VOA TV – Aiming for Work in the Video Game Industry

Jason Kenyon loves playing video games. But his parents think he spends too much time with the games. Jason disagrees.

JASON KENYON: “Well, to say the least, they didn’t like it very much. They said, stop and focus on a real career.”

Jason is one of a growing number of students seeking jobs in the video gaming and technology industry. He attends Montgomery College in the state of Maryland.

JASON KENYON: “When I finish with my bachelor’s degree probably two or so years from now, I may be able to find work pretty easily compared to most other industries. So I think I’ll have a good future.”

Deborah Solomon teaches at the college. Solomon says the federal government is spending millions of dollars on gaming technology to help find and train workers for different agencies.

DEBORAH SOLOMON: “The future of video gaming is very bright because the game technology is bleeding into virtually every other industry — from military to homeland security to health care, biotechnology, advertising, even news.”

For example, the United States Army developed video games to help young Americans explore careers in the Army. David Versaw is chief financial officer of WILL Interactive, a game development company.

DAVID VERSAW: “It’s a great medium to reach people. People in academics are starting to understand the power of gaming. The current state of the economy has slowed things down a little bit here recently. But we are busier now than we ever have been.”

Brian Doyle understands the power of gaming. He started an educational video game business called Let Me Think! games.

BRIAN DOYLE: “The millennials and post-millennials learn differently from previous generations. And we need to adapt new methods of teaching them. And video games are one of those methods that have been shown to be very, very effective.”

Jen Tonon found a job with a game development company after studying at Montgomery College.

JEN TONON: “As a female in this industry, there aren’t a lot of us right now, but it is growing.”

Experts say companies making serious games will still be only a small part of the industry. But they believe that market share will expand as companies seek out young people who have grown up playing video games. I’m Bob Doughty.