Games companies to pitch to

Kind of as the title suggests

Are their companies you can send demo’s to or agencies that can help get your career going, into the gaming field and writing music for them?

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I never did those kind of work before, but I would love too !

But playing video games a lot, I guess the indie developpers, for a lot of them, work in small teams or even alone, so maybe contacting some of those indie studios directly could be a nice starting point in that matter !

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It depends on the studios whether it’s an indie startup or a AAA studio. Gaming companies generally act like tech companies and post their open positions on their website including composer positions (Ubisoft, Warner Bros, Eidos, etc.). Always research the company before contacting them since some studios such as Gameloft don’t hire remote freelance composers. They only hire them as full-time in-house employees to work from their Montreal studio.

AAA companies typically hire big-name composers and seniors in the industry that have shipped big recognizable titles, but if someone is starting out, they can start by participating to game jams to build connections in the gaming industry, gain experience and build a demo. It’s like anything: it’s not who you know, but who knows you and building good connection and relationships will definitely get you far, but will take some time, of course.

Two tips:

  • Learning how to integrate interactive music into a game audio engine such as WWISE or FMOD and knowing how to implement them into Unreal and Unity would definitely help you stand out among other composers and eliminate most of the competition.
  • If you want to showcase your work, they would rather see gaming footage than film footage in your demo reel, ideally gameplay combined with game trailers. If you don’t have any original games in your demo, it’s still common practice to rescore game footage for the demo and putting a disclaimer note that clearly states that it’s not the original score and that you’re only doing it for the demo to showcase your work.

Cheers :slight_smile:
Medhat

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After talking with a game composer in LA. He told me a great way to get yourself out there is sending cold emails and demo reels. Even though not all composers will even reply, it can help get your name out there.

He has also told me how important applying for internships can be with gaming companies when they become available!

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