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Paid to Play: An Insider’s Guide to Video Game Careers - Author Blog
Updated October 3, 2006

The question I get asked the most, aside from “do you know Cliffy B?” and “was GameFan magazine really a part fraternity, part sanitarium?” (the answers to both questions being “yes”), is “how cool is it to play video games for a living?” I usually respond that working in the video game industry is indeed cool: Cooler, in fact, than a naked romp through the Arctic Tundra. But how do you go from sitting on a couch in your mom’s basement playing Halo 2 to sitting on a couch at a software studio while a team of likeminded developers watch you play the next Halo 2 killer you all worked on?
The answer lies in an expansive tome called Paid to Play, which I co-authored with Bryan Stratton (who’s currently writing scripts for WWE wrestlers; a job even cooler than mine) and Alice Rush (whose excellent career advice is guaranteed to get your game job hunt going). Here’s what we did: We interviewed over 100 video game professionals (and Seanbaby) to find out what their typical day was like, how much they got paid, and how crazy their work schedule is.
We received dozens of anecdotes on what life is like being “paid to play” games. We then collected all our answers and jammed them into a comprehensive book which features over 50 different careers within the industry, from game designer to journalist, programmer to sound engineer, and even game show TV host! Naturally, we called in a few favors, and got candid responses from industry legends like John Romero (Doom), Tommy Tallarico and Victor Lucas (Electric Playground), Dan Hsu (EGM), Dennis “Thresh” Fong (the first pro-gamer), and many more. But we also did the majority of our research with the unsung heroes of video gaming: developers who told us exactly what goes on inside a software house, warts and all.
We also lucked out and managed to get Alex Ward (co-creator of the Burnout series and Black) to write our foreword, and the good folks over at Penny Arcade to pen over a dozen brand-new chapter illustrations. But most importantly, we attempted to write an entertaining guide to getting a job, complete with courses to study and what it’s really like being a tester. Or a game store manager. Or a woman in gaming. Or a pro-gamer.
Does being a software tester suck? What do Producers do all day? Are women treated differently? Are gaming colleges really the best place to spend thousands of dollars in tuition fees despite their embarrassing TV adverts? Do I really have to be part-ninja, part-robot to win $100,000 in a pro-gamer tournament? What’s the fastest way to earning enough money to buy a gold-plated Ferrari? We’ve answered all your questions, and some you didn’t really need answering, in Paid to Play.
If you’ve pondered a career in making games, need to get your foot in the door of this industry (and then blow that door wide open), or simply wondered what goes on behind those closed doors while developers make your favorite console titles, Paid to Play tells you what you need to know. And so it should; we shed blood, sweat, and tears writing it.
But mainly, we swore a lot, typed like fiends, and edited the answers Seanbaby gave us so the book could get published in Alabama. We hope you enjoy this insider’s guide to video game careers.