When Cedric and Gordon asked if I would be interested in speaking at this commencement ceremony, I immediately accepted the invitation. The reason, and I want to state this right up front so none of you will have any ongoing suspicions that I might be neutral or unbiased, is that I am an avid proponent of the DigiPen program, and I think that will become very apparent as I talk for the next few minutes.
Any self-respecting commencement speech begins with a congratulatory message to the graduates. I’ll get around to that in a few minutes, but I wanted to start first with a congratulatory message to the battalion of supporting parents, grandparents, spouses, and perhaps even children standing behind every graduating student here tonight. DigiPen is widely known to be an extremely vigorous program, and you have all made extreme sacrifices of both time and money to help get these graduates into these funny clothes today. I think it’s appropriate for you to ask, “What did I get for my time and money?”
The game industry is almost certainly an enigma to those of you who are parents and grandparents of these graduates. In fact, there’s a very good chance it is an enigma to those of you who are big brothers and sisters as well. How can little Timmy really hope to build a career, support a family, save for his retirement, and pay for our retirement by playing video games with giant sticky balls that roll around picking up cows and mailboxes? I’m here tonight to tell you that all those hours of Dungeons and Dragons, Super Mario, Magic the Gathering, and collectible Warhammer miniatures are the foundation of a stable, vibrant, exciting, and perhaps best of all for you, extremely fulfilling career.
You’ve all walked through Target or Best Buy and seen the thousands of video and computer game titles filling the shelves, and it’s probably apparent that somebody out there is buying all of this stuff. But engineers and animators who are trained in real-time animation and simulation are increasingly sought after in other industries as well. During the past five years, we’ve seen an explosion in software development aimed at bringing some of the technologies and design knowledge of the video game industry to other professions. Today, games are used to train soldiers, assist surgeons, educate children, and teach social policy to current and future government officials. Games are fun, and we are finding that people learn more quickly, and retain what they learn more effectively, when real-time simulation technology and solid game design principals are applied to the task. This blooming industry is called “serious games,” and while most of the graduates here today probably don’t envision a career making new versions Princess Peach’s Urban Planning Simulator, they will be the pioneers of the technologies and techniques that others will use to educate the next generation of professionals and policy makers.
That’s great, but seriously, games are why we are here. Your children, grandchildren, and spouses are here today because they love games. They played games when they were kids, they played games through high school, they never went outside to play in the sunshine when you told them to, and now it looks like they are going to be making and playing game for the rest of their lives. And, of course, you should be very, very happy about that!
Here are some interesting numbers about this industry. According to the independent research firm ABI Research, the videogame industry is expected to double over the next 5 years, from 32 billion in 2005 to 65 billion in 2011. The growth in online gaming is projected to grow 95% per year over that period of time, and is expected to dominate the industry by 2011. While existing game markets such as the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Korea continue to grow strongly, the real growth is expected in several very large emerging markets, including China, Southeast Asia, and India. It’s also worth noting that the game industry continued to see rapid growth and profitability from 2002 – 2005 while the rest of the technology industry was suffering in the post dot-com doldrums. As with Hollywood in the 30s and other forms of entertainment during economic downturns, the video game industry has shown resiliency in both strong and weak economic periods. In short, this is a huge industry that is growing rapidly, and you should feel very comfortable with your investment in a DigiPen education.
But economic stability is not enough. I understand that there are excellent career opportunities in the travel, health care, hospitality, and financial industries as well. Many people do not understand just how demanding the DigiPen program is, not only in terms of the intellectual difficulty of the material, but also in terms of the sheer number of hours that the successful student must put in. And, of course, the game industry itself is known to be extremely demanding. We’ve all heard the horror stories of 7-day work weeks and 16-hour days. So why? Why choose this, when there are so many other options?
Those of you who are wearing the gowns and hats in here tonight know the answer to this question, and I’m going to make sure that everyone who helped you get here knows it as well, because when you are choosing your career, you are essentially choosing your life. And they want you to have a good life, a life that is more than economic stability and earnings potential. The graduates in here tonight signed up for all of this simply because they are passionate about games, and the thought of actually getting paid to do this stuff is astounding. And how fortunate for all of us, that they live at a time when they can take that passion and choose a path that is more than simply meeting the financial demands of the next 40 years. That they can, instead, pursue a career doing something they truly love, can get out of bed in the morning (or, okay, the afternoon) and face a day of fresh challenges, working with people they admire and respect to create something they can truly be proud of. There are so few people in the world who truly have that opportunity, and fewer still with the courage to pursue it. Every graduate here today is one of those fortunate and bold few, and you should be very proud of your role in helping them get here. So congratulations, parents, grandparents, and spouses. You’ve invested in a fulfilled life.
Now that I’ve resoundingly patted your support team on the back, I guess I should say a few words to those of you in the robes and hats. First, and above all else, congratulations to you on achieving this goal. I’m familiar enough with the DigiPen program to know that it is an accurate microcosm of the game industry, and familiar enough with the game industry to understand a bit about what the past four years have been like for you. Nobody, in any profession or degree program, has worked harder than you have for the past four years. Hold your heads up and be intensely proud of that, for no matter what you do after you leave this room today, you’ve proven to your family and the world that you have the talent, tenacity, spirit, intellect, and sheer guts to make it to the goal.
So what do you get for your time and money? USA Today noted that DigiPen was becoming known as the Harvard of the video game degree programs, and you can expect to see that results of the reputation during your job search. You are not only proficient with latest cutting-edge technologies and development techniques, but you also have a solid grounding in fundamental computer science theory and traditional animation techniques. It is not just the applicability of your training that makes you so valuable to a game development company, but also the depth of your education in the fundamentals, your experience in bringing large team-oriented projects to fruition, and, perhaps most of all, your passion for your craft.
It’s a great time to be joining the game industry, despite what you hear from the jaded old-schoolers from time to time. Remember that these guys, and I include myself in this group, joined the industry at a time far before it was really a legitimate way to make a living. The fact that it has matured to the point of being able to support scholarships, research grants, and entire colleges, has taken many of us by surprise, and I think there is a natural tendency to pine away after the “good old days” when game companies were small and independent. But let’s not allow the old-schoolers to get carried away with this. Games today are orders of magnitude more polished, immersive, and (usually) fun than they were 10 years ago, and they reach a vastly larger global audience. New technologies, such as massive server networks and latency-tolerant world simulation, have enabled the creation of games that could not even be considered in past decades. And there is an emerging “indie developer” scene that should server to inject the industry with fresh gameplay ideas, distribution, and pricing models, serving the same role as indie movie production studios.
You have the strongest head start you can possibly have in this industry, and now I am going to challenge you to take that education, experience, and passion, and go do something grand with it. I talked earlier about how fortunate you were to be working in an industry that excited you, that would challenge you every day of your life, and that is unique to your generation. Now it’s your turn to show that you can take that opportunity and run as far and fast as you can with it. You’ve been playing games all of your life, and learning how to make them for four years. You will surrounded by art, music, creative thinkers, and brilliant engineers every day. The game industry does a pretty good job of recognizing excellence, and you have everything you need to be one of the giants – the Sid Meiers, Will Wrights, John Carmacks. Always remember that your career will be defined by the games you make, rather than the title on your business card.
Let me repeat that. Your career will be defined by the games you make. So choose to associate yourself with companies and games that match your own ambition, quality, and ethical standards.
I’ll end by paraphrasing the famous Japanese game designer, Masaya Matsurra: Go forth, and do weird and difficult things!
– Jeff Strain