Melbourne International Games Week has partnered with ACMI for the one-day education symposium Careers and Frontiers.
Featuring a mix of panels, keynotes, presentations, in-conversations and mentorship sessions, the symposium will explore the various pathways to career success in the video game industry in 2025.
Leading figures from the AAA games industry will speak alongside academics, indie game developers, creative directors and industry advocates. The speakers will emphasise the scope for creative expression in game development and look at how to infuse your work with moral purpose.
Whether you’re enrolled in high school, uni or TAFE, a dedicated gamer, an existing games educator, or the parent of an aspiring video game developer, the Careers and Frontiers symposium will be relevant across the board. It’s happening on Thursday 9 October and tickets are just $10.
Careers and Frontiers 2025
- ACMI, Fed Square
- More information here
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
Finding your dream career
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The day will begin with a keynote speech from game researcher and Queensland University of Technology academic, Brendan Keogh, titled Practice makes games: the skillsets and mindsets needed (and not needed) for a game development career. Keogh will seek to demystify certain aspects of the industry while stressing the persistence required for indie creators to carve out sustainable careers in game design and development.
Keogh will then join Goldie Bartlett and Marie Foulston for the panel Finding Your Game Career in a Changing Industry. Bartlett is the game investment manager at Screen Australia, overseeing applications for games grants and initiatives, and Foulston is the studio lead at UK alternative game design studio Good Afternoon. The trio will discuss the current state of play in the industry and how students can get prepared to seize available employment opportunities.
There’ll then be a series of 15-minute presentations looking at advances in game tech, audience demographics, and how game development skills can be applied to other industries.
Development platforms and coding prodigies
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The experts at Unity 3D will chat about the free-to-use development platform. The team from IGEA – Australia’s peak body for the games industry – will break down the findings of their Australia Plays report, revealing the demographics and behaviours of video game players. Adrian Webb, a civil servant from the Department of Defence, will encourage game developers to think outside the box, drawing attention to the demand for digital talent in industries such as health, education, defence, film, government, transport and sport.
The First Play panel will underline the importance of audience testing in game development. Thomas Holloway, a high school student who’s been coding since he was six years old, will chat with Althea Francisco, creative director of the Melbourne indie game REAPRIEVE, and Violeta Gordana from Collarts. The three emerging creators will draw on personal experience to depict the invaluable role of audience feedback in shaping game design.
The Play for Change panel
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For the first session after lunch, students can choose from one of four options. The Play for Change panel will bring together three indie games innovators to explore how game designers are prioritising mental health, accessibility, and diverse representation while maintaining sustainable work practices. Students can also choose to speak one-on-one with industry personnel and educators, including delegates from Collarts, CDW studios, Monash University, Torrens University, Department of Defence, Quantum and elsewhere.
Careers and Frontiers is on one day after the Australian Game Developer Awards (AGDAs), and students can opt to test some of the nominated games and cast their vote for the ACMI Audience Award. Games Week also encompasses the Games Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) development and networking event, and the fourth option lets students hear from some of the serious game developers showcasing at the conference.
AAA developers and indie mavericks
The final few Careers and Frontiers sessions will focus on conversations with a couple of AAA developers and various indie mavericks. Lis Moberly is the creative lead at 20th Century Games with the Walt Disney Company, and has worked on Avowed, Cursed to Golf, and We Went Back. Moberly will share lessons learned during her career and draw attention to how studios can enhance staff wellbeing and employ sustainable practices.
The Breaking In panel will amplify the wisdom of representatives from several Melbourne studios, including Massive Monster and Big Ant Studios. These committed game developers will share tips for how to land your first role in the game industry, offering advice on how to stand out from the pack, and revealing what unique skills studios are looking for.
The symposium’s final session will be an in-conversation with AAA designer Donald Barrett, best known for his work on Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise for PlayStation. Barrett, who’s a senior designer at Insomniac Games, will talk about how he rose through the ranks courtesy of self-taught initiative and dogged persistence.
Careers and Frontiers is coming to ACMI on Get your tickets here.
This article was made in partnership with Melbourne International Games Week.
