Going Abroad

[e-freak]

Hey, I'm currently thinking (mid-term) about the chances of going abroad in the games industry. I know Canada has alot of cool opportunities in this respect and the US if they would make it easier to migrate. What I was wondering about were the chances and opportunities in the following countries

Sweden

Ireland

Switzerland

Iceland.

I know a little bit about Sweden (Dice and Starbreeze) and I know the Eve devs are in Iceland. But what other bigger (read stable) studios do you know in these countries and has anyone experience in how difficult it is to migrate (seen cultural and bureaucracy) to these countries?

[Minos]

I too am interested in this (sweden and canada mostly )

[Warby]

i heard icelandic chicks are the hottest on the planet !

[insta]

Sweden also has Avalanche, the guys that made the Just Causes

I think moving to sweden from europe is easy-peasy, I moved here from Norway 4 years back and I didn't have to do anything special (although that was within Schengen)

I see you're in Germany, ask steppenwolf how it was for him to make the move from there to sweden

[Steppenwolf]

Moving to Sweden is no big hurdle for EU citizens bureaucracy wise. Biggest problem there is to find a place to live because most houses and appartements are not for rent. And the ones who are are mostly in the rather shabby areas on the outskirts. It can also take years to get something for rent.

You can buy something which is a certain risk because you don't know for how long you are in the country. If the house prices fall this could bite you in the ass when you have to leave.

What i did was to rent an appartement second hand from someone who studied somewhere else. Catch is: it was more expensive, but good thing was that all furniture, TV, Internet etc. was already there. The company helped me to find this place.

Culturally living in Sweden is not a big shock. Most things are similar to Germany. Some things work a bit better (taxes and banking for example), some work a bit worse (health system).

[-HP-]

Getting into Germany from Portugal was no biggie at all either. In fact, I didn't even had to do jack shit, Crytek's HR dept took care of everything for me.

And afaik, it's very very easy to move around inside EU if you want to, especially for us devs, the company your joining will help you with everything.

My girlfriend just joined me here in Germany, and since she doesn't have a job yet it makes things a little bit complicated, but it's still fairly easy because again, she's a EU citizen, no visa needed.

Since she's living with me, and I'm the only one who works for now, I need to sign a document saying that I'm responsible for her, and show proof of my last paychecks and she also needs to get a German insurance by herself, but again if you already have a job you don't need to go through this hassle.

But what the OP meant was how hard is it, and what are the circumstances involved into moving abroad while working in the games industry.

Well, if you're a EU citizen wanting to get into the US? It's really really difficulty and for many impossible. There's a lot of things you need, and you need to have a degree inside the same area of the job your going to work on in the US, or 12 years of professional experience in that field, even if you have a company sponsoring you.

Companies like Blizzard have emigration lawyers that know how and where to pull a few strings to make it easier for you, but all in all, for a EU citizen getting into the US is not sweet peas.

Getting into Canada, whereas is not as easy to move inside EU it's much easier to get than US!

PS.

Make sure you read this: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost ... ostcount=1

[Tisky]

I live in Sweden, and it should be no biggie for anyone to move here! If you stay here illegal we have the worst police officers that won´t care to find you, almost no military force and worst of all, alchohol and beer is expensive as fuck. Most Swedes rent a big truck, go to Germany, load it with beer, then go home. (Atleast i do sometimes, saves me shitload of money).

On the serious side, it shouldn´t be a problem as long as you got something to do, altho you can come here and not do anyhthing for 10 years and still stay like many other people in my town have done. A part of me hates my country so much after how i got treated by the authorities, but most of the time it works. If you go to Sweden, be sure to stay close to the coast cities, they are the only good ones, the deeper you go into this country the more it sucks.

[GregBoffins]

Come move to Toronto Mino, and join our team!

It's piss easy to get a visa to come to canada, ubi sorts out and these canadian type folk are really friendly to work with.

[Minos]

Come move to Toronto Mino, and join our team!

It's piss easy to get a visa to come to canada, ubi sorts out and these canadian type folk are really friendly to work with.

I did apply to Toronto but they are only hiring senior people now. Our studio's HR manager did his best to relocate everyone but out of all people who applied, only one got a job so far (a senior programmer, he's starting in Toronto in December or January).

What really spoiled my chances was that I had to rush to get my portfolio sent on time. I'll contact the recruiter soon when I have my portfolio updated.

HP: I just got a little worried now for having dropped out of college when I came to Sao Paulo. I should have started another diploma but it's so damn expensive here that I'd rather go back to my hometown and finish the one I started. But then that would take another 2.5 years of my life

It would also be nice if Dorothy shared her immigration experiences in this thread

[Skjalg]

I live in Sweden, [... ]

and worst of all, alchohol and beer is expensive as fuck.

Wait, what?

Most norwegians load up a big truck and travel to sweden to load up on beer and vodka

[-HP-]

I heard that in Finland beer is very very very expensive too!

[sarge mat]

There is more or less no games industry in Ireland. Not the top place to live in the world I can say from experience too.

[PogoP]

Yeah I wouldn't go for Ireland, not heard of many good companies there.

Also, Sarge Mat, are you a student in Stafford? I swear we've spoke about this before!

[Tisky]

I live in Sweden, [... ]

and worst of all, alchohol and beer is expensive as fuck.

Wait, what?

Most norwegians load up a big truck and travel to sweden to load up on beer and vodka

Yeah, Norway have some crazy prizes, not really tourist friendly

You should travel to Burg, in germany and visit Calle.dk . Make sure you got a big trailer.

[sarge mat]

Yeah I wouldn't go for Ireland, not heard of many good companies there.

Also, Sarge Mat, are you a student in Stafford? I swear we've spoke about this before!

Yea I am, think we did talk about it before back in the summer. Not a bad uni sounds like this year is a lot better than past ones from what people tell me.