Gaming enthusiasts, job seekers visit conference

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- More than 50 companies are interviewing for jobs in the electronic gaming industry in San Francisco.

If you got game, then the makers of League of Legends want to hire you. The electronic game maker is one of more than 50 companies looking for future employees at this week's Game Developers Conference in Moscone Center.

"We look for people with business backgrounds, we look for people with marketing backgrounds, art backgrounds and engineering backgrounds," Riot Games senior producer Steve Snow said.

Snow said the Los Angeles-based studio is expanding on a lot of levels.

"Riot really values smart talent people who are passionate about games," he said.

Entry level jobs start between $30,000 and $40,000 a year and go up to the low six figures. Bryce Houska just graduated and is trying to find a job.

"[I am getting] a lot of great feedback from everybody. A lot of companies have been helpful, they say that junior positions come and go, and just keep an eye on their website," he said.

There is a fair amount of competition for the jobs and more are coming from schools like Expressions College for Digital Arts. The Emeryville-based school has about 100 game art and design students. Some of them will be at the Game Developers Conference on Friday for a game career seminar.

The fastest growing segment of the industry mobile applications and the biggest money is ground floor game development. The two guys that dreamed up League of Legends and got it going just landed $400 million from a company called Tencent that wanted controlling interest.

The bulk of the jobs in electronic gaming are in the $40,000 to $80,000 a year range and the industry is growing. The 25th Game Developers Conference wraps up on Friday and they set a new record with 20,000 attendees.

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video game, moscone center, jobs, business, mark matthews

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