Why Gaming Is the Industry to Watch in 2024 for Career Progression

Last year, with inflation squeezing wallets, households and individuals reduced their spend on non-essentials, and gaming companies felt the pinch.

Add to this, a return to ordinary life post-pandemic and supply chain issues leading to delayed launches, and you have a perfect storm for an entire industry.

2023’s big shift

However, things have changed dramatically. In 2023, some key releases helped buoy up hardware and game sales in the U.S., which were up 10% year-on-year by the end of September.

Widely reported is how Starfield boosted Xbox Series X sales by over 1,000% on Amazon, and Nintendo’s revenue surged 50% after the May release of the much-anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

More recently in October, exclusive PS5 title Spider-Man 2 sold over 2.5 million units in its first 24 hours, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game in PlayStation history.

Optimism is in the air.

The 2024 rebound

This positive trend is also predicted to be echoed across consumer spending in mobile gaming, which is estimated to rebound 4% to $111.4 billion in 2024, close to the COVID-era highs of $115.8 billion. That’s according to a new report from Data.ai, which combines consumer and market data and provides insights powered by AI.

It predicts the U.S. to be the largest driver of spending growth in 2023, accounting for 40% of aggregate year-on-year spend. This is followed by Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany and the UK.

Looking at genres, it flags RPG, Match, Party, and Casino categories as fueling the most spending in 2024, and overall paints a positive picture for the industry resuming a more moderate growth trajectory, similar to pre-COVID times.

Investors have been watching gaming start-ups closely too. While VC investment in all tech has fallen dramatically since the highs of 2020 and 2021, gaming start-ups are on track to exceed 2019’s $3.7 billion by the end of 2023.

In Q3 of 2023, Microsoft cleared its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, while in 2024, the new iPhone Pro 15 model will introduce AAA games includingAssassin’s Creed Mirage and Resident Evil, and Netflix is launching cloud gaming on its platform in the U.S.

Savvy job hunters are looking at both new and established gaming companies, which are hiring for key roles in 2024, like these three from the HackerNoon Job Board.

Software Engineer II, Electronic Arts, Orlando

Gaming giant Electronic Arts is hiring for a highly collaborative Software Engineer, who can help the organization push its mobile games to the next level. This hybrid role is based out of Orlando and involves working on technical solutions covering main aspects of game development, driving features, optimizations, tools, and technologies, collaborating with other domain owners to integrate and develop features and technologies, and providing feedback, guidance, and solutions for improvements in an agile environment. Proficiency in C++ and Java, and at least two years of software development experience is required, as is confidence in multi-threaded programming, job systems, and debugging, plus memory management, multiple processor use, and run-time optimization. If you have a Bachelor’s degree or higher in computer science or a related field, or equivalent professional experience, apply today.

Sr. Software Engineer, Fanatics, Los Angeles

Leading global digital sports platform Fanatics is hiring a Senior Software Engineer as the company builds its Sportsbook and iGaming platform. The successful candidate will craft intuitive and efficient interfaces, as well as scalable backend services that cater to the unique needs of the collectibles industry. By collaborating with cross-functional teams, you’ll deliver cutting-edge solutions enabling the organization to stay at the forefront of innovation. A bachelor’s degree in computer science or computer engineering is required, as is at least two years’ experience in AWS, over five years’ experience in CI/CD frameworks and implementing developmental best practices, and front-end development, plus over three years’  in back-end API development. So if you’re exceptional in HTML, CSS, JS and proficient in Python and SQL, this could be the right fit for you.

Product Designer - CapCut, ByteDance, San Jose

CapCut is an all-in-one video editing app that gives its users a chance to express themselves with basic features like text, stickers, filters, colors and music, plus more advanced features like keyframe animation, smooth slow-motion effects, chroma key, Picture-in-Picture (PIP), and stabilization. Part of the ByteDance group, yes the ones behind TikTok, Help and Resso, the organization is hiring for a Product Designer to build a U.S. design team, act as a localization specialist, lead research projects and mentor junior designers. The ideal candidate will have a bachelor’s degree or above, great communications skills, an open-mind and a global vision, as well as over three years experience designing UX for tool products across mobile and web, and experience with market research, and user interview and product usability testing. See more here.

- By Amanda Kavanagh