I am a 3rd year engineering student in India having done few coding adventures and two small game dev projects using Unity and C#. I need guidance on how to make it into Google's game dev team that makes those mini games, There is no mention of this role anywhere on the internet so I am looking for insider information as i heard Google offices have verticals for different apps so I am sure there is one for its doodles and games.

• Has anyone here worked at Google in game development or related fields?

• What skills/experience should I focus on?

• Any tips for networking with Google game devs?

Hey everyone!

I recently graduated with a degree in CS, and I have been lucky enough to get a SWE job at Google.
I have been working at G for about 5 months now, and while I love my job and feel very lucky, I still have a dream about working in game dev (for companies like Rockstar Games, Epic Games, Ubisoft, etc.).

I am currently an Android dev, and I was wondering if any of you have any tips for how I can (in some years) move from being a 'regular' SWE to a game dev. Does Google help at all on my resume? How can I prepare?

Thanks!

hello there! i have been thinking for a while developing games on android. I'm a student which needs money, is doing theoretical stuff which doesn't pay at all, hates web development and feels its crowded. I made small stuff on Unity and Godot, played around with unreal engine and overally i think i have better understanding in games than software development (I've been thinking about making stuff on mac Appstore too in productivity apps but 1. its also saturated, 2. people tend to be picky with their "productive" apps 3. its not addictive 4. its hard to come up with a sell-able idea) but games seem a good fit.

i like to experiment and develop games on my free time (up to 26 hours), play with the gameplay loops and design of the game and find the sweet spot of being addictive, fun and good on content (addictive isn't really bad to be honest, for example Zelda and Genshin impact have a subtle exploration loop which is pretty good) i seen games on android that are pure addiction and mislead marketing and grind that are skinned as a game, defiantly want to make game and not those apps but will try my best to find the good spot.

A. how does the exposure and advertising work?

on Youtube or Twitter, if you post something that gets attention at the time, it will start showing it to more people and gets exposure naturally. are ads the essential part for releasing Apps on google play and they kinda make some money from payment of marketing or can it naturally come up to? if not, are there non payment ways for it? for example testing exposure for free and if it worked then it shows the game on store but takes more percentage of the profit (aka would advertise it for yourself, like Youtube or tweets on Twitter). does app store give analytics too?

about making money from developers, Roblox platform makes money the same way too. they take money from devs to promote the game while constantly showing games on trending which made lotta profit (for giving fake feeling that "your game can go up there!") and advertises learning and free teaching of tools for people to make content, and then pay for the advertisement. i don't expect my games blow up on App store in a day but i want to know, do i get the chance and will google play fare and analyze the exposure or no?

i don't think i would advertise it on other platforms (its not an awaiting AAA game on main devices after all. such games are less than an indie 2d game on steam. definitely you could make a steam quality game and publish on google play but on general people won't pay much attention and await for it, and attention happens inside the platform.

B. percentage cuts

how much will google take on micro-transactions? i hate micro-transactions but seems like ads don't pay much. i should look for other methods. since Godot is free perhaps i go by that (unity ads don't worth more than google?). again can google do free advertisement and take something later on? is it done fairly or will rip you up?

so when you play 20$ that's it? they surly want to take a lot from advertisement pay right? can't we just get money from users and not the devs like some decent human beings? :))

c. do everyone play short simple games or can i make games that need more focus and dopamine rush gets delayed and has a longer gameplay loop?

some make small games with simple loops that people play on bus, on uber or when they are going around (not much on pandemic huh?) but some make kinda longer sometimes story driven 2d games. how is that market doing?

usually competitive games do better on this regard and player maintains their attention but i will be making single player games. puzzle games seem a more cleaner thing to do too