If you want an edge over the competition, it’s important to get timely and accurate information about what game studios and teams are looking for now. Bonus points if you can get advice from someone who’s doing the actual hiring!

If that’s what you’re looking for, then you’re in luck today. That’s exactly what we have in store for you today. We had a chat with a game director that has had multiple years in the industry and has been involved with a lot of hiring decisions.

About the interviewee

The Whole Tomato team had a chat with Julian Bock (called Jules by friends and colleagues), an expert figure in the game development industry with almost two decades of experience. Based in Germany, Bock is currently working as the managing director at NUKKLEAR. Until just this March, he was the Director for Product Development at PLAION, the game development and publishing company responsible for the recently released and highly-acclaimed Kingdom Come Deliverance II.

We asked for his insights and comments about what’s going on in the game development industry and how that has affected how they look for new team members for their projects. 

Current State of the Game Development Industry

Jog hunting in the game development industry in 2025 is highly competitive owing mostly to the post-pandemic slump and the proliferation of AI-assisted development. These two factors have slowed down demand while at the same time increasing individual efficiency, making the competition tight, especially for new developers breaking into the industry.

For context, the pandemic spurred unprecedented growth (13% rate of return from 2017–2021), but expansion tapered dramatically to around 1% from 2021–2023. Now, it is only projecting 5% through 2028.

And for aspiring game developers or fresh graduates, the state of the game industry is one of the major (albeit uncontrollable) factors that decide how difficult it is to score your first role or job in as a gamedev.

Bock explains that during the pandemic, “we had a lot more time for entertainment.” But when the lockdowns gradually eased up, the demand for games slowed down but the companies and businesses still had to realize the investments made during the pandemic boom.

“We came to the point that a lot of more money was invested into this obviously booming industry which led to projects being started, a lot of more publishers, and a lot more developers.”

But inevitably, the market stabilizes and investments slow down. So this forms a problem for new developers wherein there had been still a lot of games being published because companies still had the budget from pandemic investments, but at the same time, there were fewer and fewer players than before.

The Reality of Modern Game Development Teams

Game development is fundamentally a team sport that requires long-term commitment. Most major projects operate on 3-5 year development cycles, with studios relying heavily on a stable core team of experienced developers. “It’s very important, in my view, that you start with a very strong, reliable core team,” explains Bock, who has managed teams ranging from 5 to 200+ people across various projects, including the recently released Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

This doesn’t mean newcomers are locked out—quite the opposite. Studios need a healthy mix of senior, regular, and junior developers for both cost reasons and for maintaining a pipeline of talent. The key is understanding where you fit in this ecosystem and how to position yourself for growth.

What It Really Takes to Get Hired in 2025

Tip 1: Scout the team you’re trying to join and see what you bring to the table.

Companies will always look for the best fit in terms of team composition. Regardless of your current skill level and experience, Bock also emphasizes how important it is to understand the team dynamics and composition of a usual game development team.

Teams can’t just be full of seniors—that becomes extremely expensive fast. There will always be space for less experienced devs. As mentioned above, studios need a healthy mix of senior, regular, and junior developers for both cost reasons and to have access to a broader set of skills.

So how to stand out as a junior dev? Understand the company and show them your potential and willingness to learn. 

Bock advises: “For the young people reading this, it’s important to know if you are being hired in a company,  [understand that] as a young developer, you can develop yourself while learning on the job, learning from the seniors, and getting insight of the realities from leadership.” 

If you are able to research and scout the company and the team look for answers to these questions:

• How big is the company I am joining? 
• Is it more of an indie or a mid to large-sized company?
• Do I know if the company is in the middle of producing a new game? 
• Are they looking for any specific specialization? Or are they filling in general gaps in the workplace?
• Do my skills fit the current project of the company? 
• What do I know about the genre of games being developed?
• Upon joining, what do I provide the company? Can this change if they train me?

Tip 2: Cultural Fit vs. Technical Skills

Another key consideration that Julian shared is to mind not only what skills you bring to the table, but also how you bring those to work. The output and pace of the project is dictated by the team building it. As someone who wants in on a project, you need to have certain skills and knowledge (or affinity for them), as well as a compatible mindset when joining the team.

Getting to keep a job is just as important as bagging it the first time around. A nail that sticks out gets hammered. Know your role, learn how to collaborate, and see how you can try out new things without slowing down your teammates in the process.

