Arran Topalian

BA (Hons) Game Design and Production, 2015

How did you end up going from studying to become a history teacher to studying Game Design?

It’s quite a drastic shift! I finished my degree at Glasgow and thought teaching was what I was going to do. However, I got to a point when I realised if I kept going the way I was I’d get even deeper into it and it’s going to be hard to change my mind and do something I was really passionate about.

I thought to myself “what’s the one thing you’ve really loved?” and the only answer was video games. I looked online to see what place offered the best course, and Abertay came up. I saved up my money and put myself through university.

So tell me more about your job now and what it involves?

I’m a Game Designer at Mediatonic, so my day-to-day job tends to involve writing up documentation or specifications on how features are going to work.

I can also act as a liaison between the different departments at the studio.

Sounds like quite a challenging job!

It is, but it’s also hugely rewarding! It’s a lot of fun and I’m very, very lucky to work here.

How did you end up in your current position?

I was actually contacted on LinkedIn by the in-house recruiter for Mediatonic. I’d actually been in touch with Mediatonic a few years before that. I applied through the website but at the time there was another job offer which I ended up going with. It’s sort of gone full circle, and I finally ended up here!

You’ve done a lot of interesting things in your career, including an internship at Microsoft – what was that like?

Fantastic. That was a huge learning opportunity. It was a lot of fun, especially since I was getting to work on a Triple-A game. The people who worked there were amazing.

How did your Abertay degree help you get to where you are?

I definitely found that it was a great way to get connections. I was very focused on my studies and I think that got me noticed a little bit more by the tutors. That led to me getting opportunities, for example, with QA for people they knew in the industry. It really was a good way to get my foot in the door.

Do you have any advice for our current students?

Work hard! It sounds a bit obvious but it really does matter. A lot of people put emphasis on talent and while that does matter I think resolve and a solid work ethic does pay off.

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