Jakub Waldman

I can count my interactions with cool Romanian people working in Game Dev on one hand. And I don't even need all the fingers. It was surprising how people from many other countries would be open to sit down with me and chat about their disciplines. And essentially teach me a thing or two about the gaming industry. It is humbling to talk to CEOs, VPs, Directors etc. etc. from these countries and see how much they're willing to help 🙏 Bear in mind, I didn't ask any of these folks for a job. My only asks come down to: "Hey. This is who I am. These are the specifics I wanna learn about. Could you help me understand things better?" While my experiences with strangers were stellar. My experience with most Romanian folks comes down to: - Being ghosted after they would post and ask people to reach out for more info - Being ghosted after someone would introduce me to them - Being ghosted after they mentioned they'd help out - Receiving cold, corporate answers meant to drive me away As everything happening in life is meant to guide us. I take this as my "Maybe don't search here" sign. There are a few exceptions to this rule - you know very well who you are, cool people. But except those, I'll be searching for advice from folks outside our country's borders from now onwards. They seem to be more down to earth 🙏

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And this is the last model in which I´ve been working on these last few months. It is based on the lovely art of Yishu Ci "Use the Ki" wich is full of details and appeal, and I can asure it´s been a challenge, but also a pleasure to take it into 3D. See the link ( https://lnkd.in/dUzJCaBY )for full images! #3DArt #CharacterArt #Stylized #Blender #Zbrush

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How are #videogames good for you? This is a topic which has controversial opinions. Some saying that games are fun and can stimulate the brain and others saying that they can cause isolation, impact relationships, sleep and mental health. What I have seen working in a global gaming company like Wargaming? 🎮 Games inspire creativity and critical thinking. 🎮 Games increase motivation and bring sense of accomplishment. 🎮 Games improve hand & eye coordination and boost problem solving skills. 🎮 Games help build teamwork and collaboration skills. What's the #best part? Games are so much #fun and bring people #together. What do you think about the #impact of #videogames in our lives? Share your experiences below 👇

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🎮Proud Support for Our Team at Digital Dragons❗️🚀 Our colleagues Michael Kubiak and Magdalena Grzesiak are set to attend Digital Dragons 2024, and though I’m not there in person, I’m with them in spirit!🔥 Our work together at GamerSEO supports this kind of industry engagement. Join me in cheering them on as they represent us and explore how we’re transforming game marketing. More updates to follow from the event! #DigitalDragons2024 #GamerSEO #DigitalMarketing #GamingIndustry

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Dear Hiring Managers, Don’t hunt for treasures. Cultivate your own gems! Last week, we finished our 2nd cohort of students for the Game LiveOps course at Wargaming Forge. Shaky headhunting → stable talent forge. It’s simple: it's a give-and-take process. 🤝 1. Create a Free Course: We spent 6 months crafting an online course, including our products examples. 2. Arrange Enrolment: Partnering with local universities, we got 700+ applications in 2 weeks. 3. Start 𝖤̶𝖽̶𝗎̶𝖼̶𝖺̶𝗍̶𝗂̶𝗈̶𝗇̶ Onboarding: Homework is challenging, with strict deadlines, like in real business. After three months of teamwork, 11 out of 15 students graduated. Welcome 11 future colleagues! 👋 Aleksandr Dutov Andrej Trezov Anna Song Daniil Varshaver Diačenko Emil Eugene Kozii Jan Potancok Marios Kitrou Milan Vukov Milan Stefanovic Ted Fristedt I want to help young talents succeed in gaming and achieve a fulfilling future. With that → ‘positive, real’ life. P.S. Where did your gaming career start? I’ll start with myself: 🌞 2012, Wargaming, World of Tanks Blitz.

