Damien Mason and Becoming a Journalist (That Also Gets to Talk About Video Games) | Winter Spectacular 2020
Becoming a game journalist is nothing short of a dream job for many, getting to be one of the first to handle the latest titles and attend the biggest events – once the world lets us again, that is. But as the game industry has blossomed into the single most-lucrative entertainment sector by a country mile, so has the interest in budding young writers looking to make it big scribbling about their favourite hobby.
Crusader Kings is a game abou- WAIT DOES THAT KID HAVE A KNIFE?
The bad news is that this makes it incredibly difficult to break into the field in a meaningful way, with copious amounts of people scrambling for the few opportunities that come along. Or so I’m told. You see, I wouldn’t know first-hand because I’ve never actually been a videogame journalist, despite covering Crusader Kings 3 mods, World of Warcraft Shadowlands tidbits, and interviewing the folks behind Hearthstone’s Madness at the Darkmoon Faire expansion. How does that work, I hear some of you ask? Well, the good news is that things aren’t as binary as choosing between the red pill and the blue pill, as there’s a third option: broaden your knowledge base and perhaps don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
I’ve gone by many titles in my three-and-a-half years as a journalist, including technical writer, content editor, and now hardware writer for PCGamesN, but never anything directly tied to videogames. By being game-adjacent, however, I can still surround myself with the latest titles and help cover my favourite games, like Rainbow Six Siege – which I’m sure will come as a shock to many in the startmenu community…
Hardware might seem scary with all the gigabytes and megahertz, but beyond the numbers, every gamer needs a system to play their games on, so why not consider writing about that, too? Whether you use a gaming keyboard and mouse or a controller, you’ve got experience with hardware you haven’t even considered. And pretty much all of us use a display of some kind, unless you’ve got some sort of sixth sense.
This is a FPGA emulator called a MISTer. DAMIEN your a tech man please explain the words I just wrote.
The line between writing about hardware and games is sometimes much finer than you’d think, too, whether it’s talking about the absurd file size of Baldur’s Gate 3, pumping up a game’s resolution with a shiny new RTX 3080, or discussing new technologies that improve your overall experience. In fact, Ian Boudreau, senior news writer and my colleague at PCGN, wrote that last one like any other game-centric piece before questioning whether it belongs with other gaming news or should sit with the gadgets we often chat about. They truly are two sides of the same coin.
Of course, this isn’t to say if you’re struggling with breaking into games journalism that you can pen up a successful hardware story right off the bat. Actually, I’m not even trying to convince you to become a hardware writer, although I should probably be nominated for sales pitch of the year with the story I’ve just spun. This is merely a lifeline to say that, yes, it is more difficult than ever to be paid to write about games, but rather than being discouraged by just how competitive the field can be, it’s best to recognise that your career path in this ever-evolving industry doesn’t have to be as linear as some of you might think. And wherever you get your beginnings doesn't necessarily matter once you figure out your endgame.
Take my career, for instance. I was fortunate enough to receive my first paycheck to mash my keyboard in 2017, writing about the same things I do now. But two years later, I escaped the uncertainty of freelance by taking a punt in the privacy and security space. I knew next to nothing about the topic but braved the terrifying change because it afforded great job security and better pay. I was quickly greeted with a nurturing team at ProPrivacy and a wise editor that taught me it’s “far easier to teach someone the subject knowledge than how to write.”
The day in the life of a freelance journalists is basically just the plot of Dead Rising.
I learned more in that year about publishing than I had in my two years prior, from a smidge of SEO to a pinch of PR and a whole load of editorial. Within six months, I stepped up from being a reviewer to a content editor and found myself quoted in various big-name publications commenting on privacy- and security-related events. Forbes, The Next Web, Digital Spy, you name it, my words have been in them all, just not quite as a byline. Had I not taken the risk to tackle a completely different world of writing, I wouldn’t have learned as much as I did, and I highly doubt I’d be in the position I currently am at PCGN.
No two journeys will be the same and the advice you receive from one journalist might differ wildly to another. There are plenty of best practices that many others far more experienced than I in games journalism can share with you, but the truth is that there is no one correct way to get your foot in the door.
If you want to get your qualifications, then more power to you as some publications do prefer candidates to have an NCTJ or equivalent. Otherwise, the industry is largely a meritocracy and editors just want to see your chops before sending you into the trenches of gaming news, guides, or reviews.
Until you get to where you want to be, however, there’s no reason not to indulge interests that are on your peripheral, like pitching to a place that specialises in movies if you have an idea about the latest videogame adaptation, or even going further afield by seizing the opportunity to join a fashion or music publication. It doesn’t mean you’re giving up on your primary dream, it just means you’re honing your skills, finding your writer’s voice, and learning the tricks of the trade before getting the big break you deserve. Plus, adding to your growing collection of bylines is always going to be recognised by employers.
So, keep the dedication and ferociousness it takes to carve your own path writing about games, but don’t end up ignoring other opportunities that appear in front of you because it could easily be an unorthodox way of getting to where you truly want to be.
