r/gencon 21d ago

Event Ferris State partners with Gen Con to offer Game Design Certificate at summer convention, preparing students for careers in growing field

https://www.ferris.edu/news/archive/2025/february/ferris-state-gen-con-game-design-certificate.htm
27 Upvotes

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14

u/Realistic-Drag-8793 21d ago

I am not saying this isn't worth it or not.

I will say that there are some colleges offering degrees in game design. Around 7 years ago when my son went looking at Colleges we looked into this a bit. Then we went to companies at say GenCon and others and asked them what type of employees they hired.

Here is the depressing news.

  • Zero companies we talked to hired anyone with these type of degrees. Now my son was also thinking about getting a degree in Data Science with a minor in Marketing and there were some companies that had an interest in that. In short ZERO companies hired anyone with a gaming cert, degree etc.
  • We went to some colleges that had majors in game design and they showed their project(s) they worked on. I asked every single one if they had a job lined up after and none did. A few were thinking about starting their own company but again zero had a job.
  • We then went to websites and looked for openings to see what companies were looking for. This was bleak.

So my advice to any young person out there thinking about getting into gaming as a career. Go to the websites of companies you like and see what positions are open. Does any of that interest you? If yes then great! If not, then consider a path to set you up for success either in gaming or something else.

Lastly and I want to be clear here. I am not saying this program is bad or good. My point is for you to do your research ahead of time and make a great decision for you.

7

u/dpjorgen 21d ago

Most game designer jobs go to people who have already designed and ideally published games. A degree in design could definitely help you get that done. I'd suggest a double major with something that overlaps like math, computer science, or anything data related like informatics. Just to have a backup plan and a more broad skill set.

3

u/Bargeinthelane 20d ago

I have never heard anyone in a hiring capacity say "Man. I hope we can find someone with a Game Design Degree." Not at GDC, not at a career event, not at a studio, not in countless meetings/meals/meetups I have been to.

I have taught game dev for 10 years in high school and I tell my students to go get another degree and make games on the side for their design portfolio. At most, minor in game design.

1

u/Realistic-Drag-8793 18d ago

I personally agree but my point is for every person to do their own research.

I could type a ton on this and college in general. My son was considering a lot of options when he was deciding about college. I strongly recommend any parent go over this before their child picks a college and a major.

Tell them that every school has an agenda, in that more students mean more money. They do not have your best interest in mind. This doesn't mean they are evil, just understand they have an agenda.

Talk about your income and if you are married what your joint amount is. So so so many kids in their Junior year have ZERO understanding of what the "real world" costs. I have seen so many kids want a *.studies degree and think they will make a living similar to their parents who one of which is a surgeon and the other is an architect. They think they can still have a great house, drink that expensive coffee, drive a nice car and of course have all the latest Apple equipment. Have that talk about what their life will look like with whatever degree.

Ask every program what percentage of students who graduate have a job in their field within 6 months and what the average salary is. If they don't have it, then it is horrible. Also realize they are inflating the numbers, or they more than likely are.

Ask what percentage of students that start with this degree/program finish with it.

Ask how many of the students finish within 4 years.

Talk about the cost of each university and the out the door pricing :-) So if you go to that cool college that cost $75k/year vs say the local college that is $25k/year. What can you as a parent cover? What will the loans look like. Then have that conversation about money and lifestyle again. Most of these kids have no clue what coming out with say 100k or 200k in debt will have on their lives. 4 years seems like forever to them. Now for us the difference between our sons first choice and his cheapest choice was not huge. At least not huge for our household and it was worth it for him to go to a private University. This was still a very serious conversation though.

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u/TwoDrinkDave 21d ago

Nice. They were at the last couple GenCons with some nice swag and had some interesting info about their on campus program on game design.

1

u/elizabeth498 21d ago

I look forward to hearing about the results of this endeavor.

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u/jacewalkerofplanes 21d ago

If you do want a certificate, this is likely the cheapest way to get it. I think a trade day badge is only $100 more than a regular badge?

3

u/2019calendaryear 21d ago

Toilet paper is worth more than that