Here’s the thing: I’ve worked with people from Full Sail and DigiPen. Many of them are fantastic developers. In fact, most of them are. So yeah, they clearly got a pretty good education in game development.

But again, I don’t trust anyone out of high school to know what they want to do with the rest of their life. So I think that going to a DP or FS is a huge risk. What if after three years you find out that you don’t want to make games? At least a more general school will give you alternatives.

I went to DigiPen, and like many other DP students have had no trouble finding my place in the industry now that I am done.

Giving people the advice to write games in their spare time is great for people that can do that. Others – for various reasons – simply can’t or won’t work on these types of things in their down time. In that case, maybe its important to know who you are advising, rather than just blindly proclaiming that traditional CS is better.

Many people with a traditional CS background from a “reputable” school love to look down on the “waltz-through-FullSail crowd.” Just to clarify, a four year B.S. from DigiPen requires completing 154 credits which consist almost entirely of computer science, math, and physics. It is challenging, and requires an insane amount of dedication to complete. There was no “waltzing” or “tightening up of graphics” involved. Many DP graduates are extremely talented, and are assets wherever they are hired.

There are obviously merits to both traditional CS and more focused degrees. Different educations work for different people. The important thing is that you take a path which works best for you, and hopefully leads to your dream job.

…

After a quick proof-read, I definitely sound very angry and bitter. Sorry to ruin your otherwise happy blog, Darius :)

Cheers.

I still tell students to do all those other things, because ultimately you’re the one in charge of your education, not the school you go to.

A lot of people expect to just shell out for a fancy degree, jump through a bunch of hoops to get a piece of paper, and then the game industry will break down their door with fistfuls of contracts and job offers. Hardly.

Even now, I think it’s better to show that you want to be in the industry, because most people aren’t interested in hiring someone who isn’t passionate about making games. Yes, going to a game-specific school shows that. But getting off your couch, making games, starting a game dev club and lobbying the faculty for game-specific classes at a “normal” school shows it even more… AND you get to show that you have “initiative” or you’re a “self-starter” or whatever buzzword HR is calling it these days — something that the waltz-through-FullSail crowd isn’t going to have.

I’d value a student who made a game outside of class a whole lot more than someone who made that same game as graded assignment.