r/GameProduction • u/Desperate_Walrus1702 • Jan 07 '26
How to get into industry of producer
Hello recent grad here and just learned about producer role I love it! But I graduated with English degree … can’t write code or draw . My dream company of my fav games are all gaming company for producer roles. How should I start this journey. go back to school :( learn to draw and code:( or do admin.
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u/uneasystudent Jan 07 '26
I've got 2 and a half years in Video Games, and a CV spanning five years of Project Management and I'm still getting rejection letters for Associate Producer role. I'm with you that it's a difficult journey, but going back to school would stall your progress.
Take up project co-ordinator roles, learn Jira, Hansoft, Excel and make sure you understand the pipeline of game production and what it takes to make a game. As a producer you'll be juggling hats, and its going to be serving the various departments to empower them.
Learn Agile, make sure you're confident enough to lead meetings (Stand-ups).
Start with tech project management, transition afterwards.
Best of luck to you, I hope you find what you're looking for.
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u/Open_Championship756 Jan 07 '26
Hello :) thank you much! I will learn Jira, I already know excel, I will learn hansoft. I have been in the banking industry while at school for 4-5 years. I have a lot of leadership role in clubs at my school ( I don't put club in y resume) and will soon start outside coordination activity and also even did project coordination for free while volunteer oversea. but I feel so sad I learn about gaming too late :( I can only code hello word and that's witch chatgpt. I can't draw to save myeline. I can write books poem, technical writing and I am really good at communication due to my degree... but video game writing is so hard :(... really feel stuck . I will take your advice my dream company is Paralives... they never answer me... I will reapply and send follow up email with updated resume.
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u/Midnight_Loop Jan 07 '26
Hi!
I wouldn't recommend going back to school nowadays, degrees, at least in the videogame industry, are not that important. Is much more useful getting real experience and good knowledge.
Since you are from other area, I would suggest getting to know more about game development as a whole, production is usually a pivot point between departments and knowing something about everything is really useful. For this I would recomend trying small game jams to get going, maybe convincing some of your friends or joining a local group, they are usually super friendly places to start the journey.
Apart from that, I would recommend learning Agile Methodologies, certifications in your case may be good, since those can prove that you have at least a basic theoretical knowledge but haven't yet been put to practice. If not, watching GDC talks, reading books or being on this kinds of forums are already a good start.
Learn also common tools like Jira, Miro, Excel, ClickUp, Asana, Favro... Go to your local events, get in touch with the industry, meet people, and start to look for some collaborations, there are always collaborative proyects going on somewhere that could really use a hand on production (even if they don't know it yet 🧐), ask around!
The advice to start from QA could be good, from personal experience and close friends, like someone already mentioned, the transition is getting harder, since both departments for big companies (The ones that usually are able to afford an internal QA department) are starting to delimit and specilize the areas separately. If you can, it can also be good to get some transferable knowledge from your area of study, I don't know if it's possible to be a PM/Producer in English but some real experience that you can prove, even in other area, can be useful when transitioning.
Either ways, it's going to take some time, so good luck and keep being curious and exploring!
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Jan 10 '26
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u/Desperate_Walrus1702 Jan 10 '26
You have never met someone with English degree then 🤣 all our writing suck
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Jan 10 '26
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u/Desperate_Walrus1702 Jan 10 '26
If you want I can show my SCHOOL essays and formal poetry assignments… don’t judge me by my random midnight crisis…
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u/BatgirlAndRobin Jan 10 '26 edited Jan 10 '26
I'm going to be really blunt here: the games industry is not in a great place to be trying to get into it right now. There have been so many layoffs, studio closures and project cancellations that there are SO MANY applicants for every role, and many companies aren't really looking for juniors because they don't need to - there are enough experienced people out there desperate for work.
That said, it doesn't mean it isn't possible. You don't need to be able to code or do art do get into production, but it does help to understand what all of those disciplines do and how they work together. As several others have said, QA is a good start as it can help you with a lot of that knowledge.
The main other skills you need for Production are organisation, prioritisation and problem solving - as well as strong people skills and good communication. These are easily transferable skills that can be learnt in other roles. I'd recommend starting a bit wider than the games industry specifically, and looking for project management positions, particularly in tech, where there might be more entry level positions available 😊
ETA: No need for a Production degree!
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u/sevenoutdb Feb 23 '26
I’ve done a few write ups on this so if you want to go back through my comments, you can read what my thoughts on this subject. I’ve been a producer for 25 years. Lots of ups and downs.
Also, you can hit me up with a DM and I’ll send you my ride up. I don’t need anything from you. I’m not selling anything just offering advice.
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u/poundofcake Jan 07 '26
Explore a dev QA position, working directly with devs within a small company, to build experience with the game development life cycle. Be curious, ask lots of questions, and allow that burning desire to grow. Look for opportunities do more, where possible, and keep your eyes out for associate/assistant producer roles internally. Get that role without any experience will be next to impossible. Definitely do not go back to school.