Just a Writer: Drafting Your Future in Video Games

A few times a month, a young writer will reach out asking about how to break into game writing. Notably, I can’t remember anyone asking if they should get into the industry — and that’s with all of the recent terrible news. But the question I get often: is it enough to be just a writer?

It’s the questions behind the question that kills me. Is a writer valuable in the games industry? Are we respected? Is what we do ‘real’ as opposed to making a character model or designing a boss?

Yes, but the answer is complicated.

Think Like a Storyteller, Not Just a Writer

In my 20s, I thought being a writer was enough. But then again, I was working on novels while trying to make ends meet, and novels are a largely solitary business. Video games are another matter. When I decided to pivot into games, I suspected that although I’d never been a practicing artist, designer, or coder, understanding those disciplines would be invaluable.

I’ll probably never be able to make a video game entirely on my own, but at the time I put together enough of a small demo to show people I understood the fundamentals. And writing essentially a spec game in a popular franchise was a point of commonality. At the time, most people had heard of The Walking Dead, and enough people were curious about my take on it.

Sidenote: This article is about AAA, but if you’re in the indie space, having a diverse skillset is even more important — so you can contribute as much as you can, especially with a small team. I’m a writer by trade, but I’ve done level design and narrative design, including implementation. Marketing materials. And I’ve done LLC taxes. Gross.

But if your goal is AAA, it’s healthy to think of yourself less as a writer and more as a storyteller — then ask yourself what tools you can acquire to help you tell those stories better. Even if it’s just being able to sketch a rough top-down layout for a mission, or so you can weigh in more intelligently when a concept artist shows you something.

Regardless of whether you’re in the indie space or AAA, speaking someone else’s discipline’s language not only demonstrates expertise but builds trust. It shows you’re interested in and care about someone else’s passion.

Of course, in any entertainment industry, there are two sides to landing that first job: being able to demonstrate enough skill for someone to take a chance on you — and getting that chance in the first place.

Don’t Chase Social Media — Build Real Connections

You can read all about my journey into the games industry in my first article, but briefly: I had a terrible 30th birthday. I was broke. I played some of my old Super Nintendo games at my parents’ place. I decided to pivot into video games and threw myself in hard. I played games not for fun but to understand how their storytelling worked. I made the game I could — a side chapter of Telltale’s The Walking Dead — and I reached out to anyone in the industry who’d respond.

That’s one positive about the game industry that still holds. Games are part of the entertainment industry, though it doesn’t feel like it. Even in 2026, the industry still feels approachable. I still respond to almost every single message I get. The only messages I don’t reply to either ask about something I can’t answer — like the game I’m working on — or come from someone who clearly doesn’t know who I am, asking general questions instead of specific ones.

If a person has done their homework — looked up who I am, checked whether I’ve already put out resources that might answer their question — I always respond. Because when I was trying to break in, that’s what I did. And people almost always responded.

I’ll tell you something I wouldn’t do. I wouldn’t spend all my time chasing social media followings unless that was truly my passion. Being an entertainer and being a writer are related skillsets, but they’re not the same thing, and they train you to view storytelling in different ways.

People who pursue social media as a job build entrepreneurial skills, which is great — but I do find that when they step into a storytelling role, how they craft stories feels a bit skewed. Their instincts tend to be based on algorithms and not on core storytelling craft. They go for punchy, easily understandable story beats instead of building something that can hold attention over a sustained length of time. Writing a game is like putting together a long season of television or several movies.

That said, it is true that people with social media pull do have better connections and better access, regardless of the industry. Sometimes I worry that through social media incentives, we’re creating a generation of entrepreneurs instead of a generation of writers. I don’t like that the people who game the algorithms are the ones who get popular and famous and get all the access. I think about all the aspiring writers who don’t live and breathe social media who have incredible stories to tell.

If I were just starting out, I’d spend my time acquiring game dev skills over social media. I have never hired someone just because they had a big social media following. In fact, I’d think twice about hiring someone for that reason alone.

Drafting Your Future

It’s hard to predict where AI will go, and how it will affect game writing. Someday, I’ll devote a piece to exploring it on its own, but what I do worry about is AI making it harder for entry-level writers to find jobs. But there’s no sugar-coating it. It’s a scary time right now in the game industry.

I’ve always believed that the more games out there, the better, but with AI, all bets are off. If thousands of more games are entering the market, how will we distinguish quality from slop? To me, this will make narrative and story even more important to a game’s success. Mechanics are easy to replicate. Stories, not so much.

Ten years ago, when I told people I was a writer in the games industry, they’d assume I meant I was a coder. Who would’ve thought programmers would be the first profession truly endangered by AI? Who knows? These days, maybe it’s not so bad being just a writer.