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#gamedev #gamingindustry #gamingjob Hi everyone! Some of you may remember my recent posts about me looking for a job - I still am, but that's not the focus of today. A lot of my colleagues, extremely skilled ones, are looking for new jobs as well. I am unable to cover everyone in a similar situation among the people I've worked with for the last year or so. I hope nobody feels like it's unfair of me that I didn't include them - these are just some names from the top of my head. Let's go! Mikołaj Żelazny - an extremely skilled QA specialist; he joined the team I've been working with mid-work and caught up with the project in a blink, bringing the QA department to the next level. Łukasz Kwiatkowski - a great game designer and person who owned the combat design like an absolute champ; he is a unique mix of experience and diligence. Oskar Trochimowicz - an brilliant 3D artist, no matter what you ask of him, he will probably deliver something that exceeds your expectations. Piotr Wójtowicz - a talented VFX artist ready to bring your game to the next level; he is able to adapt quickly and take on any challenges and is a great person to collaborate with. I hope some of you might think back to this post if, by chance, you're ever in need of people with their skillsets. There is a possibility that, if any of my close colleagues are in need of that, I'll post another list or two, but I hope I won't have to and that everyone in need of a job right now will eventually find their place. ❤️ If you could leave a reaction for the visibility of the people I've mentioned, I'd be eternally thankful! (adorable image in the post: eggsdoodz @ Instagram)

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Sad news this evening with Gameloft announcing that their studio in Cluj, Romania has been closed. To those impacted by this closure, please find a comprehensive list of resources, below: 🥇First, Discipline Games Jobs Resources: Over the past weeks I have created 9 (at time of writing) Games Jobs Resources to find jobs in a wide range of disciplines: 🎨 Art, Animation, VFX and UI This resource contains around 1,300 jobs worldwide across all links. Link: https://lnkd.in/eu2bjadW ⚙ Engineering and Programming This resource lists just over 1,700 jobs worldwide across all links. Link: https://lnkd.in/etPj22BE 🕹 Quality Assurance This resource lists over 440 QA jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/dkiEy8da 📑 Game Production This resource lists around 400 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/d9qfQ5tg 📢 Marketing & Community This resource lists around 380 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/dc-PVb3h 🎶 Audio and Sound Design This resource lists around 180 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/dU8t6Esq 📠 Studio Support, HR, Recruitment and BizDev This resource lists around 300 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/dMdWv4xN ⚙ IT This resource lists around 100 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/df7d-KkR 🎮 Game Design This resource lists around 600 jobs worldwide. Link: https://lnkd.in/d2kKaw95 🥈 Second, the Ultimate list of Video Games Career Resources: This should be your one-stop shop for all information. My dear friend Amir Satvat maintains these documents, he is a legend for doing this - please check them out: https://amirsatvat.com/ 🥉 Third, If you have worked in publishing, please message me. I am looking for quite a few roles right now! ⬅ 🎖 Finally, do not give up. Ever. No matter how dark things may look right now, I KNOW you will get through this, you have got this! 👊 Remember you are not alone. If you need help, advice, or even an ear to listen, we're here for you. Always! ➡ A request to my community, please can I ask you to repost this post to your colleagues and friends, so that we can get as many into jobs as possible! And please comment if you or your studio are currently hiring - let's help each other! Much love ❤️ #layoffs #gamesindustry #jobsingames #gameloft #cluj

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Hello Everyone! Today im posting about Unreal Tower Defence, the personal project im currently working on. Since the last post, ive made some great improvements, the master tower system is now partially complete and is beginning to become what i intended it to be: A quick and Easy way to balance towers As far as menu's go, I've made alot of progress, Crates now show accurate % chances of getting each skin within it, taking into account the weight of rarities, these chances always add up to 100, I can finally wipe a large section off my whiteboard! Woo! As for future plans, its mostly finishing the master tower, backpack system, finding the best way to show the player what rarity names actually mean, and making the final content additions before the first pre alpha testing build is sent out, something i am very nervous, but very exited for Below ill provide some screenshots of the weighted % system working (Please note that the skin icons are placeholders)

