August 22, 2023
Hamburg: The Right Place for Your Next Career Level
Hamburg is home to a vast and growing games industry landscape, with over 200 games companies and roughly 2,450 people working in the games sector. Let’s introduce you to the vast amount of companies, educational programs and resources for reaching your next career level.
(Photo: This is Engineering / Unsplash)
In this article:
- Getting to know Hamburg’s games industry
- Hamburg: a great place to live and work
- Hamburg for career starters
- Finding your job in Hamburg’s games sector
Hamburg is home to a vast and growing games industry landscape, with over 200 games companies and roughly 2,450 people working in the games sector. In the Hanseatic City, some of the biggest and most known German game studios like InnoGames, Goodgame Studios or Fishlabs work side by side next to many award-winning indie game developers like Tiny Roar, rose-engine or THREAKS. These companies are well known for offering secure jobs from entry level to senior positions as well as their innovative working cultures and open-mindedness that will enable you to stay true to yourself while working in the games industry. So, with Hamburg being one of the best places for your career in gaming, let’s introduce you to the many companies, educational programs and resources that will help you navigate through and pave your very own way in the growing gaming sector. Want a few examples right away? Jump directly to some of the over 120 job openings currently available at Hamburg-based games companies!
The games industry in Hamburg is part of a strong and diverse media ecosystem. Next to a host of games companies, also major tech companies like Facebook, Snap, Twitch, Google and Adobe have chosen Hamburg as their headquarters in Germany and plenty of start-ups are located here as well. Your experience is indispensable - and in high demand: The Hanseatic city offers various unique opportunities to further expand your skills but also employ your experience in leading and senior positions across the local industry and beyond.
By the way, if you’re not looking for employee positions but rather consider starting your own studio, check out our guide on funding for game makers and founders in Hamburg.
Hamburg - a good place to work, a great place to live
Let’s take a step back here for a moment and look at Hamburg as a whole. Did you know, for example, that the Hanseatic City is one of the most popular cities in the world? And that it was even chosen as one of the cities with the highest living standards worldwide by the European Cities & Regions of the Future Award 22/23. It was even listed as Germany's most liveable city by The Economist and is also well known for its greenery vibe, charming parks and beautiful canals. And with its strong public transport infrastructure, you’ll be sure to see it all and never miss your next appointment - whether it's about renting a canoe in the summer or visiting fellow colleagues at other game studios.
Enter Hamburg - Enter the industry
Not looking for senior positions, because you are rather at the beginning of your gaming career? Well, Hamburg is your place to be, too! With more than 12 universities and educational institutions offering games-related programs you have plenty of options to choose from. If you want to learn Game Design from scratch, the Macromedia University of Applied Sciences might be just the right starting point for you, offering programs in Game Design or Game Design & Development. If you want to study Game Creation and make use of all your creativity, check out the htk academy. If you already have a bachelor's degree in a suitable area, we highly recommend one of the very few games-related master programs in Germany: At the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg), you can leverage your skills and study the Games Master, which is deeply connected to the local games industry, having valuable ties to some of the local companies and organisations.
Additionally, The SAE Institute in Hamburg offers programs in Game Art & 3D Animation or Games Programming and The School for Games has three educational programs - Game Development, Game Engineering and Game Graphics - in store for you. And if you want to get right into the thick of it, consider the various apprenticeships, dual-study programs and entry-level career paths, for example at InnoGames. If you are not yet sure where your career might take you, try an internship or start out as a working student and explore your possibilities - many companies happily employ both!
How to find your job in the games industry
It's not always easy to find the right place to start looking for career options in the gaming industry. But we aim to support you in finding the right employer for you in Hamburg: As part of supporting the local games industry, Gamecity Hamburg compiled an extensive Company Index on our website. The index lists more than 180 studios, publishers and game-related companies and organisations in Hamburg. It is updated on a regular basis and gives each company a public stage to showcase what they actually do - and is a great place to get a first orientation where you might be interested in working at.
Naturally, one could always check out the companies and their websites to take a look at which jobs they are currently offering. Fishlabs has many exciting vacancies, ranging from Concept Artist and Animation Programmer to Game Designer, to name just a few. InnoGames is also on the lookout for a Game Designer, and has job openings in other fields like Community Management. In an unprecedented move, in 2022 the company even shared their salary transparency for the majority of positions.If you are looking for a position as a Lead Game Developer or Unitiy Developer, Bigpoint may be just the right fit for you. If you're looking to get started, they also offer a traineeship in Game Design. Sunday is also looking for a variety of roles on the business side, such as Marketing Artist or Data Scientist.
Still haven’t found what you were looking for? No worries! There are many more resources like Gamescareer und Gamesjobs Germany that can be immensely helpful. Feel also free to take a closer look at the job board on our Gamecity Hamburg Discord server where hundreds of devs from Hamburg meet. That way you’ll never miss a new vacancy. And right about now, you should be well equipped to reach your next career level here in Hamburg. We’ll see you soon!
Current job openings in Hamburg (a selection)
Photo by Julia Solonina