Ask yourself not only what the company can do for me, but also what can I do for the company—keeping it balanced, of course.

Tip 3: Flexibility is Your Greatest Asset

In connection with the last tip, as someone starting out in a new team, the most important trait for new developers isn’t necessarily technical prowess—it’s flexibility. “What is really important for young developers is being flexible,” Bock emphasizes. This means being willing to start at an appropriate level, prove your value and potential, and then negotiate your next step based on performance.

The games industry isn’t the highest-paying tech sector. With the same skillset and affinity for coding, developers who prioritize maximum compensation might find better opportunities in fintech or enterprise software, for instance. 

However, game development offers something unique: the opportunity to create experiences that generate genuine emotional responses in players. As Bock puts it, “You’re delivering an experience to the player… you’re delivering emotions.”

Tip 4: Do I specialize or do I generalize?

The eternal question of whether to specialize or develop broad skills depends heavily on the type of projects you want to work on. For small indie teams of 5-10 people, generalist skills are invaluable—you might need to handle everything from gameplay programming to UI design. However, larger AAA productions with teams of 100+ developers typically seek specialists: combat designers, vehicle systems programmers, or technical artists with specific expertise.

Most developers cannot afford to take long breaks as the average pay grade cannot sustain such long breaks. Devs don’t generally get any revenue share or royalties from the project they worked on too. After a release or at the start of a new game development cycle, devs have three main options:

• Continue post-launch to produce patches, expansion content, DLCs, etc, 
• Get reassigned to a new team to start/continue developing a new game
• Jump ship and start looking for a new project altogether

The smart approach for newcomers is to develop a solid foundation across multiple disciplines while building deeper expertise in one area that genuinely interests you. This gives you the flexibility to contribute to smaller teams while positioning yourself for specialized roles as you gain experience.

Bonus Tip: The AI Imperative

Perhaps the most critical advice for 2025 and beyond centers on artificial intelligence. “If I would be like a young graduate today… I think it’s most important to enter the AI game with clarity and dedication.” Bock advises.

While many roles in game development will likely be impacted or replaced by AI in the coming years, those who can effectively work with AI tools will become indispensable. “Some see AI as a threat, some as a chance. Don’t resist, try to rule while using it!” 

This trend is already visible across the industry. Companies like Ubisoft are experimenting with AI-powered procedural generation tools, while indie developers are using AI for everything from concept art to dialogue writing. Rather than viewing AI as a threat, emerging developers should embrace it as a powerful multiplier for their creativity and productivity.

Our note: Regardless of your stance on the usage of AI in the workplace, we cannot deny its usefulness in multiple areas of game development. Thus, new developers need to adapt to the demands of those who are hiring or else they risk being overshadowed by their AI-using peers.

Green flag, red flags for job hunters

What Studios Are Looking For

Beyond technical skills, studios value developers who understand the broader context of game development. This means grasping the business realities—budgets, timelines, and market pressures—that influence creative decisions. The best junior developers don’t just ask “What can the company do for me?” but try to keep a healthy balance and also consider “What can I do for the company?” as well.

Cultural fit matters enormously, especially for core team positions. Game development is inherently collaborative, and toxic team members can derail projects that represent years of investment. Studios look for people who can handle criticism, adapt to changing requirements, and maintain positive relationships under pressure.

Building Your Foundation

While formal education can provide valuable structure and networking opportunities, the industry increasingly values demonstrable skills over degrees. A strong portfolio showcasing completed projects—even small ones—carries more weight than academic credentials alone. Contributing to open-source projects, participating in game jams, or creating mods for existing games can provide the practical experience that makes a resume stand out.

The rise of accessible development tools like Unity, Unreal Engine, and Godot means there are fewer barriers to entry than ever before. You can download professional-grade software and start building games immediately. What matters is the quality of what you create and your ability to discuss your design decisions intelligently.

Looking Forward: The Consolidation Opportunity

While the current industry contraction might seem discouraging, it also represents an opportunity. The market is moving toward “more quality product, less product,” as Bock predicts. This means that skilled developers who can contribute to polished, memorable experiences will be in high demand.

The key is positioning yourself for this future by developing skills that complement rather than compete with AI, building a network within the industry, and maintaining the flexibility to adapt as the landscape continues to evolve. Whether you’re interested in indie development, mobile games, or AAA productions, the fundamental principle remains the same: focus on creating great experiences for players, and the career opportunities will follow.

