How to Get a Job in the Gaming Industry
Is your dream job to work in the video game industry? There are job opportunities not just in design, programming, and art – but for testers, marketing and PR, office culture, trade show coordinators, social media, customer support, creative services, and more. Join this panel of industry veterans that have held a variety of positions in the gaming space to learn about how they broke into the business, what skills are needed in this era of gaming, the tasks involved, and how to apply. This all-star panel of speakers from DeNA, Ubisoft, Xbox, and Twitch will answer any questions you throw at them about what it takes to build a career in games.
This SXSW Gaming Session at the Long Center is FREE and open to the public. However SXSW Interactive, Film, Gold and Platinum badges gain priority seating.
Presenters
Andy Swanson
VP of Sales
Twitch
Andy is a 15 year veteran of the video game industry and to this day remains a passionate gamer. His gaming career began in 1998 in advertising sales at Future US. He eventually held the position of Publisher in Future's Games Group, which included Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and PSM: 100% Independent PlayStation Magazine. In 2007, he joined Ubisoft as Senior Director of Strategic Sales and Partnerships. This role had Andy managing all US non-retail revenue including all eCommerce and digital distribution, in-game advertising, and licensing. In 2010, Andy joined GameFly as VP of Digital Business Development where he spearheaded the digital expansion of the world's largest games by mail rental service. He joined Twitch as VP of Sales, focusing on advertising and business development opportunities for game publishers and other related accounts.
Felicia Williams
Creative Dir
Xbox Studios
A ten year veteran of gaming and thought leader within emergent entertainment technology, Felicia has worked as a designer, producer, brand manager and director for major studios including MTV Games, Ubisoft of Montreal and Microsoft Game Studios. Her project and partner short list includes experiences for MTV Movie Awards, MTV's Video Music Awards, Pimp My Ride, The Hills, Ubisoft's Your Shape Fitness Evolved and Michael Jackson The Experience, Rock Band, Bethesda's Skyrim and NASA. Leading multi disciplinary talent pools of producers, user researchers, interaction, industrial, motion, visual, sensory, brand, and integration designers, Felicia collaborates with and guides the experiences that live across multiple platforms, multiple screens, crossing multiple genres and cultures. A strong user advocate focused on simple, beautiful and fun design, she seeks deep understanding of how disruptive and innovative technology push people and products forward. Currently, Felicia works with and leads teams across multiple technologies within Microsoft Studios, creating new experiences that will define the future of entertainment.
Julian Gerighty
Creative Dir, The Crew
Ubisoft
Starting his career in the Ubisoft head office in Paris, Julian left for Ubisoft Shanghai in 2003, as International Brand Manager where he defined the marketing strategies for titles such as Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Splinter Cell: Double Agent. In 2006 he became the Content Director of Ubisoft's Shanghai studio working on Tom Clancy’s EndWar and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 among other titles. Returning to Paris Headquarters in 2009, Julian worked closely with creative teams to develop strong IPs and trans-media strategies before joining The Crew in 2011 as Creative Director.
Sarah Fuchs
Head of Culture & Communication
DeNA
Sarah Fuchs is the Head of Culture & Communication at DeNA. Sarah strives to create a culture within the company where every employee feels happy, engaged and proud to work for DeNA every day. Sarah has been working in the games industry for more than 12 years, and she has held multiple roles throughout her career in the industry. Prior to DeNA, she was a producer at Activision, Electronic Arts and Maxis where she worked on a variety of popular games including Spore, Sims 2, Godfather, Xmen – The Official Game, and James Bond Everything or Nothing. Sarah began her career in the video game industry working in PR for a firm that represented clients such as Rockstar and Logitech.