Some Top Locations for Breaking Into the Tech &Video Game Industry
If you’re thinking about perusing a career in the video game industry after finishing your tech & games education, picking the right location to focus your job hunt will be imperative to determining your success. Some states are virtual hotbeds for gaming jobs. You just have to know where to look.
1) California: Sunny California is a major hub for the online gaming industry. Most of the largest gaming companies are located in, or around California’s major cities.
San Francisco and the surrounding areas: LucasArts, Eidos Interactive, Ubisoft, PopCap Games (a subsidiary of Electronic Arts), Saga of America, Zynga, BioWare, Aeria Games (Santa Clara), Capcom (San Mateo), Electronic Arts (Redwood Shores), imvu (Mountain View, CA), Konami Digital Entertainment (San Mateo), LeapFrog Enterprises (Emeryville and Santa Clara), NAMCO BANDAI Games USA (San Jose), Telltale Games (San Rafael), and Natsume (Bulingame, CA).
San Diego and the surrounding areas: Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Online Entertainment, THQ San Diego, Rockstar San Diego, and High Moon Studios (Carlsbad).
Los Angeles and the surrounding areas: Crave Entertainment, LeapFrog Enterprises, D3Publishers of America, Square Enix USA, Electronic Arts Los Angeles, Gameevil, SNK Playmore Corporation (Torrance, CA), Xseed Games (Torrance, CA), Aksys Games (Torrance, CA), Activision (Santa Monica), Atlus USA (Irving, CA), Blizzard Entertainment (Irvine, CA), Buena Vista Games (Burbank, CA), Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment (Burbank, CA), Disney Interactive Studios (Burbank, Glendale, North Hollywood, and Hollywood), and Konami Digital Entertainment (El Segundo).
2) New York: While you won’t find many industry giants in New York, it is home to a number of smaller gaming companies and independent studios.
New York City: Atari, Gameloft, Rockstar NYC, Saber Interactive, Powerhead Games, City Interactive, FreshPlanet, Sonic Boom, Take2 Interactive Software, Twenty First Street Games, Vogster Entertainment, Arkadium, Freeverese, Funtank, E-Line Media, Games for Change Longtail Studios, i-Play Games, Zynga New York, Kaos Studios, Kuma Reality Games, Wanako Games, Oberon Media, Large Animal Games, Boonty, and Vostu.
Other cities in New York: Matrix Games (Staten Island), Workinman Interactive (Rochester), Nine Pound Studios (Rochester), BrokenMyth Studios (Rochester), 1st Playable Productions (Troy), and Ambrosia Software (Rochester)
3) New Jersey Casino & Gaming Industry :Saber Interactive (Millburn), Blackburst Media (Glen Rock), High 5 Games (Mahwah), Majesco Entertainment (Edison), Slingo (Hackensack), Skyworks (Jamesburg),
4) Washington State: Zanga (Seattle), Big Fish Games (Seattle), Runic Games (Seattle), Microsoft Game Studios (Redmond), Nintendo of America (Redmond), Monolith Productions (Redmond), Sony Online Entertainment (Bellevue), Warner Bros. Games (Kirkland), and Uber Entertainment (Kirkland).
5) Florida: Much like New York, Florida is home to many smaller gaming companies.
Orlando: ZeeGee Games, Electronic Arts Tiburon, n-Space, Your World Games, Row Sham Bow, Werd Interactive, and PandaKnows.
Other cities in Florida: Gorilla Systems Corporation (Tampa), Raydon Corporation (Daytona Beach), Frontline Studios (Ormond Beach), Kef Sensei (Miami), Clockwork Elements (Parkland), Firebrand Games (Merritt Island), and Trilight Studios (Weston).
6) Nevada: Konami Gaming (Las Vegas), GarageGames, (Las Vegas), Jet Set Games (Las Vegas), Petroglyph (Las Vegas), and 3G Studios (Reno).
7) Arizona: Sony Online Entertainment (Tucson), Riverman Media (Tucson), Running With Scissors (Tucson), THQ Digital Studios Phoenix, TFPSoft (Phoenix), Mojo-Bone Software Studio (Phoenix), 2XL Games (Phoenix), Machineworks Northwest (Flagstaff), Quest Online (Chandler), CrunchTime Games (Chandler), and Pithcblack Games.
So whether you journey leads you to the sunny shores of Los Angeles, or the bustling streets of New York; there are plenty of opportunities out there to make your online gaming industry dreams come true.