Two Years in AAA: What I Wish I Knew as a Graduate
summary
Two years in AAA produce a clear career arc: one-year internship leads to an associate role after negotiating pay and a permanent position, work focuses on live‑service event systems for an eight‑year‑old title, and a weekly 20th‑anniversary event is expanded into NPC drops with new outfits repainted assets using Photoshop and proprietary tools. A tug‑of‑war mechanic is proposed for VR deathmatches to give non‑shooters a role, prior roles include supervising 55 staff managed across seven Santa photo sets, and mentorship plus travel scholarships (GDC) accelerate growth.
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chapters (18)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:17Who am I? Penelope Davison! Game Designer at EA Firemonkeys on The Sims Freeplay
- 1:14Disclaimer - Survivorship Bias
- 4:33My adventure thus far...
- 5:44Parkour Coach
- 6:34Area Supervisor of Santa Photography
- 8:07Zero Latency pt. 1
- 9:07Internships
- 14:37Mind the Gap 1. Cumulative Experience
- 15:14Potential and Junior Roles
- 17:15Networking 101 - Why bother?
- 20:58Note about Networking - Look for Help! • Travel Grants/Scholarships
- 22:27Networking 101 - Pitching yourself
- 24:05Networking 101 - Having a Conversation
- 26:22Networking 101 - Etiquette
- 28:02Interview at a AAA Studio Design Position 1. Application
- 39:57Professional Contacts and Mentorship • You're not alone. Generally people have done this before • Professional networks != friend networks. • Mentors! Inside and/or outside your Workplace. • Shared experience to help you contextualize and set professional goals
- 41:29Live Service Design
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