Storytime
You like video games, you play everything you can get your hands on. At some point you get your hands on Door Kickers 2 - Task Force North, you start playing it and then you notice that the music sounds excellent and fits the game's setting. The weapon sounds are so distinct, you can hear if it’s an AK or an M4.
At that moment you’d think: “Hmm, it would be cool to make sounds for video games” or “If I become a music composer, all the girls will want to be with me” (I hate to let you down, but the latter isn't going to happen)
The good news is that, if this is something you want to do, you can do it. You have all the resources available on the internet to learn everything you need to know.
So, now you have spent a few years perfecting the craft, watching all the tutorials you could find on the internet, recording all the birds in your neighborhood and now you’re at a place where you think you could really make money with your craft.
The next thing you do is search for a list of video game studios in your city, country, or even worldwide.
You’ve sent 300 emails to game development studios, and possible clients, letting them know that you can make awesome music and sounds for video games.
In your mind, you feel like “This is it! There's no chance I won't land a job now.”
Weeks have passed, months have passed, and no response to your email.
What do you do when nobody responds? Do you give up? Do you send them another email?
Well, fortunately, there is an alternative to this, that will get you clients, and that is finding your tribe.
The Power of a Community
In our case, a community is a group of individuals involved in the video game industry, such as game developers, sound designers, artists, musicians, and enthusiasts, who come together to collaborate, share knowledge, and sometimes meet and have a beer. (This is where the real connections happen).
It is important to understand that everything you do as an audio professional, or any professional for that matter, in this industry, needs to happen in the context of a community.
This is the frame from which you need to operate, you will be seen as one of them, and this will convey trust, which is important in this business. People talk among each other, so it is easier for people to talk about you as well.
Bear in mind that this is not a quick way to get clients thingy. You will need to contribute to the community, get involved in activities, share your knowledge, and at some point you’ll get results, then something magical will happen: the compound effect.
The compound effect is all about the magic of small steps or actions adding up over time. It's like planting seeds of effort that grow into big, beautiful results with patience and consistency.
Here are a few things you can do once you’ve found your community:
Give them free materials, maybe some free SFX or a free song. This way you can help some developers who are just starting out, and in the future, they may return for more music from you.
Educate people about your craft. Game development is a complicated process involving many disciplines, and there is so much time in a day. You can do this by doing a presentation or writing blog articles talking about how you are doing audio for games.
Organize meetups. This is a good opportunity to have presentations about what you do, or have a drink and get to know people working in the industry.
Nowadays communities exist in different forms. There are many online communities dedicated to game development on Discord, Slack, Facebook, Online Forums, etc.
Regardless of which social media platform you prefer, there is undoubtedly a dedicated community focused on game development.
If you’re in a town where there is no gamedev community, you can create one yourself. This will put you in a position to talk to many developers, which in time will open up opportunities for collaboration.
We all want to be part of something. A community is a place where you can share your passion for game development and find kindred spirits who share your enthusiasm. In essence, a community is like a family where you can thrive, grow, and belong.