SPENDING too much time on computer games during lockdown? Or fed up with the kids being glued to a screen?
Well, don’t be. Time spent gaming may just be the start of a successful and lucrative career.
We spent a record £7billion on the pastime in last year, up 30 per cent on 2019, and this is fuelling a surge in jobs.
There are currently around 1,000 vacancies in the UK. Not only is this line of work well paid, with salaries averaging £40,000, it is also hugely varied.
Creative tech
Roles range from game designers and programmers and testers, to animators, software developers and even playing competitively for money.
The inaugural Games Careers Week, which runs from today until next Friday, sees 75 top firms from the industry come together to offer free online events and careers advice.
Rick Gibson, who is one of the week’s founders, says: “The games industry should be a poster-child for the UK’s export-driven knowledge economy. Most parents don’t know the UK supports more than 25,000 stable, exciting and well-paid jobs — which grew in number by over 12 per cent in 2020, right through the pandemic.
“We want to help diverse young people, their parents and their educators to learn more about why creative technology is so important for their futures.”
Employment Minister Mims Davies adds: “Gaming can traditionally be a rather challenging sector to break into, so it’s great to see the industry during Games Careers Week giving such exciting opportunities to young people.”
- For more on what is on offer in the coming days, see gamescareersweek.org.
- To find your dream job, check out gamesjobsdirect.com, jobs.gamesindustry.biz/any/uk-and-europe, and also gradsingames.com.
- For Kickstart job placements go to intogames.org/news/kickstart-2020-ukie.