okay, so I'm in grade twelve so figuring out what college or university I want to go to but I want to work for a video game company like blizzard or valve. now I just had a presentation at school saying that some colleges and universities are expensive as hell and have 3-4 hours of homework every night so I'm wondering, do I even have to go to post secondary to get in to blizzard or valve?

 

You're certainly going to need some kind of degree in computer science if you're planning on working for a big name company, and at least a good few years of experience in the field. It's practically unheard of that a company like Valve or Blizzard would hire somebody with no more than a high school education.

 

That's actually completely untrue. Companies care far more about your portfolio than your education. Prove you have the skills and they really don't give a shit if you wasted $40,000+ at a school. Infact, the vastvast majority of programs, atleast in the US, are a complete ripoff and do not teach you the skills you actually need.

I'm not going to go link hunting for the TC, but a simple google search will turn up literally hundreds if not thousands of links with stories from people who literally sunk themselves into mountains of debt going to school looking for a career in gaming and who have, literally, NO skill to show for it.

TC, honestly, you need to do a LOT of reading and decide if it's really for you. I was at one point certain I was going to go into the gaming field and then actually did the research. It's *miserable* right now. The applicants to jobs ratio is something like 4/1 right now. You get treated like *absolute* shit, have no job security what so ever, and unless you're on the top 10-20% of the team, you usually get laid off after any game is completed and spend your time bouncing from studio to studio. And that's if you're REALLY talented. Most people just get stuck in QA.

I'm not trying to discourage you, but the games industry is not the happy-go-lucky place many people your age think it is. Please, please go do your research. One of the most entertaining places to start are the industry stories posted every Tuesday and Thursday at www.trenchescomic.com They're short anecdotes, but once you start reading, there's plenty of data to back them up.

Good luck to you, whatever you decide to do.

EDIT: Going to leave this here, the results of a college education in games developement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiARsQSlzDc