Parents believe in high salaries in game development, but only a third discuss such a career path with their children

Today, the gaming industry in Russia is receiving more attention than ever before. The government is organizing various programs to support and promote Russian products, and news and analytical portals regularly discuss the most famous projects and their developers.

However, what do parents of the younger generation think about a career in game development today? Are they ready to send their children to study so that they can push the industry forward in the future? Astrum Entertainment, which regularly conducts surveys among players of its projects, found among them one and a half thousand fathers and mothers with children aged 12 to 17 years.

Main Results

It's no surprise that among gamer parents, more than 74% of respondents believe that one can earn as much in game development as in traditionally "lucrative" sectors of the economy, such as banking and industry. Every second adult (45%) would support their child's choice of such a professional path.

What turned out to be unexpected is that the majority of participants in the study (52%) have never raised the topic of the gaming industry as a possible career with their child. Another 21% believe that it is "too early for their children to think about it." (By the way, every third teenager expressed a desire to work in the industry in the future, but only 17% of children have already tried to develop skills on specialized courses.)

Hopes, Concerns, Prejudices

The gaming industry is no longer seen as an unstable direction for building a career: respondents note high income (36%) and demand for specialists (31%) among its advantages. The main barriers for parents turned out to be not personal prejudices ("the unseriousness of the profession" — 12%) but a lack of awareness about educational and career paths.

Most participants in the study are concerned about the lack of clear prospects for such a career in Russia (22%) and high competition (20%), while every fifth admitted that they know nothing about this field.

The data demonstrate a low level of awareness among respondents about which professions comprise game development: only 28% of respondents said they are well oriented in them, while 54% are poorly informed or have never been interested in this issue.

Respondent parents would like their children to choose fields of study in IT. The leaders in preference rankings are developer (30%), game designer (29%), and tester (20%). It is noteworthy that the roles of eSports athlete (17%) and blogger (17%) seem more attractive to parents than the professions of marketer (8%), producer (7%), and sound engineer (6%).

Let Me Be Taught!

The demand for career orientation in the gaming industry from educational institutions has proven to be high: 42% of respondents believe that schools should introduce electives in game development, as this will help children choose their future paths. 71% of respondents believe such courses will help schoolchildren in their future enrollment in universities and career building.

At the same time, adults believe in formal education: according to 54% of participants, it is necessary to work in the industry, and only one in four considers it possible to learn everything in practice. The best educational platforms, parents believe, are specialized schools and electives (45%), as well as state universities (28%). However, 8 out of 10 respondents are unaware of the existing educational programs at universities.