30 SPOTLIGHT
Catherine Channon: Harder. Without doubt. In the late 90’s no one was really thinking that videogames were a job let alone a career, so there was a wealth of opportunity for people who worked hard, were passionate about games and acted with integrity. So much has changed as the industry has grown, the employment landscape is highly competitive and the overall climate is hard even for those with established careers.
Simon Byron: The competition to get in is extraordinary – whenever we’ve advertised an entry level job, we’re getting hundreds and hundreds of applicants. It really upsets me that we don’t have the opportunities to bring more people in – working in the games industry changed my life, and I’d really like to find ways to pay that pack.
Gina Jackson: It’s not so much easier or harder—it’s just very different. When I started, the industry was small, and there wasn’t much data or visibility about who was doing what. Today, there’s a lot more information available, which can be a big advantage, but there is also way more competition. Plus, I’ll be honest— there are people like me who can unintentionally end up blocking opportunities and visibility for newcomers, making it tougher for them to break through.
Were there any mistakes you made early in your career that you can laugh about now but that felt like the end of the world?
Cat Channon: There’s probably a thousand of them. I cared so much and worried so deeply about being good at what I did, anything that went even slightly wrong felt like a total disaster at the time.
under 30 2024
Mario Kroll: When I first transitioned to PR, I was in charge of presenting one of our most ambitious games to the press at E3. I felt I had done a great job, but the resulting coverage by an editor I had admired and respected for years got so many facts wrong I seriously second-guessed whether I had screwed this up. Turns out editors are human too and when they’re trying to cover hundreds of games at a tradeshow, they may make mistakes.
Gina Jackson: One time, I was burning CDs from an external drive connected to an open computer, and I ended up getting a pretty bad electric shock. I knew I couldn’t drop the CD burner because it would short out the computer, which we desperately needed. But then the shaking set in, and I physically couldn’t let go. Eventually, I stumbled into a wall, dropped the burner, and just ran. I didn’t stop for a while! Looking back, it felt like a moment where things could have gone differently. That experience taught me that rushing rarely helps—sometimes, you need to take a breath, slow down, and learn how to push back.
Richie Shoemaker: For me it was wearing a suit to my first interview. I felt like a complete doofus and had blown my one chance to get a job I so desperately wanted..
If you could send a message to your younger self when you were starting out, what piece of career wisdom would you give... and what would be the young you’s response to it?
Richie Shoemaker: Take the QA job instead. You’ll get your name in the credits of Sensible World of Soccer and you might have a chance of earning a decent salary one day. Would younger me have listened? Nope.
30 under 30 2024
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