Wargaming UK’s Darren Tucker: “Wargaming UK is a place of continuous learning and self-development.”

What is your job role and how would you describe a typical day at work?

I’m a vehicle artist working on a fantastic new project at Wargaming UK. My contribution to our growing team involves building a wide range of vehicles, starting out by creating conceptual speed models, while exploring both functionality and aesthetic vehicle design. I then move onto collaboratively exploring vehicle production pipelines, with low and high detail modelling and texturing techniques being just a part of this. I also work closely with the vehicle design team to get these vehicles up and running effectively and efficiently in-game. As you would expect, making real-time experiences comes with challenges as there are always unforeseen obstacles to overcome in game development. However, this is a big part of the joy of working in the games industry, as astute and creative solutions soon follow, expanding our development processes.

What qualifications and/or experience do you need to land this job?

There isn’t exactly a linear path to follow when it comes to gaining a job in the games industry, each professional has had their own unique journey to get to where they are today. My journey started when I learnt that there were game art degree courses to study in universities around the UK. I jumped at the chance and became a student on the Computer Games (Art) course at Southampton Solent University. There I built up a solid foundation of game art production skills, along with many hours of self-learning outside of classes. I soon realised that after graduating, having a degree in game art provided only the first stepping-stone toward the industry I aspired to be part of. Networking among industry professionals is a vital way to get an insight into what it is to be a game developer, what is needed to get your first job interview and receive professional critique on your portfolio and work. It’s also important to make sure to keep your skills fresh and stay up to date with the latest industry standard practices, tools and techniques, as well as continuing to work on your portfolio.

If you were interviewing someone for your team, what would you look for?

At Wargaming UK, we are always on the lookout for tailored portfolios that demonstrate high quality artwork showing an adept skill and efficiency in making professional game art. With this we will invite the applicant into the studio for an interview to find out more about them. As we all work very closely together, we would like to see that the applicant has enthusiasm, questions and is intrigued about the project, while having the ability to follow directions, and adapt to feedback positively and effectively. An additional trait that is beneficial is to show understanding of roles outside of the position that is being applied for. As many of the in-house teams also work closely together, this allows for smoother working relationships between roles.

What opportunities are there for career progression?

Wargaming UK is a place of continuous learning and self-development, and is a studio that values their employees, doing everything they can to promote structured working methodologies, to make their employees’ jobs as enjoyable and as streamlined as possible. Wargaming UK is also an advocate of building up its employees, allowing them to become the best developer they can be, taking an interest into what you are passionate about working on and what you are striving to achieve throughout your career.