Over the past weekend, I attended DigiPen’s graduation ceremony as a guest speaker. It was an honor to be invited to provide the commencement speech, though somewhat outside my usual lecturing comfort zone. The auditorium had about 1000 moms, dads, grandparents and other family/friends in to support the ~140 grads. And, admittedly, it was a challenge to say something that could both resonate with the grads, and the parents who supported (or not?) their journey into a game development career.

Here are some quick snaps from the ceremony:


The grads lined up, waiting to enter the auditorium.

 


Art grad Jenna Smith addresses her peers.

 


The 1000+ family and friends cheering on.

 


Members of the IGF winning Tag: The Power of Paint! team.

 

And, here is the text from my speech. It didn’t come out exactly like this since I don’t use/read the actual text itself… But, close enough.

 

Well, congratulations! After working so hard to pass the challenges of getting a degree, now is your chance to FAIL in the real world!

While the idea of failing may be scary to most of you, it is in fact extremely liberating. If you are failing, it means you are taking risks. If you’re failing, you are experimenting and innovating. If you’re failing, it means you are pushing the boundaries of what is possible. If you are not failing, it means you aren’t trying hard enough. If you’re not failing, it means you aren’t really learning anymore.

Games are constantly in a state of change, and today there are more opportunities to explore than ever. Now is when you need to take risks, to experiment and to fail. Don’t wait until you are 10 years into your career. The status quo will have gained too much momentum on you, and failing will be much more scary and costly in the future – way more so than today.

The game industry does not need an army of followers to slot in to the usual way of doing things. We need talented, courageous people to lead the industry forward. To take risks and to try new things – and to not be afraid to fail along way.

So, let me ask you who is passionate about games? Right, of course everyone is. Well, guess what? Passion is pretty meaningless. Everyone has that same passion. You cannot count on your love for games alone to get you very far in the game industry. OK, so, how about ideas? Who has a great idea for a game, for innovative new gameplay, or awesome tech? Right, of course, we are all bubbling with ideas. Well, this too is pretty meaningless. There is no shortage of ideas. In fact, there’s always way more ideas than the industry can possibly ever deal with.

What matters? Execution! It is the ability – and talent – to take action on those ideas and passion. So ya, getting an education at Digipen certainly helps in that regard, but ultimately the paper is worthless if you don’t take action. You must never develop a sense of entitlement on account of your education. It is toxic. And, you need to be mindful that the majority of people working in the industry today do not have a formal game education. They are sceptical. They are probably a little scared too. But, luckily, more so that any industry, game development is a meritocracy.  If you have the talent and skills to take action on your passion and ideas, there will always be a future for you in games.

And, by talent and skills, I don’t just mean coding or animation chops. A lot of what’s needed to be successful in games comes down to soft skills. It may in fact be the most surprising thing when you hit your first game industry job. Teamwork, communication skills, flexibility, prioritization, giving/taking criticism, continuous learning, focus, etc, etc. Leadership! You need to give these skills – and the people you work with - as much attention as your technical abilities moving forward.

I wasn’t always so attentive. I was a bit of a steamroller, and got fired from all my jobs prior to the IGDA. Too much pride. Too stubborn. Too much conflict with the boss, etc. It was only through my IGDA experience that I learnt the true value of soft skills – managing hundreds of people working and contributing on a voluntary basis will give that to you. You also learn about ideals and values and doing things for the good of the order. If I wasn’t scared of losing my job (i.e., to take risks, to fail) at least once a year, I knew I wasn’t trying hard enough. As it turned out, it happened way more often than that!

And, don’t be afraid to take the heat. It is part of failing. As recently as last month, I was on stage at GDC, during the IGDA’s annual meeting, in front of the board of directors and several hundred angry members asking why the org’s new technical/web infrastructure was over a year late. Without hesitation, I admitted to being at fault, for screwing things up, and took the blame. (I’m not kidding; it’s up on YouTube ;) That said, I also gave insight into why things were delayed and the plans to get things done right. But, anyway.

This speaks to the need for maturity. Yes, you need the passion and great ideas. You need to the technical talent. You need the soft skills. But, you also need to be taking this seriously. This is your career that you are embarking on, and you need to think deliberately and intentionally about your career path. And, I don’t just mean landing your first job…

Now is when the real learning starts! As you progress, be sure to keep your mind open. Be a sponge. Welcome diverse ideas and opinions. Don’t get stuck into status quo thinking. You need to get out there in the community to share your ideas and experiences, and to expose yourself to those of others. Despite its vibrancy, xenophobia is rampant in the game industry. Your goal should be to keep informed and be critical; not become jaded and cynical.

An important aspect of this all is taking the time to be professional. Consider this an official warning to not get stuck in the crunch trap. Working countless hours of overtime is not going to help your career – you’ll mostly produce crap work and burn out. You won’t have time to learn and grow. You won’t have time to get involved in the community, and share. You won’t have time to engage in other cultural activities that will inspire your work. You won’t have a life, period. Having good quality of life doesn’t mean you are being lazy. In fact, it is the exact opposite! It means you are making the effort and being deliberate about building a long-term career in games.

And, ultimately, that’s what we need. People who are committed to themselves and to games as an art form. People who understand the power of games to change and shape society. People who innately get that they are not just writing code, but that they are creators of culture. You are all artists – and I mean that broadly – artists that have the power to deeply affect the lives of millions worldwide.

If this was easy stuff, everyone would be a game developer. You should not take your responsibility as a creator of culture and designer of meaning lightly. And, as such, it is your duty to take the risks, to push the boundaries, to challenge the status quo. If you are not failing – and learning – along the way, then you’re just not trying hard enough.

Good luck and have fun!

 

And, indeed, while the initial mention of “fail” got a few chuckles and gasps, I did get several grandmas and moms and dads tell me, “Nice speech.” One dad even asked, So how soon should we expect our boy to fail? To which I replied that the key is to fail fast, fail early and fail often ;)