Game development remains one of the most rewarding creative fields for those willing to embrace its challenges. The industry needs fresh talent with new perspectives, and there’s never been a better time to start building the skills that will define the next generation of gaming experiences.

Get Ahead with Visual Assist for Unreal Engine work

If you are applying and looking for a job involving Unreal, using game-focused development tools like Visual Studio with Visual Assist can help you work smarter, navigate large codebases faster, and spend more time creating rather than troubleshooting. Download and try it now for free!

The post How to get a job as a game developer in 2025 – Part 2: Insider advice from a studio game director first appeared on Tomato Soup.

Think about this. Have you ever thought about two things at once? If you reflect a bit, our brains are super complex but they only focus on one train of thought. Sure, a lot can happen subconsciously, but you can only be conscious about a single thing—you can’t focus on two things at once simultaneously.

But what if you could? This opens up a wide array of possibilities. Imagine learning from multiple sources, or solving three math equations in your head simultaneously, or literally multitasking with each hand doing something different.

That’s the idea behind how graphics processing units (GPUs) are being utilized to fast track development time for a few specialized technologies. With its capability to process significantly more threads (vs CPUs), they can execute tasks that require heavy parallel processing, such as rendering graphics, training machine learning models, and running complex simulations.

And one of the ways to program your GPUs to spit out data that isn’t just graphics is via a framework called CUDA. And that’s what we’re talking about in this blog today.

Why is CUDA being used now

CUDA, which stands for Compute Unified Device Architecture, speeds up computing tasks by using the power of graphics processing units (GPUs). It is a framework developed by NVIDIA in 2006. CUDA allows developers to write programs that divide large computing tasks into smaller ones using parallel computing. 

This uses the many cores of a GPU to perform multiple calculations simultaneously—unlike a CPU, which uses a few powerful cores optimized for sequential processing. This parallel processing capability significantly speeds up tasks that involve large datasets or complex computations, such as those found in graphics rendering, scientific simulations, and machine learning.

Nvidia’s CUDA has been around for more than two decades and due to the popularity and inherent compatibility with its parent company’s physical video cards, it has emerged as one of the leaders in the industry. And even though CUDA’s chokehold on the space is breaking, it remains a top choice for accelerating training for machine learning models.

Industries using CUDA 

We’ve talked about the advantages of using GPUs and how you can use CUDA to program them to work on specific tasks. The most popular use case now is the rise of machine learning and AI, but we’ve listed down a couple of other industries that you may not know about that can also utilize the advantage of GPU computing power.

Challenges in learning CUDA development

While utilizing GPUs and programming them with CUDA is a rising framework, there is still a significant barrier to becoming a skilled CUDA programmer. Its biggest strength is also one of its complicating factors in learning. CUDA is designed for parallel computing, which is fundamentally different from traditional serial programming. Programmers need to grasp concepts like threads, blocks, and grids, and how they map to GPU hardware.

In addition to that, C/C++, a lower level language usually suited for intermediate developers, is arguably the language to learn if you want to maximize programming in CUDA (You can also opt for Python using PyTorch or Jax).

Lastly, CUDA requires a deeper knowledge on physical hardware (aka what NVIDIA GPU/s you’re using). There is extra setup involved both in hardware and software toolkits to access basic development and testing. Achieving high performance will also require studying the GPU architecture and careful optimization of code and tight memory management.

Setting up your first CUDA programming project

A CUDA .cu file with proper syntax highlighting and code analysis features opened in Visual Studio.

Starting with your first ever CUDA project may seem daunting but with the right directions, you can easily configure Visual Studio for CUDA programming projects in just an hour. Follow these steps below to get started:

Installing Visual Studio

Visual Studio is a good first option for an IDE if you are familiar with C++ already. It is compatible with the integration of the NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit which allows you to compile, debug, and optimize CUDA applications within the same platform.

• Download Visual Studio
  
  First, download Visual Studio from Microsoft. Choose whatever edition you prefer. For our installation, we downloaded a community version of Visual Studio 2022 for as it’s the latest supported version for our Windows 11 system. 
• Run the installer to complete the installation
  
  Follow the succeeding prompts until you get to the Visual Studio installer. It will ask you for a couple of things such as install directory and will check a couple of dependencies. Afterwards, you should be able to launch Visual Studio from this Window or from a shortcut.

