Game Developer Intern Review

I progressively enjoyed the work more and more as the internship went on and I got to grips with the tools. I was trusted by my team and was left to figure out how to do my work alone, which added to the enjoyment, although it would have been better if my work had more impact on the end user.

My work definitely felt valued. Not only were my colleagues helpful and friendly, but I was working on a tool which would directly impact the designers, so I was working with them and adding the features that they requested, which received positive feedback from those. The other members of my team were also good in making me feel valued.

My buddy was extremely helpful - I couldn't have asked for a more helpful person. Not only was he incredibly supportive with all aspects relating to work, willing to sit and help me overcome problems, give me guidance on what to do next, and be very patient, but he also helped me with the London life in general. The rest of the management was also very helpful and would give me advice whenever I needed it.

It varied greatly from day to day - there were some days were my work relied heavily on testing and retesting, and with the I.T. issues, I grew bored of waiting for things to run and compile. Other days, I would be so busy that I wouldn't remember to eat lunch until late and would not notice the time go by. I definitely preferred the latter!

The responsibility I was given was mixed. On the one hand, I was trusted not to mess anything up and could make changes to crucial parts of the game whenever necessary, but the actual features I was developing did not have a huge amount of impact on the final game and I felt like more responsibility would have made the work more engaging.

The practical programming skills I learned were excellent. Specifically, the set of skills required to work in a large scale software environment, as opposed to small hobby projects, is something I would not have learnt from anywhere else. The experience I gained working as part of a large team will also be very useful for my group work in the university course to come.

The general atmosphere was very relaxed, friendly, and welcoming. There was no pressure or stress noticeable, and people were always up for having fun. Free food and drinks added to this, especially with the regular cake and celebrations. Additionally, the frequent large meetings helped create a sense of good collaboration.

The internship itself was very well organised. The recruitment and interview process was smooth, and everyone knew what they were supposed to do with me when I arrived. There seemed to be a plan in place from when I arrived as to the work I should do and I was never left feeling out of the loop - when I needed assistance, I would just ask. The only issue was the actual onboarding process with the technology was chaotic - nothing worked first time!

There wasn't a huge amount of technical personal training. I learnt a lot, but mostly just from learning things on the job while working on the game. There were some internship training programs run, with speakers coming in and talking about charisma and personality, but ultimately I didn't find these particularly interesting or useful as they were not related to my actual work skills.

Future employment is definitely an option as I enjoyed working there. My manager spoke to me about the potential for employment and that feedback from my work was positive, but I was unable to take a job due to the fact that I still have several years of university to go. We also spoke about potential part time work but university also gets in the way of that. However, I think I am more likely to go down a more academic route with my future career.

I did not really pay much attention to the social scene - the other interns were friendly but I did not attend most of the social activities they organised.

The cost of living was relatively high, given that it was the centre of London. However, this did not bother me too much as King covered my rent and had a good salary, so I was able to spend mostly what I wanted on living and socialising and managed to travel around a lot, have friends joining me in activities and go on holiday without becoming bankrupt.

I have no idea

I didn't investigate these either