Aiming for the Game Industry

[Mad Doc]

Hello there sff!

I'm an American Culture and Literature student, living in Turkey. I've been into sci-fi for a few years now, also been writing some stories and designing my own universe. Though due to being extremely obsessive, I'm a little perfectionist, I simply couldn't share any of my work with anyone and I won't until I finish my studies on basics of quantum and evolutionary biology. I hate "a wizard did it" kind of explanations or fancy space magic, so I'm trying stay away from pseudoscience, also trying to keep it interesting at the same time; it's a challenging experience and I love it.

Anyway; I plan to stay in the university and start teaching after I graduate, at least until I can transfer to a university in UK, US or Canada, considering there is next to zero demand for science fiction in where I live. When I manage to do it, I want to try my chances to be a writer in the gaming world, I think I will keep trying until I succeed.

The problem is, I'm foreign to the hiring policies or job opportunities in the western world. I feel like, before planning that much ahead, I have to at least get some information. If anyone here is into this kind of work; any idea about what are the main steps a writer or a potential writer for the game industry usually take to make himself more qualified? Are there certain hiring seasons where you present your skills in the form of example short stories etc; or you just try hard to get yourself published, get some attention to your work, then apply for open positions? Anything I should know and start working to achieve as early as possible?

If you have any information, ideas, anything, feel free to share!
Thanks!

[CMTheAuthor]

A good step would be to work on amateur game design or module design, using a editor to build your own scenarios or stories. Many major developers look at the amateur community for new talent.

Try looking into which games have good modding tools, and try to get a copy yourself. Or alternately, there are special game design software packages; get one of those, and play around.

[hippokrene]

You might want to tell us what game industry you're looking for.

Do you want to work on video games? If so, what genre?
Do you want to create settings and modules for PnP games?
Do you want to write tie-in fiction for games?

[Mad Doc]

You might want to tell us what game industry you're looking for.

Do you want to work on video games? If so, what genre?
Do you want to create settings and modules for PnP games?
Do you want to write tie-in fiction for games?

I want to work on role playing games, my favourite genre.

[zachariah]

Creative 'writing' posts within the gaming industry are, in my (limited) experience, VERY seldom advertised openly. I recall seeing one for, I think, Blizzard, and one of the requirements was that you already have a published novel or equivalent in the SF/F field. I have an old friend who is now a game producer (I think for Eidos) and he started off because he was teaching english in Japan and answered a job ad for Sega on a whim (that was for a role called a 'localiser', and the qualification for that was his language skills). Look at the career path of Erik Wolpaw, Valve's head writer - he was picked out after writing two games (and running a cult reviewing site).

There are multiple routes into the gaming industry. Don't limit yourself to just being a 'writer'. Plenty of people start out in one role and then move. Check out company websites often - Blizzard is always hiring - but above all, keep writing!