Installing the CUDA Toolkit

With Visual Studio now installed, you will need the CUDA Toolkit download for Visual Studio. It provides the tools, libraries, and compiler (nvcc) needed to develop and run CUDA applications within Visual Studio. It enables integration for GPU-accelerated computing, which allows use of NVIDIA GPUs for high-performance tasks.

• Verify you have a CUDA-compatible GPU
  To ensure smooth operations, first check if your current GPU is a supported device. You can do this by navigating to the Display Adapters section in the Windows Device Manager. For more information, visit NVIDIA’s install guide. 
• Download CUDA Toolkit from NVIDIA
  
  Visit NVIDIA’s website to download and learn more about the toolkit. Before downloading, ensure that you have chosen the correct OS, version, etc. The download file in our case is 3.2 GB but please ensure you have at least 10 GB of free space as you still need to temporarily extract the installation files before running the installer.
  
  
• Run the installer
  
  After downloading, run the installer. It will scan your device for any missing dependencies or pre-existing installs and adjust your installation files accordingly. Afterwards, you will now have the CUDA Toolkit installed on your system. Additionally, NSIGHT which provides debugging and profiling features specific for CUDA applications will also be installed.
  
  If you encounter any issues with installing the toolkit, consult NVIDIA’s installation and troubleshooting guide.
  
  Bonus tip: If you prefer Visual Studio Code, you should install Nsight from this link instead. It’s an application development environment for “heterogeneous platforms that brings CUDA development for GPUs” into Microsoft’s Visual Studio code instead.
  

Getting started with your first CUDA project in Visual Studio

After installing both Visual Studio and the CUDA toolkit, you are now ready to initialize your first project within Visual Studio.

• Creating a new project.
  Start by opening Visual Studio and create a new project or clone an existing repository to start your first project file.
  
• Initializing your project.
  
  At this point you have two options: either start a completely blank console/project or choose the CUDA 12.8 project. The main difference is that the CUDA Runtime comes pre-equipped with the usual workloads, sample code, and use cases.However, starting from scratch allows you to configure your project with only what you need and it also familiarizes you with the workspace. For this project, we’ll start with a completely blank project.
• Setting your build configuration
  
  On the top of the Visual Studio window, choose Release and x64 (if you’re running a 64-bit system). This tells VS that we’re trying to build a version of an app that can be deployed, as opposed to debugging. 
• Adjusting build dependencies
  
  • 
  • 
  • 
  
  You need to ensure that Visual Studio knows that you’re trying to build and execute CUDA files. To configure this, right click on your project name (“CUDA Sample”) and click on Build Dependencies ? Build Customizations. A new window will pop up that lists down available build customization files—be sure to tick CUDA 12.8 and hit ok.
  
  
• Adding a CUDA C++ or Header file
  
  To add new source files, simply add new items as you would add any normal .cpp or .header file. Right click on a folder and click on Add ? New Item to access your file options. 
• Verifying file and project setup is correct
  At this point, we suggest trying to build a solution to ensure that everything is working smoothly. If nothing breaks, congratulations! You can now start working on your first CUDA file inside VS. NVIDIA also provides a few sample projects so you can test, debug, and familiarize with the setup using existing projects before creating a new one entirely.

Optimizing your setup

VS and NVIDIA have made giant strides in making CUDA development easier to access and set up. However, as CUDA is a proprietary language, there may still be some missing syntax highlighting or confused prompts from VS’s IntelliSense. 

To alleviate this, it is recommended to install supplementary plugins from the Visual Studio marketplace that can help with properly highlighting symbols. For example, you can download and install the Visual Assist plugin which adds support for CUDA-specific code that Visual Studio’s IntelliSense might not recognize yet. It also comes with the added benefit of providing its core features of navigation, refactoring, code assistance, and more, on top of the added support for .cu and .cuh files.

The Visual Assist plugin adds support for recognizing CUDA-specific code. VA recognizes you are using a symbol that references a missing header file and adds it for you.

Conclusion

While CUDA is a powerful tool that is likely to remain significant in the near future, the landscape of parallel computing is dynamic, and its dominance will depend on technological advancements and shifts in industry needs. But given the rapid growth of AI and machine learning, CUDA is likely to remain relevant due to its optimization for deep learning tasks, especially as NVIDIA continues to innovate in this space. 

In summary, if you’re looking to expand on your software development skills into a growing and forthcoming space, then learning CUDA could be it for you. 

The post Introduction to CUDA development + How to set up with Visual Studio first appeared on Tomato Soup.

