Not Just a Portfolio: The Role of Formal Education in the Game Development Industry
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7494/human.2026.25.1.8037Keywords:
academic education, gamedev, soft skills, professionalization, mentoring, labor marketAbstract
The debate on preparation for work in the game development industry often emphasizes individual portfolios and self-directed learning while downplaying the importance of formal higher education. This article examines the role of academic education in the professionalization of game developers, with particular attention to soft skills, teamwork, and mentoring. The empirical basis of the study is a qualitative and quantitative analysis of 100 job advertisements published by Polish game development studios in September–October 2025. The research adopts a mixed-methods approach combining inductive content analysis with frequency analysis of competency requirements.
The results indicate that although higher education is not always explicitly required in recruitment discourse, the profile of expected competencies closely corresponds to learning outcomes typically associated with academic education. In particular, employers consistently emphasize relational and organizational skills such as teamwork, cross-departmental communication, the ability to receive and apply feedback, and functioning within complex project structures. The analysis also highlights the importance of mentoring and iterative feedback as mechanisms for transferring tacit knowledge characteristic of game production processes.
The findings suggest that academic education functions as an environment that supports the development of social, reflective, and interdisciplinary competencies that are difficult to acquire solely through self-directed learning. Formal education therefore appears not as an alternative to portfolio-based evaluation but as a complementary framework that facilitates the professionalization of game developers within the contemporary organization of work in the game development industry.
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