8 pro tips about working at Ubisoft Singapore

Working for a triple-A game development studio is kind of like a dream job for many aspiring programmers, artists, and level designers out there. And we know many of you wonder what goes on behind closed doors at those places. So we infiltrated the Ubisoft camp recently to bring you some interesting and hopefully, helpful tips about working there!

1. Specialize your education

With so many diplomas and degrees related to game development popping up, it’s easy to pick up a specific skill set that will net you your dream job. Benjamin Chua, gameplay programmer, is a graduate from the Ubisoft-Digipen program, and recommends attending the latter. “Digipen forces you to be focused,” he said, and focus is key to learning what you need to in a world where you’re spoiled for choice.

2. …or don’t.

A specialized degree helps, but it’s not important, Ghost Recon Online’s art director, Felix Marlo Flor, told us. None of the older employees at Ubisoft Singapore have specific degrees, since those were not available during their schooling days. In fact, it actually helps to have individuals of different backgrounds contribute to the game, giving it a much needed variety in input. What’s more important, according to Flor, is to have good fundamentals. “It starts from that base,” he said. “If you don’t have that, it will be pretty hard to go into any sort of job.”

Senior gameplay programmer, Fairuz Lokman.

3. Know what you want

“Do you actually want to make games?” Chua asks rhetorically. “It’s not some nine to five job where you just come in and work.” Knowing what you want for yourself is not the easiest question to answer, but Flor has a quick fix for that.

“What would you like to do for free?” he asked. “If you want to do games and you know you’re not going to get paid anything, what would you do?” Once you’ve answered that question, you then have to…

4. Know what they want

According to Flor, it’s important to understand the skill set the company is looking for. A person may do really good casual games for the iPhone, but he may not necessarily be a good fit for Ubisoft Singapore since the studio does a lot of triple-A games. “It’s not that it’s low quality,” he said. “it’s just more of the potential skill set.”