Most Prominent Potential Employers in the Video Game Industry

Is a job creating video games something you’re interested in? To that end, the video game industry is now hiring. You can find a job in the industry if you are a programmer, artist, writer, marketer, or player.

New video game studios open up all the time, and with them come opportunities for skilled workers to join exciting new game development teams. One may choose from a wide variety of careers in game creation. That’s great news, but it also means that you have a ton of alternatives when it comes to video game publishers.

We’re going to take a look at the past, present, and future of some of the most influential names in the video gaming industry (i.e., their top games). You may be familiar with a few of them, while others may be less well-known. Whatever the case may be, if you’re serious about breaking into the game development industry, these are the firms you need to be aware of. As a result, let’s get started right now.

| Epic Games, USA

Epic Games, which was founded by Tim Sweeny in 1991, is a renowned triple-A video game publisher and developer. Formerly known as Potomac Computer Systems, the company rebranded as Epic MegaGames in 1991 after the success of their debut game for Microsoft’s DOS operating system, ZZT.

Gears of War and Fortnite are only two of the 60 video games developed and published by Epic Games since the company’s founding in 1991. For those in the know, Epic Games is also synonymous with the Unreal Engine, a robust and freely accessible gaming engine developed by the company. Games like Rocket League and Infinity Blade were created by its subsidiary studios, which are now owned by them.

Notable Video Games:

• Gears of War
• Rocket League
• Fortnite
• Infinity Blade

| Riot Games, USA

Riot Games dominates game development and esports. League of Legends for PC and Mac was the company’s debut game. Riot Games developed and monetized League of Legends after its 2009 debut instead of launching a new project.

League of Legends esports leagues were part of this growth. Tencent Holdings Ltd. acquired Riot Games in 2011. League of Legends had 100 million monthly players between 2013 – 2016.

Notable Video Games

• Valorant
• League of Legends

| Nintendo, Japan

Nintendo is the world’s oldest gaming company. In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Karuta, a company that made cards.Nintendo developed video gaming consoles early on. The 1977 “Color-TV” console was their first.

The Super Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda helped Nintendo survive the 1980s video game slump. The Nintendo Entertainment System was also launched. This Japanese company’s system has evolved into the Nintendo Switch.

Notable Video Games

• The Super Mario Brothers
• Animal Crossing
• The Legend of Zelda
• Super Smash Bros
• Pokemon
• Metroid

| Konami, Japan

Kagemasa Kōzuki formed Konami in 1969, but they didn’t start making video games until 1978. Konami made Frogger and Metal Gear arcade games from 1978 to 1991. They also released Nintendo Entertainment System and home computer games.

Konami Industrial Co. became Konami Co. Ltd. in 1991. Konami expanded into PlayStation and Yu-Gi-Oh! collectable cards in the next decade. Konami, the multinational behemoth, has a video game subsidiary named “Konami Digital Entertainment.”

Notable Video Games:

• Frogger
• Metal Gear
• Scramble
• Dance Dance Revolution

| Sega, Japan

Sega Enterprises began in 1965. In 1965, Nihon Goraku Bussan bought Rosen Enterprises, a picture booth firm, and renamed it Sega Enterprises. Following the renaming, the firm sold only arcade games such as pinball machines and arcade shooters. Sega’s SG-1000 system debuted in 1983.

The system fared well in its early years but never became as popular as Sega’s games. Sonic the Hedgehog debuted in 1991 to promote Sega’s Genesis platform. Sonic the Hedgehog, a top-selling video game series, represents Sega’s success.

Notable Video Games:

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Kingdom Conquest
• Dragon Force
• Golden Axe

| Valve, USA

Valve’s developer or publisher role came first? Valve, a video game developer, and yet they’re close. Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington, former Microsoft workers, founded Valve Corporation in Kirkland, Washington, in 1996. Valve release Half-Life two years later.

Five years later, Valve published Steam and a year after, Half-Life 2. Counter-Strike and Team Fortress have made them a multi-billion dollar publishing and development firm.

Notable Video Games:

• Half-Life
• Team Fortress
• Counter-Strike
• Portal
• Dota

| HalfBrick Studios, Australia

Halfbrick Studios was created in 2001 and mostly produced licensed console and mobile games. Early video games adapted Nickelodeon TV shows.

Halfbrick’s early 2010 mobile games like JetPack Joyride and Fruit Ninja are famous. Halfbrick added console and VR compatibility to such franchises. Halfbrick is an independent firm with 50-200 employees, despite its success.

Notable Video Games:

• JetPack Joyride
• Dan The Man
• Fruit Ninja
• Monster Dash
• Battle Racing Stars

| Square Enix, Japan

“Square” and “Enix” merged in 2003 to become Square Enix. A Japanese power line construction company’s software division launched Square in 1983. Square released Final Fantasy in 1987, their most successful role-playing game.

Enix began producing and releasing console games in 1975. Enix published the popular Dragon Quest series, making Enix and Square rivals. The 2003 merger combined numerous prominent gaming titles under one corporation.