But we got the next best thing: Unit testing. This webinar will show you how to stop breaking your codebase (and your spirit) by writing tests that catch errors before they escape into the wild. Perfect for developers who know they should test but don’t know how—or why.

What You’ll Learn:

• The differences between two schools of TDD and when to use them.
• How to implement CI pipelines and automate your test execution.
• Practical techniques for leveraging static analysis tools and code profiling.
• Real-world case studies that highlight successful approaches to refactoring and performance optimization.

In this webinar, our experts shared their best practices for developing high-quality C++ code, offering valuable insights to apply in your projects.

This webinar features insights from experts in software design and development, covering practical applications and real-world scenarios to help you streamline your workflows.

This webinar has concluded. Scroll down to watch the replay and review the highlights.

Webinar Replay

Webinar Highlights

Introduction

0:19-1:35: About Nuno: product manager for Visual Assist, clean code enthusiast, contact info shared, alongside mission of Visual Assist and upcoming new version announcement.

Message and Story

1:40-5:12: Importance of programmers writing good quality software and Nuno’s experience with different software development approaches (design thinking, waterfall, agile).

Test-Driven Development Overview

5:12-8:10: Discovery of test-driven development (TDD) and its impact on software quality. Explanation of TDD and the Red-Green-Refactor cycle. Importance of small increments, immediate feedback, and other TDD benefits.

Practical Exercise Setup

8:17-10:09: Overview of the Mars Rover exercise, rules, and references.
10:09-11:00: Visual Studio 2022 setup for the Mars Rover project (source files and test project creation).

First Test Case

11:00-12:08: Writing the first test: Initial position at (0, 0), facing north.
12:08-13:11: Creating the Rover class and implementing execute() to return an empty string initially.
13:11-16:16: Making the test pass by returning the expected position and direction.

Second Test Case

16:16-18:15: Writing the second test: Rotating right from north to east.
18:15-20:09: Updating Rover to handle the “right rotation” command and making the test pass.

Refactoring and Patterns

20:09-20:59: Recognizing patterns in the test code and introducing Google Test fixtures for code reuse.
50:06-52:11: Introducing and implementing a current position variable. Writing and running tests to confirm functionality after the changes.
52:11-53:28: Extending functionality to the left method and replicating the test-driven approach used for the right method.
54:00-55:18: Cleaning up and optimizing the code after successful test results, ensuring all tests remain green.
56:00-56:48: Summary of the refactoring process and demonstration of the final Rover and Direction class setup.

QnA

[56:48–59:02]
Introduction to the Q&A session with Nuno Castro and Ian Barker. The discussion opens with strategies for writing tests for projects without existing tests. Suggestions include starting with end-to-end tests and gradually adding component-specific tests during future changes.

GUI Tools, A/B Testing, and Metrics

[59:02–1:03:07]
Overview of GUI testing tools like SmartBear’s TestComplete and their use in desktop and web testing. The discussion transitions into A/B testing, explaining its purpose and real-world examples (e.g., Coca-Cola product testing). The importance of metrics to gauge feature usage before redesign or development is also highlighted.

Agile Methodologies and Encouragement for TDD

[1:03:07–1:06:50]
Reflection on Agile methodologies, balancing speed with system stability, and evolving approaches such as Facebook’s shift from “move fast and break things” to prioritizing reliability. The session concludes with encouragement to adopt Test-Driven Development (TDD) and a nod to the value of unedited coding demos to showcase realistic problem-solving.

Self-Development, Testing, and TDD Approaches

[1:10:01–1:13:36]
Introduction to self-development as both a science and an art. Discussion includes testing strategies to ensure business logic isn’t broken, addressing overfitting in tests, and balancing test coverage with real-world solutions. User stories are highlighted as a foundation for design, followed by a comparison of the Chicago and London schools of TDD.

Design, User Experience, and Business Logic

[1:13:36–1:17:01]
Emphasis on designing user interfaces first and iterating on user experience challenges. The discussion incorporates Don Norman’s insight that user errors often indicate interface design issues. It concludes with balancing business logic with test coverage in TDD.

Closing

[1:17:01–1:18:00]
The importance of prioritizing timely application releases over perfectionism is discussed. The webinar ends with closing remarks, thanks to participants, replay information, and a final farewell.

The post Test Driven-Development and UI/UX Design: A Practical Guide [Webinar Recap] first appeared on Tomato Soup.