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If you want to understand the European game industry, follow the money. If there is one document that sums up the mindset of the local gamedev community, it is the application form for local public funding. Today, I attended a gamedev start-up funding event, Get Funded!, organised by Neogames Finland ry. The Finnish game developer community is exceptionally innovative, business-oriented, and growth-oriented. It is not a coincidence that these are also the priorities of the Business Finland funding instruments, which are often the first support instruments new entrepreneurs apply to launch their businesses. And what kind of questions does Business Finland push young entrepreneurs to master?  - What is the company's growth/renewal vision? - What are your 2-5 concrete and at least partly measurable targets (e.g. R&D needs for a solution, a solution pilot, a business strategy for the solution)? - What concrete benefits will the company's business generate for customers and end users?  - Which customer need or problem does the company aim to solve through the business to be developed?  - Who are the potential customers, and what is the planned earnings model?  - What are the target market areas, and how big are they?  * Who are the competitors, and what is the company's competitive advantage based? - Does the company own all intellectual property rights related to the solution? How does the company intend to protect its solution and competitive advantages? - How should the company develop its management competencies (including sales management, customer relationship management, growth management, and R&D management)? Therefore, it is no surprise that the Finnish game dev ecosystem is constantly able to germinate highly growth-oriented start-ups like Bitmagic, Cosmic Lounge, Channel37 and Spectarium, just to name a few recent examples. However, there is always a risk that an innovative R&D project becomes the company's main product; just have a look at companies like HypeHype Inc., YAHAHA, Noice and Metaplay. While some other European countries provide a better public support framework for game productions, Finland is the place for game industry R&D and innovative growth-oriented gamedev start-ups.

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2nd Book Progress – Peder   With the second chapter finished, I am turning to the next story chapter. Here I am going to introduce two new crucial characters to the story. The first one is Peder, a young programmer who recently left university, had an internship, and was hired directly afterwards. For the story, I need someone to act as a catalyst. The team and Stephan, the Game Director, are hard at work figuring out the core loop of the game. It turns out to be much more problematic than originally anticipated, even with a working and efficient team. They struggle and flail a lot without managing to hit the nail on the head. Everyone is becoming increasingly frustrated with the concept and the lack of progress. Peder is coming in with a fresh set of eyes and a background in playing a ton of management and strategy games. He clearly sees the missing piece in the simulation of the economy and starts asking the right questions. However, the team is so stressed out that they do not listen to him at first. So, he goes rogue and develops a prototype in his free time that changes everything. Other than that, I want him to be an upbeat and funny character that resembles a stark contrast to the frustration and desperation that has taken hold of the team. He is wearing two watches, one for himself and one for his Finnish girlfriend, so he can easily track the one-hour time difference. This signifies his ability to think outside the box and how he is not concerned with how things are handled traditionally as long as he gets the required results. On top of that, his broken German and flat jokes consistently make Stephan laugh. Humour is one of the best weapons to explore wider perspectives of what we could do, and it also makes us a lot more creative after all.   #gamedesignimpossible #writing #gamedevelopment #gamedesign

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One of the new maps that players can find in the Elden Ring Shadow Of The Erdtree DLC is the Gravesite Plain map. It is actually the first map that can be unlocked within the Realm Of Shadow SEE ALSO Where To Find The Solitude Armor & Sword Set The Gravesite Plain Map In Shadow Of The Erdtree When you first discover a new location the map will seem a bit bare and, perhaps, even confusing. #EldenRingShadowOfTheErdtree #EldenRingShadowOfTheErdtreeGuides

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I wish I had the tools available today when I joined gaming 12 years ago. Still, 3 sins can ruin your game production. (I must admit, I’ve committed all 3 sins) 1. "Why buy this tool? A weekend and energy drinks, and I'll make a new one. It'll even make coffee!" Avoid this because: • 61% producers aim for 1–2-week releases. • that's a lot of energy drinks. • not enough weekends. 2. “Our custom tool? It's so unique, only three people in the world understand it. Two of them just quit.” Avoid this because: • 53% longer to onboard with in-house tools • less focus in creating the game experience • the remaining one writes in hieroglyphs. 3. "This third-party AI pathfinding? My pet could write better algorithms. Hold my keyboard." Avoid this because: • 66% of development timelines fall short. • solving solved issues wastes resources. • wheel reinvention proves its necessity. "Okay, your idea, Sergei?" - I hear you ask. Your focus: content, not custom tech. 65% of all studios now prefer to 'buy vs build' their game technology. The game industry has matured, offering new, powerful solutions. Repost ♻️ This to help avoid the sins. P.S. Are you a 'buy' or a 'build' person? Src: Rendered Venture Capital & Griffin Gaming Partners.

