People often come to me asking if I know any good books or sources to give a beginner a good little overview of the jobs out there in the games industry. While I know many books on many specialties, most of which feature a decent overview of the game industry jobs and application areas, the choice really also depends on the game that is being developed as requirements may vary from platform to platform or whether you are creating an own or a licensed ip. However, here are the sites and sources I usually recommend to newbies. Feel free to share any good resources you have on the topic:

• First, I usually recommend having a look at my Master’s thesis (pure selfishness, I know), in which I had a look at the development process and the areas involved (although it is a bit dated by now).
• Then, I once found a good explanation on how to get into the games industry by Eurocom, which features short descriptions of all major jobs including project managers, producers, designers, artists, animators, programmers, sound designers, and game testers.
• Exhilarating and hilarious are also Paul Barnett’s IGN videos on how to enter the industry, which I especially recommend to young, overenthusiastic people wanting to get their big break.
• The very old IGDA site: Breaking in can be partially neglected except for having a quick look at the developer profiles.
• Olivia Crosby’s article from 2005 called Working So Others Can Play: Jobs in Video Game Development is also available on the web in various formats and still useful as an overview source.
• Another very dated advice can be found at a Gamasutra archive and is called “How to Get Started in the Game Industry” and written by Ernest Adams, who should need no introduction here.
• Bookwise, I can warmly recommend Erik Bethke’s Game Development and Production, which does feature thorough details about different roles in a game production.
• Game Design: Theory and Practice by Richard Rouse III was one of the first books I read on the topic and still holds value to those interested in the details of a game production.
• Introduction to Game Development, which is edited by Steve Rabin is one of the broadest approaches on the subject of development and definitely a necessary buy for all scholars of the field, because of its well-selected papers from the variety of areas involved in game development.

As the digital game industry matures, degrees are finally becoming more important and you find all information to get started with information on schools and programs at Gamasutra’s sister site GamerCareerGuide.