Millions of people play video games around the world. But why do gamers spend countless hours exploring game environments? The short answer is the appeal of ‘escapism.’ Gamers are drawn to the games meeting their basic psychological needs such as being in control or experiencing mastery over a situation. We all want to feel successful. We all want to experience growth and progress. When our reality is not rewarding or challenging enough to meet those basic psychological needs, great video games can make players feel accomplished in ways their daily life cannot. Add in the ability to have control over personal actions and playing video games can reward by having control of the destiny of our players. Read why people play video games to learn more about how games reward players through the choices they make and the diversity of those choices the real world does not provide.

But what if you want to do more than just play video games? If you are someone who wants to break into the video game industry, here are a few tips to get you started:

• Start reading discussion boards. It is very common for professional game developers to explore discussion boards to learn what gamers want and get seen by game studios. It is also a great way to make game industry connections that may lead to rewarding job offers. Don’t forget to post your works on forums as well.
• Create a gaming blog. This is especially valuable for people interested in getting jobs writing about games or want to manage a gaming community. All it takes is a start to make a vision happen.
• Go back to school for a college degree related to the video-game industry, such as a bachelor’s degree in game art and design. Note, the degree can get you in the door, but you will have to continuously look for way ways to improve your work over time. This is how you learn to always create value for new video game players rather than become familiar and lack creativity.

The gaming industry makes approximately $60bn a year and the music industry cannot hold a candle to those figures. If you want to start making games, learn a programming language to grasp the standard principles, logic, and techniques necessary for developing games. Consider learning the C++ language to begin your game development career. If you are not great with code, collaborate with coders and designers.

If you don’t want to take a traditional path to getting into the video game industry, you don’t have to do so.