Hello! I did this, and I feel qualified to answer.
A bit of background on me: When I was, like, 11, I got involved with the Final Fantasy community and set up a FF fansite. By the time I left school, it was making a bit of money, and by the time I left university it'd changed focus but crucially was making a
decent amount of money. I didn't bet the farm on games media or do a degree in it or anything like that - I studied English Language (with a minor in Journalistic Studies, Ethics & Law), and I had other paths I could take. I think that's important, to be honest - not because games media is inherently unstable, but because having that other stuff gave me context and skills that really helped me. The FF fan site eventually morphed into rpgsite.net, which is now a profitable endeavor that I'd call semi-pro. It's no Kotaku or IGN, but there's still millions of readers a month and our writers are paid, trained and edited as on any larger site; we rock our niche well (imo). Through my work there was recognition from publishers and media outlets alike and I began to get invitations to write for other publications, especially about my areas of expertise. Eventually, a larger company approached me offering me a role and I took it, and years later I'm still at it while acting as a general overseer/manager on my own websites.
I note this at the start because my path to the job wasn't normal (for all intents and purposes it was sort of an accident, even), and it's important context before you read anything else I say.
Anyway - What is writing about games like? Well, it's amazing, I think - but it comes with caveats - but so does everything.
For one, the money can vary wildly and at the low end it can be particularly poor. I was lucky in this sense, because I was able to back up my wage packet with my independent endeavors prior to slipping into a role with an outright
good wage, but I know a number of people who left the profession because they were struggling to find promotions and progression to live the life they wanted to live. The ceiling also feels relatively low, which I figure is why a lot of people ultimately transition to PR, Marketing, etc - and they transition into those jobs not because journalists are paid shills, but rather because over years of working
with PR on coverage, media tend to begin to understand their jobs - it's a natural shift. The games media is disproportionately young for this reason, I guess, and there's a lot of reasons - a lot of people will work for free (which is bad for everyone, I think, as it devalues everyone's work at all levels - there are mid-tier sites at the level of my site that don't pay and just exploit people with the promise of exposure despite making money), ad blockers, yadda yadda.
Caveat two would probably be that it isn't all roses, obviously. I think a lot of my friends think I just sit on my ass playing all day, but there's a lot of stuff to actually
do. I really consider myself more of a games critic than a journalist (though there are many people like Kotaku's Jason who do proper, amazing journalistic stuff) but even in that it's not all playing - there's a lot of writing, of course, clerical work, remaining on top of embargoes, schedules, whatever whatever. It's the same sort of advice given when people ask about games QA: don't just expect to play lots. Also expect the turmoil that any writer faces: loving a piece of work one day and hating it the next, writer's block, all that stuff. Expect to have to do things you don't like - to cover games you wouldn't usually play, or build extensive, high-effort guides.
A subset of this is also that, yeah, you should expect burnout. Not just on the writing, but sometimes on games, too. I love games with every ounce of my being, but over this last Christmas after a really hard run up to the holiday I really just enjoyed... stepping back for a bit. Aside from a little multiplayer, I didn't touch a thing. The flip side of that is I came back absolutely ready to sink a hundred hours into Monster Hunter and then write tens of thousands of words on it in a very short period. Incidentally, I think those breaks are vital, because if you don't get them you can become one of those miserable writers who clearly now no longer really, truly loves games, and that sucks. So if you go into it, take your breaks and breathers.
Caveat three is that... it's not a very respected field, as the 'cereal journalist' comment from Teh Hamburglar shows. This is just any form of criticism, reporting and writing online now, but it goes hand-in-hand with the writer turmoil comment I made earlier - you'll write something, love it, then realize a good chunk of people in the comments haven't even read it, and you can expect abuse, disrespect and just a general 'it's not a real job' attitude from a lot of people - enemies, friends, the works. You have to be prepared to deal with that.
But, for these three points, the thing I want to say is that it is an amazing, wonderful place to work so long as you do it right. Like I said, I consider myself more a critic than a journalist, and when a piece of criticism or analysis I work on does well I always feel absolutely ecstatic. Games is absolutely full of amazing people, too, and so the people you get to hang out with, work with and even work against in terms of rival publications are all for the most part absolutely superb. If you love games you get to work on and around things you love, too, and that is really magical. Right now the field is in an interesting place since there's the 'pivot to video', but I think there's a renaissance in really well-written text content, and in the UK at least our print media is currently really fabulous, too. Choose where you work carefully, but I think the vast majority of places are very safe now. There's some lovely perks, too - like the chance to travel a few times a year in most roles, meet and question people who are legends, etc.
I work for a larger company and I absolutely love it. I feel safe, I feel supported etc. Obviously this can vary greatly because of the nature of the games press - there are many very big sites that are basically independent outlets ran out of somebody's house that don't have things like a Head of HR to look after you or a Head Office you can visit if you have a problem. That stuff largely depends on where you apply and where you end up, and those are things to inquire about at interview if you get to that stage.
My main pieces of advice if you want to do it, mind:
- Value your work. I'm not going to say 'never work for free' as I did lots of bits for years and it was a serious help in terms of both exposure and experience, but know what your work is worth and demand that. One of the problems in the medium is people just happy to be there let themselves get exploited, but don't let that be you - if your work is desirable, people will pay well for it.
- Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Do other things, have qualifications in other areas, and consider having a blog, youtube channel or other outlet so your personal work isn't entirely tied up in wherever you happen to be commissioned or working that week. That may start making money, you may get a following - it might end up supporting you as bonus income or even become your main source of income. Even if it doesn't, it'll prove excellent practice. This all works as a great contingency if you decide to leave games.
- Be tenacious about pitching, and do so well, soliciting as much advice as you can. Get to know people, and get out to events.
- Read endlessly - and not just games stuff. There's a whole lot of really bad games writing on the internet, but the best way to improve in my opinion is to read and write more yourself. Read critic and journalistic work outside games, too - see how they approach their work, because much of that can be applied to games really well.