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Another International Talk Completed ✅ Digital Dragons, thank you so much for having me! With everything happening in our industry, it's easy to spiral, but that's when you need community the most. That's why travelling to Poland, representing Sumo Digital Ltd and PixelAnt Games, felt extra special! There's something amazing about getting together on-site, with people from all over, to #RethinkRecruitment (even if that means I need to budget extra energy for public speaking 😅), and I'm super grateful for the opportunity. --- This got me thinking... ...you might have noticed I haven't posted much recently, and this is why: 🗺️ Bird's Eye View has been working with two amazing partners to put together a bid for the BFI grant. 🔍 I'm busy at work reviewing a couple of hiring processes. 🤖 The LinkedIn Algorithm™️ is incredibly demotivating when it comes to pushing helpful content to people that need it the most. 🚫 I wasn't sure if I was making any difference since the industry barely has any roles open. However, so many people reached out during #DigitalDragons to say my content really helped their job hunt; I can't help but think I should give it another try! 👉🏼 So bear with me, I probably won't post every day (I'm aiming for 1-2 a week), but I'm planning on writing articles with all the content from previous posts, as well as new bits of advice, especially when it comes to a slower industry. 💬 If you have topics you would like me to write about, feel free to drop them below! --- 📣 Follow #RethinkRecruitment and ring the 🔔 to read about: 📙 #GameDev Recruitment Best Practices 🔎 #JobHunting, #CareerAdvice & #RecruiterTips 👁️ Bird's Eye View & the #ELSH ⏩ https://entrylevel.games/ 🌟 Opinions are very much my own™️

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She got a job because someone shared her post. A colleague of mine Maja Kryżan just started a new role and she wasn't even applying for it. The company found her because someone shared her "open to work" post. The post was ok. Nothing extraordinary, but way better than the usual "Dear network, I am open for work" type of thing. What she did right: => Started with a precise indication of her experience, skills and achievements. 3 bullet points, a sneak peek of what she could do for the organisation. => Wrote it in her way, and used her language, which made the entire thing better to read. => Left a clear indicator of how to contact her via LinkedIn or email. => Built her network ahead of time. Stats? Nearly 12 000 views 182 likes 16 comments 37 shares And her network has less than 1000 folks. A lot? Not really. Enough? Certainly. She got a job after all. So build your networks when you don't need it folks and take a couple of minutes more to write those "open-to-work posts".

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Hi! 👋 For anyone working on your Environment Art for Video Games portfolio, here's my #1 advice all people starting out on your 3D journey should apply: - Get yourself really familiar with the basics by tackling smaller projects first! As a Mentor/Instructor at Think Tank Training Centre and Environment Artist at inXile entertainment, I get to see a LOT of portfolios. One of my joys in life is being able to assist many aspiring Environment Artists set their foot into the Gaming Industry. What are the basics you should learn by doing so? - Proper Reference Gathering - Crucial for good quality models and textures. - Proportions and Silhouettes - Understanding how to properly observe references and model in proper scale. - Modeling for Video Games - Learning how to approach modeling with both SubDiv/Crease for prepping your high polys, and also understanding how to optimize your low poly meshes and have them be ready for baking. - PBR - Physically Based Rendering - Understanding the Industry Standard paradigm for texture creation. - Texturing - Getting yourself familiar in using Substance designer and Painter to a good level of proficiency. - Game Engines - Understanding the basics of Unreal Engine or Unity and making it a standard part of your workflow. What will you achieve by doing so? - Focusing on smaller projects first, allows you to meticulously cover all of the basics above. - Smaller projects will allow you to heavily prioritize quality of quantity. Finally, it acts a proof to yourself that you're capable of pulling this off! Doing a few smaller high quality environments will boost your self confidence and allow you to feel very comfortable with your knowledge. Do you want more specific advice about your own portfolio or Environment Art for games in general? Feel free to book some time with me here! https://lnkd.in/gjPafrjD

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Become a master storyteller where gameplay serves as your pen. Learn how to craft games where mechanics and story intertwine seamlessly. #GameDesignSummit 2024 is coming to Cracow on 19-20th of May! 🎫 https://lnkd.in/d_hhv75i Throughout the workshop with a video game industry professional, you’ll learn: 🎲 Clever and unique ideas to create a story 🎲 How to identify the most popular narrative structures within the game – and how to use them to your advantage 🎲 How to create a paper prototype of narrative game mechanics using board game components provided See you there! #DigitalDragons #Kraków #gamedev

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