Internships 2015?

I’m hoping that by now you all have read this posting on our website in regards to our Internship program for 2015:

“To all of our enthusiastic students and future developers: Insomniac Games will not be offering summer internships in 2015. We absolutely believe in the educational benefit that internships provide and pride ourselves on delivering an internship experience that is of great value and substance, not only to the students, but to our studio. Due to the timing of our current project schedule on yet to be announced titles, we don’t believe we can offer a truly awesome learning experience that you’ll be bragging about to your peers in the fall. But wait! Rest assured we will have internships when the timing is right so we encourage you to keep an eye out on our site for opportunities in the future. We hope you find an amazing internship this summer and wish you the best of luck in your search!”

The Insomniac Games Development Team

I’ve had several people come up to me either in person or on email and say that they really appreciated our honest stance on why we were not having interns this summer. We felt that we did not have the timing right internally to make it the “must have” internship experience that we hope all our interns have. That being said I’d like to talk a bit about why I think/feel that internships are SO important to the student population in the games industry. It’s the one thing that I think you can do to REALLY prepare yourself for the awesome experience that is game development.

Ok- so why is that? Well- for starters – you are in the building. Interns are IN the space. You can literally see what is happening. Where are people sitting, how is the team physically spaced? How are people moving around in this space? Are there informal meetings happening in the corners? In the kitchens? Is it super dark or are the shades thrown up to let in the light? You are on emails – so I sincerely hope you are reading EVERYTHING that comes through your inbox, even if you think it does not pertain to your immediate duties – READ IT. You will learn so much about what others are working on, and the thought processes that are going on with department heads and leads by those emails. It should be giving you a fuller picture of how the pieces are going to fit together – or if they are not- why and what is happening to fix it.

Secondly – you are getting to work on a game! How amazing is that! You are working on a project that (hopefully) will see the light of day. It’s not a student project! You have coworkers who potentially created some of your favorite gaming experiences! WHAT? The dude who helped create the grind mechanics for Sunset is right over there. The artist that created a few of the incredibly memorable environments in Ratchet and Clank is around the corner, and the two who actually thought up the idea to kill off Hale are down the hall. What I am saying here is that it’s time to be brave, to be bold; walk up and introduce yourself. Don’t do it when they are working, but when they are in the kitchen, if you ride the elevators with them, or you are waiting for the coffee to brew- say “hello”. This is your chance to talk with them and have the conversations that you got into the games industry to have, and to make connections. As we all know connections are huge in this industry. I’ve talked about it a bunch of times, but I cannot stress this enough- MAKE THOSE CONNECTIONS. The guy sitting next to you may be able to send an email that helps get you, your first job.

It’s also time to hone your skills. You are working with some of the brightest people around so step up it up! If you have a question – ask it. If you want to know how something works or how to achieve an effect, ask. This is your chance to improve your game (literally) with the help of industry vets. We know that in taking on interns there is a ramp up time, and questions to be asked, answered and followed up with. It’s not a surprise to us that you probably won’t finish everything as quickly as those sitting around you. It’s the price we gladly pay for having an intern around while helping to raise the bar of the next generation of game developers. This is a way we can give back to the community that we all love.

These are just a few of the many reasons of why an internship is so important and why we believe that if you’re going to offer an internship, it must have value and give you a meaningful experience. So, while we don’t have internships available this year, we know we’ll have them again when our projects provide an opportunity for you to learn and grow and inspire you! So keep your eyes peeled on this website for opportunities, and best of luck on getting an internship with any of the amazing studios that are out there!

Until next time!