Video games: what are the professions and companies that recruit the most in the sector

2023-05-05 15:55:20

France is a very dynamic country in the field of video game creation, represented abroad by well-known companies such as Ubisoft or Quantic Dream. The sector is in good health and offers many jobs for all those who would like to work there. With 2,763 recruitments in 2022, the sector has been progressing steadily since 2015 with a doubling of job offers in 7 years.

The French Video Game Agency (AFJV), which federates companies in the sector, carries out a study each year to analyze the volumes and types of job and internship offers in the French video game industry. Here are the major teachings.

The professions that recruit the most

Graphic designers (3D designers), programmers (developers) and game designers (designer of the scenario and rules of the game) constitute the three fundamental professions of video game design. These are always the most represented professions within a studio. France being a very advanced country in the creation of video games, the marketing and distribution professions are therefore less represented than the creative professions: it takes fewer people to sell a video game than it takes to design and build it.

The 10 professions that recruit the most and their weight in the total number of adverts published in 2022:

1. Graphic designers (30% of ads in 2022)
2. Programmers (26%)
3. Conception : game designers / level designers (14 %)
4. Production (project manager) – (7%)
5. Commercial / Marketing – (7 %)
6. Testing / Quality Control – (5%)
7. Support / Community Management (3 %)
8. Presse / Communication (2 %)
9. Administrative (2%)
10. Technique (1 %)

Which companies are recruiting and where in France?

The video game sector is made up of 662 companies, 47% of which are in Ile-de-France. Most companies are actively looking for talent (most often senior) to join the ranks of production teams. Ubisoft (with well-known games like Rayman, Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, etc.), which had been dominating the job market for several years, gave way two years ago to Quantic Dream (Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, Detroit: Become Human) in the Ile-de-France region and at Playwing Ltd (Century: Age of Ashes) in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Ile-de-France

1. Quantic Dream
2. Virtuos – Game Source Studio
3. Don’t Nod
4. Focus Entertainment

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

1. Ubisoft Ivory Tower
2. Bandai Namco Entertainment
3. Eden Games
4. Ubisoft

New Aquitaine

1. Playwing Ltd
2. Asobo Studio
3. Shiro Games
4. Evil Empire

Type of contracts offered

All professions are now entitled to permanent contracts, whereas this was not the case for graphic designers, who were mainly hired on fixed-term contracts until 2018 but, to attract new talent, competition between studios has given the CDI as a priority to attract the best CVs. Even if the situation of work-study is improving from year to year, there is still a certain reluctance to use it in the context of the production of video games. The professions of game design, computer graphics and programming are those that require the least work-study training. Conversely, publishing professions (sales, marketing, communication, administration) are more inclined to employ work-study students.

Given the good health of the sector, the job market finds itself in tension for almost all “senior” or “lead” positions. Times are tough for recruiters and rather bright for talented candidates (with or without experience).