Hey! I’m Jacob and I graduated from the School of Digital Arts in May of 2025 with a major in Game Design. I chose Shocker Studios primarily because of location, as I was born and raised nearby in Derby, KS. Back when I started college, Game Design programs were even more sparse in the midwest than they are today. I felt pretty lucky to live in a city that had a program established. Additionally, it was more affordable than paying for out of state tuition elsewhere.
The job market has always been very competitive, and the difficulty has been increasing with the state of the industry being heavily affected by new consumer behaviors. Despite that, I’ve done my best to adapt and grow since graduation. I worked at NIAR as a Mixed Reality Researcher for six months. During this period, I also worked as a Game Systems Engineer at a volunteer studio. It was tough to not only work two jobs concurrently, but to also push myself to work on portfolio pieces in my downtime. Afterwards, I landed my current role as a Game Designer for a local company, Moral Holdings. I get to do what I love everyday and have complete creative control over the work that I do.
I got quite lucky! It took me six months after graduation to land my current position, which isn’t much time at all for games industry standards. My biggest accomplishment since graduating is sticking to what I love and how that mindset has enabled me to continue to reach my goals. On the job experience is truly like no other. I’ve created features I never imagined I would be able to create and I’ve learned so much. One of my dreams is to create a local studio and grow the game development scene here in Wichita, and I feel like I have taken several steps towards making that an obtainable reality in the future.
My advice to students who want to enter the games industry is to not underestimate hidden opportunities! We all lead different lives, and it may feel like we need to allocate our time carefully. However, sometimes opening doors that initially might not seem like the ‘optimal’ allocation will lead to new doors that make it all worth it. There’s no way to know which decision to make, but throughout my experiences at Shocker Studios I have learned it is worth it to try at least one of those doors every few months.
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