Notable Video Games:

• Final Fantasy
• Tomb Raider
• Dragon Quest
• Chrono Trigger
• Kingdom Hearts

| Coffee Stain Studios, Sweden

Coffee Stain Studios is a very new company. Students at Skövde University started it in 2010. That year, Coffee Stain Studios released its debut game, “I Love Strawberries,” on the Apple App Store. Epic Games’ modding competition launched them. Sanctum was a tower defense/first-person shooter mod. 2011.

Goat Simulator, published in 2014, made over $10 million in revenue by 2016. Satisfactory, another simulation game by Coffee Stain Studios, was launched in early 2019. Satisfactory had half a million users within three months and one million within a year.

Notable Video Games:

• Sanctum
• Goat Simulator
• Satisfactory

| Rockstar Games, USA

Take-Two Interactive founded Rockstar Games Corporation in 1998. Take-Two Interactive bought numerous BMG Interactive assets before launching Rockstar Games. Take-Two acquired Grand Theft Auto.

Three BMG Interactive staffers joined Take-Two after the takeover. Sam Houser, Dan Houser, and Jamie King formed Take-Two Interactive subsidiary Rockstar Games Inc. Rockstar Games released nearly 100 additional games, several of which were best-sellers.

Notable Video Games:

• Red Dead Redemption
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Max Payne

| Noodlecake Studios, Canada

Not all game developers must publish on all platforms. Noodlecake Studios, founded in 2011, specializes in mobile games. Their Apple App Store games were editor-recommended. Noodlecake develops and publishes independently.

Noodlecake’s games Alto’s Odyssey, Chameleon Run, and Getting Over It With Benny Foddy topped the Google Play and Apple App Store rankings.

Notable Video Games:

• Alto’s Odyssey
• Flipping Legend
• Absolute Drift
• Bouncy Hoops
• Getting Over It with Benny Foddy
• Chameleon Run
• Super Stickman Golf,

| Unknown Worlds Entertainment, USA

Charlie Cleveland started Unknown Worlds Entertainment in 2001. Natural Selection was their first Half-Life mod. The mod’s popularity inspired Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Natural Selection 2 debuted in 2012.

Subnautica, their next project, was published in early access in 2014. The 2018 complete release sold five million copies in two years after critical praise. Unknown Worlds envisioned a 2021 Subnautica sequel. Subnautica: Below Zero was highly lauded for its design, gameplay, and plot.

Notable Video Games:

• Natural Selection
• Zen of Sudoku
• Subnautica
• Subnautica: Below Zero

| Naughty Dog, USA

Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin founded Naughty Dog in 1989. Gavin and Rubin, who formed JAM Software in 1984, changed the moniker to “Naughty Dog” while working as game developers. Universal Interactive Studios signed an agreement with Naughty Dog to distribute Crash Bandicoot in 1996, after the 1994 release of Way of the Warrior.

Three additional Crash Bandicoot games followed its popularity. In the 2000s, Naughty Dog published The Last of Us and Uncharted. Naughty Dog won “Studio of the Year” from VGX in 2013 in recognition of their accomplishments in gaming.

Notable Video Games:

• Way of the Warrior
• Crash Bandicoot
• Uncharted
• The Last of Us

| Mojang, Sweden

Markus “Notch” Persson established “Mojang Specs” in 2009. That year, Mojang released Minecraft, its debut game. Minecraft gained 10 million users in two years. Minecraft became the world’s best-selling video game in 2019 with 238 million accounts.In 2014, Mojang was bought by Microsoft, although it stayed in Sweden.

With the purchase, Jens Bergensten became Mojang’s CEO. Mojang released several games while developing Minecraft. Crown and Council is a 2016 turn-based strategy game. The strategic card game Caller’s Bane, originally known as Scrolls, was released by Mojang in 2018.

Notable Video Games:

• Minecraft
• Crown and Council
• Caller’s Bane
• Minecraft Dungeons

| Activision Blizzard, USA

Mediatonic CEO Bobby Kotik started in 1990. He renamed Mediatonic to Activision the next year. Activision bought numerous companies and their games over the decade. In 2008, Activision merged with Vivendi Games, its largest purchase.

Because of the merger, the company formerly known as “Blizzard Entertainment” is now known as “Activision Blizzard” and is owned by Vivendi Games. Activision released hundreds of games, including Call of Duty. After the merger, Activision Blizzard published AAA titles like Overwatch and Destiny 2.

Notable Video Games:

• World of Warcraft
• Starcraft
• Hearthstone
• Call of Duty
• Overwatch
• Guitar Hero
• Diablo

Closing

This is a partial list of video game businesses. Before applying, examine additional video game firms of all sizes and work cultures. This is particularly true for non-American enterprises in the European video game industry or video game publishers (such as Electronic Arts or Sony Computer Entertainment). You may desire a local startup or a small staff to help expand. You may desire to build your own game firm and dominate the market.

This is only the game development stage. Check out our game developer job guide, learn to code with Zenva, and create a portfolio. Learn about the variations between portable games, mobile platforms, console games, internet games, and so on, since this might lead to specialization that affects which firms you should worry about.

We wish you well in your game development careers, no matter which firm you work for.