Video gaming degrees mean little to nothing, says Epic Games president |
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BY Zee Salahuddin April 22nd, 2008 |
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Mike Capps (right), president of Epic Games, industry guru, and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, with Zee Salahuddin, TVGB, at Comic Con on 4/20. And yes, the V-symbol is for Gears of War 2 baby!
Mike Capps, the man who brought us groundbreaking titles like America’s Army and Gears of War, says when it comes to the video gaming industry, professional game developing degrees mean little to nothing.
Capps was part of a panel titled “How to Get a Job in the Video Gaming Industry” at the New York Comic Con this past Sunday, joined by Jason Schreiber, founder and president Powerhead Games, Julianne Greer, executive editor The Escapist, and Joshua Ortega, writer for Gears of War 2. During a Q&A session, Capps was asked: “How important is a professional game developing degree when it comes to applying for a job in the industry?”
Capps said it meant little to nothing. “I would prefer someone who was classically trained in the arts from a four-year college or university,” he said. He went on to explain how it makes sense to hire a graphics artist who understands the most intricate and intimate aspects of 3D-modeling, shader and lighting effects and how to bring a character or scenery to life, instead of someone who received a video gaming degree and has nothing concrete to show for it.
Moving on to programming positions, Capps explained that he also spearheads the recruitment efforts at Epic Games. Capps stated he would “rather hire a programmer who has spent four years in a college or university, has a solid background in mathematics or a related discipline, and understands complex concepts like matrix algebra,” than someone who holds a cool little two-year degree in video gaming.
“You have to show passion, you have to show drive,” stated Capps. “If you come up to me and say I don’t have a portfolio, but I am applying because I have a burning passion for video games, that only tells me you couldn’t be bothered to create even a simple mod for any one of the games you are so passionate about.” Driving the point home, he said it was not enough to have a gaming degree, you have to have something to show for it. Show that you can draw breathtaking concepts, or render photo-realistic characters or craft mind-blowing code. Show that you are driven, passionate and serious about your career in the industry, and you are much more likely to be noticed than someone who has an “awesome” degree in video gaming.
Capps commentary was echoed by Schreiber, a 20-year industry veteran, as well as Greer. Greer, a History Major herself, went on to say in another panel that the degree mattered little when it came to writing for video games. What mattered was one’s ability to write prolifically and to write well.
Capps is the President of Epic Games, which, his other laurels notwithstanding, should be more than enough of a jaw-dropping introduction. That is unless you have lived under a rock in the remote Tibetan mountains for the past 20 years. Aside from creating record-breaking, multiple-award-winning titles, the folks at Epic are also responsible for the ever-popular Unreal Engine.
On a final note, Epic Games is hiring. As is Powerhead Games. If I were you, I would take Capps’ advice very, very seriously!
April 22nd, 2008
at 5:03 pm
This isn’t particularly new, although it’s always refreshing to hear they aren’t looking for people from cookie cutter degree programs but are instead looking for people who have a passion for games (and have some talent to boot)
April 22nd, 2008
at 5:41 pm
That attitude indeed SHOULD NOT be new, and I’m glad Capps sees that. In many cases, people who have learned stuff on their own are far more knowledgeable than those with run of the mill degrees.
April 23rd, 2008
at 4:37 am
I appreciate the gesture of appealing to people who create content, but any credibility he gains is immediately destroyed when he says he’s looking for people who create the same cookie-cutter bullshit the industry has been churning out for the past decade. Does he really want a person who can code shaders and churn out high-definition models, but has no way of expanding the gameplay itself? Apparently, he wants people that will churn out the same damn FPS bullshit we’ve had to put up with since Doom and Quake. America’s Army and Gears of War advanced games about as much as PO’ed and Blake Stone did. They just had budgets that rivaled Hollywood films. Many of us are getting sick of this nonsense, and want some actual games.
April 23rd, 2008
at 7:51 am
I really have do disagree with this point, and this generalization seems to be far too common. In the UK there is now skillset accreditation for games related university courses to ensure they are teaching the correct things.
Sure, there are a number of courses with games in the title that doesn’t teach you anything good but there are still courses that teach you amazingly.
I am just about to complete a degree doing Computer Games Technology at Abertay Dundee. And this is a 4 year course that teaches you networking, programming on the GBA (using assembly), PS2, PSP, Mobile, Flash, DirectX, OpenGL, Hardware Architecture, Multithreading, AI, lots of Maths and Physics. We are taught C++ as our main language, and have had experience using source management software, graphics engines, and are in talks of getting new hardware and middleware to play with. We have multiple industry talks, including from Sony explaining us the hardware architectures of the PS3.
I believe our course teaches you more than enough, and it is unlikely that you will get such a course in plain Computer Science that will prepare you well enough for the games industry.
http://www.skillset.org/games/qualifications/
April 24th, 2008
at 3:11 am
Here is something to consider and further spark the debate:
Mike Capps is departmental honoree in mathematics and creative writing, Capps graduated summa *** laude from University of North Carolina. He holds master’s degrees in computer science and electrical engineering from the University of North Carolina and MIT, and a doctorate in computer science from the Naval Postgraduate School.
He also served as a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and specialized in defense and entertainment collaboration, virtual reality, and computer graphics. For his work in these areas, he was one of fifty graphics pioneers interviewed for the ACM SIGGRAPH documentary, “The Story of Computer Graphics.
In short, Dr. Capps fully understands and appreciates the value of education in all of its forms. So it would be unwise to assume he doesn’t think education is important; but “cookie-cutter” skills, like “awesome graphics artist”, are more relevant.