"1 published title"

Personally I don't believe pong is a very strong portfolio piece... And that's what it would be, that isn't a published game, it's just a portfolio piece.

Being published means you've worked on a game that has appeared to be purchased by the general public in some major way (usually physical box + cd + whatever in a physical store, but I believe you could say you were published if you worked on a pop cap game or if you had a steam available game (Valve)) Basically, while there are a range of ways you can be published, hosting it on your own server space (or space you pay for) and offering it free is definitly not one of the definitions someone at EA would respect.

While they may not respect the game as a "published title" you could very well have a solid, polished game under your belt that makes a good portfolio piece. The reality is that they want experienced programmers, but there is more demand than supply and everyone's got to start somewhere, you don't see job requests like this:

"Requesting one programmer who has dabbled on homebrew projects for years and has good skills, but no record. We need you to help work on our next AAA blockbuster."

That just isn't going to happen, so market yourself for what you have, don't claim to be published if you aren't. If you have the skills and ambition you'll make it.

Another really good way to get into the industry is if your university has a coop program. If you have the (technical+people) skills, dedication, and an impressive portfolio you should be fine. Finishing up my first coop term with EA now, it's definitly a great way to get into the industry. They know you're still a student and so they don't request that you have published games under your belt (of course the pay is significantly lower, but still good for a university coop term) and while sleightly gentler to begin with, you're definitly "one of the team" with real expectations and milestones. Great opportunity if you can do it.

If not, I'd suggest building a strong portfolio/resume and applying to as many games companies as you can. Also, if there's a local CIPS or similar IT/Comp Industry networking group you may want to sign up. Personally I haven't seen anything but a bunch of circle jerking come out of things like that (mostly because it's the same few people who make up the group and stick with it with relatively low flow of membership. Think of a stagnant pool of talent that basically just swirls slowly giving the same particles backrubs from the same people... Or entropy in a closed system, sure it gets more chaotic, but it's nothing new), but who knows. I do know networking is damn helpful, it's a big part of how I got my job, but I can't vouch for those specific networking societies... I'd suggest conferences over special groups.

Then it's safe to assume that they expect professional titles. Thanks for the info and advice.

HR turns away a lot of qualified applicants. Get in tight with someone who already works there.

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Original post by M2tM offering it free is definitly not one of the definitions someone at EA would respect.

Not entirely true, as Rumble Box, N, and Alien Hominid have proved. But your point is valid for the most part, since these games have had 80k, 700k and 2 million downloads, so they (well, two out of three) have been more successful than the average commercial game.

The other third I just had to pimp :)

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Alien Hominid was ported to the PS2

With 100 million PS2s sold it's still a viable platform. I wonder if the devkits are still available? We use the Linux version at Univeristy and it's fast little machine.

"1 published title" will mean one significant title that was brought to completion and sold to the public in a significant way.

Posting your pong game on gamedev is not a significant distribution channel (and TBH, pong is not a significant title), to be classed as a published title.

There are of course way around the catch-22 of needing experience to get experience. The guys at Introversion Software could class Uplink and definatly Darwinia as a published title, even though it didn't go through the traditional channels.

As someone mentioned, building up a strong portfolio is another way around this, but Ravuya made a god point. No matter how good your portfolio, some companies will higher faceless HR drones who just bin applicants that don't tick all the right boxes, regardless of the quality and expereince you have in your spare time.

You have to choose who to apply for carefully. Spend more time on less applications you know you may have a chance, rather than less time on 100's of applications that will probably be ignored.

Spree