Most applications to games studios fail before anyone reads past the first paragraph, and the most common reason is that they could have been sent to any studio. Half an hour of research changes that: it tells you whether the studio is somewhere you want to work, what it is likely to ask you, and what to say that nobody else will. This guide covers where to look, what to look for and how to use what you find.
Why research matters more in games
Games studios vary far more than most employers in the same industry. Two studios of the same size in the same town can make entirely different things: one builds its own engine and ships a large console game every four years, the other runs a live mobile game with weekly content updates and a data team that decides what goes into each one. The skills, pace and expectations at those two places have little in common, and a hiring manager can tell within a few lines whether you understand which one you are applying to.
Studios also hire for the project, not just the discipline. A "Gameplay Programmer" at a racing studio, a co-development partner and a VR developer will be doing different work with different tools. Knowing what the studio is making, or at least what it has made, is what lets you show that your experience fits.
Start with what kind of company it is
Before looking at any individual game, work out the studio's business model, because it shapes almost everything about the job. Our company directory labels each UK company by type, and every company has its own page with a short summary, where it is based and any roles it is advertising. The broad types are:
- Independent developers that make and usually own their games, funding them from previous sales, publishing deals or investment. Smaller teams mean broader roles: a designer may also write, script and test.
- First-party and publisher-owned studios, part of a larger group such as a platform holder or a major publisher. Expect more specialised roles, larger teams, established pipelines and the corporate structure that comes with a parent company.
- Publishers that fund, market and release games made by other teams. Many of their roles are in production, marketing, business development, QA and community rather than development.
- Work-for-hire and co-development studios that build games, ports or parts of games for other companies. You will often work on several clients' projects, sometimes on well-known franchises you cannot mention publicly until they ship.
- Service companies covering QA, localisation, art outsourcing, audio and player support. They are a major employer of people starting out in the industry.
- Mobile and live-service studios, where a game is run for years after launch. These lean heavily on analytics, live operations, monetisation design and user acquisition.
If you are unsure which a studio is, its website's "About" page, its list of games and the publishers named on those games' store pages usually make it clear within a few minutes.
Play the games, or at least study them
Nothing replaces having played what a studio has made. If you can, play its most recent release, and pay attention to the parts that match your discipline: the feel of the controls if you are a gameplay programmer, the readability of the UI if you are a UI artist, the onboarding if you are a designer, the mix if you work in audio. Make notes as you go. Specific, considered observations are far more persuasive in an interview than general enthusiasm.
When playing everything is not practical, because a game is expensive, on hardware you do not own or not yet released, watch long-form footage, read the patch notes and look at how the studio talks about its own work in developer diaries and conference talks. Many UK developers have spoken at events such as Develop:Brighton, EGX and the Game Developers Conference, and those talks are often online. They are one of the best ways to learn how a team actually works.
Read the job ad as research, not just requirements
A job advert says more than its list of requirements. Look at:
- The tools and technology named. Unreal, Unity or a proprietary engine; Perforce or Git; Maya, Blender or Houdini. These tell you about the pipeline you would be joining.
- The verbs. "Own", "lead" and "define" describe a role with autonomy; "support", "assist" and "implement" describe one working to someone else's direction. Neither is better, but your application should match.
- What the team is working on. Phrases like "an unannounced AAA project", "our live game" or "a new IP" tell you the stage of development and the pressures that come with it.
- The other roles open at the same time. A studio hiring several senior engineers, a producer and a lead designer at once is probably staffing up a new project. One hiring mostly QA and live ops is probably supporting a game that is already out.
That last point is where a board like this one helps. Each company page on gamesJobs lists everything the studio is advertising today and the roles it has closed in the last 30 days, which together give a rough picture of where it is investing. Our guide to games job titles explains what the seniority labels usually mean.
Find out what it is like to work there
Studio culture varies widely, and it is fair to want to know about it before you commit. Useful sources include:
- The studio's own careers pages, which usually describe benefits, working patterns and whether the studio is office-based, hybrid or remote. Our remote work guide covers what those terms tend to mean in practice.
- People who work there. Many developers are open about their work on LinkedIn, Bluesky and portfolio sites. Looking at the backgrounds of people in the role you want shows the experience the studio values. If you reach out, be brief, specific and respectful of their time.
- Industry press and trade bodies. Coverage in the games trade press, and the work of UK organisations such as Ukie, gives context on acquisitions, funding and wider changes at a company.
- Employee review sites, read with care. A handful of reviews from a small studio can be dominated by one bad period or one unhappy team. Look for patterns over time rather than single comments.
It is also worth checking the basics of the company's situation. Studios are bought, merged, renamed and occasionally closed, and a quick search for recent news avoids the awkwardness of praising a project that was cancelled last month.
Look at where it is
Location still matters in games, even with more hybrid working. Many UK studios sit in clusters, such as Guildford, Leamington Spa, Dundee, Brighton and Manchester, where several studios share a talent pool and people move between them across a career. Our guide to UK games hubs covers the main ones. Every company page on gamesJobs also lists the other games companies we know of in the same town. That is useful if you are thinking about relocating, because it shows how many other employers you would have nearby if this job did not work out.
Turn research into a better application
Research only helps if it shows up in what you send. In practice that means:
- One or two specific sentences in your cover note connecting your experience to the studio's work. "I've spent two years building traversal systems, and the climbing in your last game is something I've studied closely" does more than a paragraph of general admiration.
- Choosing what to put first. If the studio makes stylised mobile games, lead with your stylised work, not your photoreal environment. Our portfolio guide and CV guide go into more detail.
- Preparing for the interview. Expect to be asked what you think of the studio's games and why you want to work there. A considered answer, including something you would change and why, shows real engagement. Our interview guide covers the usual stages.
- Asking good questions. Research lets you ask about things that matter: how the team is structured, how feedback works, what crunch looks like around milestones, how long the current project has been running.
A quick research checklist
- What type of company is it, and who owns it?
- What has it shipped, and what is it working on now, as far as is public?
- Which engine and tools does it use?
- What else is it hiring for, and what does that suggest about its plans?
- Where is it based, and how does it handle remote or hybrid work?
- Has anything significant happened to the company recently?
- What will you say, specifically, about why you want to work there?
Spending this time on fewer, better applications will almost always get you more interviews than sending the same CV to every studio with an opening. Start with the company directory to see who is out there, or the studios hiring now to see who is looking.