry is one of the fastest growing in IT. New companies have a chance because people buy microsoft word 2007 because it is compatible with Word 2003 etc. But they buy Halo 3 because it is exciting not because it is compatible with Halo 2. So new start ups appear all the time, with new and exciting ideas, innovation and what have you.

As the current hard core games mature they spend more and more money while new younger games come along to take their place. In addition Wii has brought in all types of people into the fold (they use it in nursing homes to give the old biddies exercise).

Not only that hand held devices are going start getting really powerful and there is a whole new market openning up in mobile phone games.

So basically, yeah there is a lot of opportunity in this industry, with opportunities in major companies and small start ups (giving you low salary but share options). If you think about Halo 3, you have professional managers, programmers, masters degree holders working along high school drop outs.

You have a range of programming options, from AI to optimizing code to creative options like game design and graphics.

Soooooo..................go for it. But get a general computing education that would give you opportunities in many fields. But you have to program and design games in your own time (designing games for mobile phones might be an idea for a personal project, which could pay off in future jobs as well as sales).