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5 Min Read

How to Become a Video Game Producer at EA

Brandon Kidwell is 50% fantasy, 40% anime and 10% knight. As soon as Brandon discovered D&D, he began dungeon mastering (AKA DMing), breaking systems and improving designs. He drew maps of imaginative levels, wrote characters and crafted his own ways to play. His passion for making and breaking games led him to pursue a game design degree at the University of Advancing Technology.

 

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Video: EA SPORTS

 

Now Brandon makes video games at Electronic Arts (EA), where he currently creates content for the mobile game Madden NFL Football as an assistant producer. He designs and builds items, players, events and levels every day. Outside of his work on Madden Mobile, Brandon spends a lot of time playing around in Unreal 4, developing porotypes for mechanics and trying out new ideas. He also writes short stories, dabbles in UI, occasionally creates digital art and still makes time to play games.

 

 

Before Brandon made his way to EA, he owned the indie grind at Project Polish Productions and Neon Chasm, where he pitched, designed and documented mechanics, enemies and weapon systems. He also wrote and directed narrative beats and maximized the horror experience.

Brandon also made a few mistakes along the way. “Never enter an interview without playing their game and being familiar with it. When asked ‘Do you play our game?’ You cannot answer ‘No’ and expect to get the job,” he said.

His advice for students?

“Be humble and respectful. Fail forward, and never give up on your goals, even if they seem like they are not in reach. Work a little at a time to climb the mountain, rather than all at once. The game industry is small, and you will be facing a lot of talented people throughout your job search. You need to get in engine, make some things and get them up for people to play. It's just not practical to get into the game industry from ONLY playing games and not making them. Nothing is stopping you from opening up Unity or Unreal and making something that can go on a phone or web.”

Want to make games like Brandon? You can request more info about our game development program here.

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