I am about to go to my junior year of high school and in the future I want to pursue a career in game development in Japan. I was originally planning on studying here in Florida at full sail university then find and work a job in Japan, but I noticed it while studying Japanese. I need experience in Japan to learn the language and culture. I was wondering if it’d be a good idea to study abroad in Japan for my game development degree to gain experience with the language and culture and was thinking it would be a cool/fun experience in life to move there for school before going there for a job? What requirements would I need to meet? Anything crucial I should know? Any suggestions on universities I can look into? I have two years to think it out and continue to study the language. All feedback will help, thanks.
5 comments
There’s a ton of realistic advice on this sub about the game development industry in Japan (majority have lower pay, long hours, and hierarchical work structures). Try searching for “game” or “game development” in the sub.
Also, as a rising junior you still have plenty of time to consider a wider range of schools. Why limit yourself to Full Sail? (Also if you want to go down the dev route, highly recommend at least taking AP Comp Sci A in your Junior year so that you can take AP Comp Sci B in your Senior Year)
As for your ambition to be a game developer, have you considered EA, Blizzard, Roblox, etc. here in the states? I know Blizzard does high school internships so try looking into those to dip your toes in the industry.
Go to a legitimate college in the U.S. and go through their study abroad office. Lots of schools in the U.S. offer semester or year-long study abroad programs in Japan.
Full Sail is not a legitimate school. Please do some research online about it. It’s basically a useless scam school.
If you can’t get into a legitimate school, go to community college for two years and transfer to a college in the U.S. Many schools have favorable transfer options. A college admissions sub is a better place to ask about that.
As for game development, Japan isn’t really the place to study and/or start your career. You’ll have better lucky working in the U.S. for a few years and THEN coming to Japan. You’ll get a better job and make more money.
Japan isn’t going anywhere. Don’t make choices based on “Japan.” Make choices based on “is going to this school or studying this program going to help me have a career.”
Don’t go to full sail, I came to this realisation a few months too late, I’m in a very similar situation to you wanting to do game dev in japan
full sail is insanely overpriced and they will rush you through classes without making sure you really understand whats going on. and they charge the tuition in two halves, and you pay the entire first half immediately, so even though I’m transferring to a new school now im already 50k in debt at 16 YEARS OLD, i really wish i had done more research about this school before rushing into it as soon as i got out of highschool
I went to full sail and I didn’t get to hang out with either Zach or Cody. Huge disappointment
Hey! What discipline in Game Development are you interested in? I would echo what others are saying. Go to a good US college, try to get a job or internship at a US game or tech company, then you will be at a much better position to get into a Japanese game company with some experience. Consider Ringling, SCAD, GA Tech, Carnegie Mellon, or other good US colleges near you to pursue interactive media, computer science, or game development type programs. Or consider a more affordable alternative college and use online resources like Gnomon to learn what you need to know.
Target internships in college. Epic Games and Insomniac Games have internships, and studios in North Carolina.
Some colleges may even have study abroad options for a semester in Japan or something. Keep studying Japanese language or take Japanese elective classes/weekend private classes. But focus on portfolio and building yourself up for a lifelong career (wherever you may be).