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Why You Should Build Your Game Portfolio (Even If You've Got a Job)

Congratulations: You're hired! But don't close the book on your portfolio just yet. In this blog post, we'll share expert advice from a recent GDC talk on why (and how) to continue your career growth outside of the office... even if you've landed your dream job.

Ashley Poprik, writer at High Moon Studios, held a talk at GDC 2024 called: "Who Are You? Building Your Profile Outside the Job." In this session, Ashley shares tips on increasing your knowledge, growing your network, and making yourself more marketable to future employers. After all, the past year has been tough on the game industry, with one-third of developers being impacted by layoffs in 2023 (according to our 2024 State of the Game Industry report). 

"Being able to continue building yourself outside of your job is going to help you and your project, as well as your team," Ashley said in her GDC 2024 talk. "That being said, your company is not your identity. You’re really talented people, you're game developers, you are not ‘company game developer.’ And no amount of layoffs, studio closures, project cancellations is going to be able to change that. I am trying to instill this message in you, and also make sure that you have a safety net for yourself for if these things happen." 

Are you intertested in building your portfolio, or trying to build more relationships in the game industry? Join us at GDC Showcase this September! We recommend Sonia Michaels' talk, "Build Your Promotability or Honor Your Values? Why Not Both!" all about learning what defines "promotable" and "non-promotable" tasks, how to make professional choices that advance their careers and still align with their values, and how to build successful careers without losing sight of their authentic selves.

Our two-day intensive virtual event and workshop is all about finding career success as a game developer. Designed for students, leaders, and everyone in between. Only $49! It's happening September 19-20, all online.

Learn More About GDC Showcase Here  

Tips on Building Your Portfolio Outside of Your Job

Study Up and Stay Curious

According to Ashley, it's important to always be growing as a game developer. This includes learning new techniques for your discipline, as well as studying the intricacies of other disciplines within the game industry. Some study methods are easier, like watching videos on GDC Vault and GDC YouTube, joining game jams on itch.io, and more. Some methods require a bit more work, like reading books on various aspects of game development or attending a Masterclass.

But your studies should not be limited to books and videos. Ashley also emphasized the importance of studying the current game industry landscape.

“Study up, do your learning. Also in the same vein: Stay curious,” she said. “What projects are other developers in studios making? What are your competitors? What are companies making that are completely different from your project?”

Teach What You Know

You’re an expert at something: Talk about it! This could be through an organized mentorship program like Women In Games, connecting with possible mentees individually on LinkedIn, or having working meetups with your colleagues. Not only does this give you an opportunity to share your wisdom, it also provides the space to learn new things from others.

“There are things that you know that they don't, and there are things that they know that you don't. So you guys can kind of teach each other,” she said.

Build Your Reputation, Make Friends 

Get your name out there. You can share your work on social media (keeping your personal health and safety in mind), as well as submit talks for events like GDC. If you’re not a fan of being in the public eye, you can talk to your company about doing smaller talks internally.

You should also go out and find new friendships in the game dev community. Attend meet-ups (like GDC Speed Networking), join Discords, see what groups your coworkers are in.

Ashley emphasized that these actions are not just networking: They're building genuine relationships that will help you in the long run.

“You don't need to be going and shaking hands with everybody, giving out all of your business cards. I'm really talking about having a deeper personal connection. We devs need to come out and support each other, especially at this time,” she said. “There are times that, whether it's because of your project or just because of the world in general, things can feel really isolating. Being able to talk and interact with people who are going through the same thing as you feels really validating and is very good for your mental health.”

Game Time Is Mandatory

Playing video games may be a hobby (and what a great hobby it is!), but it’s still important to play them in your own time. According to Ashley, you need to experience what games people are loving, as well as which ones they don’t. What’s working (or not working) about the different gameplay, stories, and worlds. She did emphasize the importance of going outside of your comfort zone.

“Please play more than just your comfort games. There are so many awesome games that are out there, and if you’re only playing your comfort games or your comfort genre, you’re really putting the blinders on and you’re not able to see what’s working in other genres,” she said. “You could even start picking different mechanics, cool story moments, or different tricks that these developers use for their games, and start applying it to what you’re doing in the future.”

Make sure to watch the full video from Ashley Poprik (free on GDC Vault) to learn more tips on "building your portfolio outside of your job." And don't forget to join our group of game career experts at the all-virtual GDC Showcase, happening this September! 

Register Here

GDC is going virtual for its 2024 GDC Showcase, all about career development! For more information, be sure to visit our website and follow the #GDCShowcase hashtag on social media.

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