“The Dominican Republic has very good video game developers on a technical and empirical level”

In 2020, during the confinement due to the pandemic, Dominican Gabriel Veras began receiving advertisements on social networks promoting a degree in video game design and development taught at a Mexican academy.

The systems engineer, who was 29 at the time, was torn between his lifelong passion and the fear of returning to classrooms to pursue a second degree – albeit now in virtual mode.

His wife – a Colombian who was a professional video game player – and his friends encouraged him to overcome his fears and pursue his dream.

Thus, in January 2024 and after three years of study at the University of Carolina in Mexico, he graduated, becoming the first graduate in Video Game Design and Development registered in the Dominican Republic.

Video games, a growing industry

Veras highlights the economic potential and employment opportunities that the video game industry can offer the Dominican Republic, as it is a business that brings in billions of dollars globally each year. And it is increasing.

Furthermore, young professionals highlight local talent in the region and the possibility of building a country brand through the production of video games.

In the country, where video game development is studied at a highly technical level in diploma courses rather than graduate degrees, “there are many video game developers out there, and many are very good at a technical and empirical level,” says Verus, who It started with experimenting and modifying games during adolescence.

A video game creator faces a wide professional field, covering cover design, 3D modeling, virtual experiences, metaverses, among other areas.

Your market is not limited to local, but you can also work remotely for international companies.

Dominican video game developers

Getting a university degree is one step on a long journey as a video game designer and developer.

While studying for his dream career, one of Veras’ goals was to create a purely Dominican video game development studio.

Currently, he leads a team of seven people, with whom he has been working for more than a year on a game concept set in the era of national independence, the beta version of which they hope to launch in late 2024. Is.

“It wouldn’t be 100 percent based on history, because that’s something that, especially in this day and age, would cause a lot of friction; But we are looking to reflect some of the stories we have created, but as they would have been at that historical point,” he explains.

The video game, “The Independence: Blood and Freedom” will be available for computers and Xbox.

Encourage others to follow their dreams

Be it electronic gaming or any other branch, Veras urges people to step out of their comfort zone and go after their dreams like he did.

Although his first profession, which he still pursues (he is an application development coordinator for a state institution), allowed him to work in companies where his economic situation was not bad, but he always felt “unfulfilled”. It was felt.

Pursuing a second degree had its challenges (among them, combining work and study, and sharing a classroom with much younger students), but at one point he said to himself: “If I don’t do it now, at what point will I But are you going to do it?”

“Eventually you have a fear of leaving your comfort zone,” he says. “When you get used to a comfort zone, the step of leaving that zone becomes more uncomfortable, but the process of getting there The personal satisfaction, or at least taking the first steps toward your dreams, is fantastic.”