Games developers need people skills, industry says

LONDON – The games industry needs to train people who can work in teams, collaborate with marketing staff and generally have people skills, speakers on the keynote panel at the Game Developers Conference, Europe, said Wednesday.

The days of the bedroom programmer are over, Jez San, founder of Argonaut Games PLC in Edgware, England, said. Smaller development companies working in their basements aren’t likely to survive and the industry is likely to consolidate from today’s 400 to 500 companies to around 50 over the next two years, he said. That means staff have to be able to work in that environment.

The panel disagreed, however, on what skills they look for in hiring someone. “I want deep skills, an awareness and love of the industry and very specific skills in the latest technologies instead of broad knowledge,” said David Lau Kee, president and chief executive officer of Criterion Software Ltd. in Guildford, England.

Ian Shaw, chief technology officer at Electronic Arts Inc., is looking for broader skills. “We have a very structured training program, for undergraduates, graduates, and for people in the company. We’re looking for innate talent that we can teach, rather than being worried what the degree is in,” he said.

Sheffield Hallam University in Sheffield, England, will run its first games developer course beginning at the end of September. Course leader Bob Steele said the keynote speakers had reflected what he and his colleague Paul Parry were aiming to achieve with their course.The MSc in Entertainment Software Development would cover the full range of entertainment software from gaming to training, but would also put an emphasis on the ability to work alongside other people. Students will be sent on placements with sponsor Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd. and other games companies that have expressed an interest.

“They’ve all been really positive, including Argonaut, everyone we’ve approached has been keen,” Steele said.

The course can take up to 20 students. There are currently eight signed up for the first year and Steele hopes that a stand at the ECTS 2003 interactive entertainment exhibition, running alongside the game developer conference, will attract a few more. “We’ve had to fight against the whole ‘Mickey Mouse’ course arguments in the tabloids but we think we should get maybe 10 students this year and we can take it from there,” he said.

Norwegian software design student Espen Almdahl was pleased by what he heard at the keynote, because there is little games-specific training in Norway, he said. Almdahl is gaining work experience doing 2D design with BroadCraft Interactive Studios, a company in Trondheim, Norway, that is developing a game based on Quake3Arena Technology. With this 2D experience and a broader overall programming education he hopes to eventually get into the games industry, he said.