3 minutes ago, Werem said:

Few of you mentioned that paper will help me to start in the industry, this is why I mentioned that I already have a really good job, if not this I would go straight to college but they already have plans for me, including resposible tasks and as I said, it's a big, well known company and this is what makes me question the importance of a degree, on top of that there are a few people in my job that hold high positions and did not attend college

It's fully up to you what you decide to do. Nobody here has a crystal ball and can tell what your future will hold... You might hold this job for a good period of time and be perfectly fine. You could lose the job and struggle to get back into the game industry and without a degree unable to find a general programming job as an example... This would force you to take a job outside of programming leaving you to work in a non related job because there are employers out there that want "degrees"... Or it could be the opposite... you might be perfectly find bouncing from job to job with your experience at 20 years old.

It's wiser to have a "Plan B", which means if you're unable to continue working in the game industry, at least having a Computer Science degree can help you maintain employment in both the public and private sector as a lot of companies do education screening, especially since you most likely don't have 5+ years of work experience at 20 years old.

That being said, I personally don't care for degrees... I've been lucky enough to get into an executive position outside of tech, learn several programming languages, and get into game development without post secondary, but this isn't always the norm for people. I run a few companies now, and I personally don't care about formal education, I care about what the individual can actually do. I have a lot of friends that had to go through the song and dance in dealing with lack of education, and they had been passed over because of it when starting out. As their experience grew it didn't matter unless it was a government related job that will not take experience over education in my area. If you have 5+ years of experience you'll be fine, and you only need 3-4 years to get the Computer Science Degree. People have finished degrees in shorter time than 4 years.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

I went out of games into corporate stuff for a bit, and when I moved back into games, even though I aced their tests and interviewed well, they would only start me on a junior salary/position at first. After my first performance review I renegotiated, but still, I had to jump through that hoop because I was coming from a "not games" job 

One thing no one has mentioned are the intangible benefits of going to university. 

First, college/university is great fun. You’re young and usually unburdened with responsibility. It’s an opportunity to explore not only your degree but to try new things outside your comfort zone (a new activity, or sport or hobby). I look back on my college years as one of the best times of my life. I met my wife, made lifelong friends, played in bands and occasionally even attended lectures ?

But you also end up networking, almost by default. 

So you definitely don’t need to get a degree, but you might actually want to. 

On 10/19/2018 at 8:43 AM, Rutin said:

If you have 5+ years of experience you'll be fine, and you only need 3-4 years to get the Computer Science Degree. People have finished degrees in shorter time than 4 years.

Really without at least Master (or equalent that take 5 univrsity years fulltime) degree in Applicative Mathematic and CS it can not be a "good" expirience in software development at all. Becouse it impossible  to analize field and build architecture properly without knowledge of related mathematic and methodologes. Any coding without knowledge of background math and analizing of field is just a production of tons of useless garbage code and nothing else.

15 minutes ago, Fulcrum.013 said:

Really without at least Master (or equalent that take 5 univrsity years fulltime) degree in Applicative Mathematic and CS it can not be a "good" expirience in software development at all. Becouse it impossible  to analize field and build architecture properly without knowledge of related mathematic and methodologes. Any coding without knowledge of background math and analizing of field is just a production of tons of useless garbage code and nothing else.

The majority of people wanting to get into programming jobs are not going for master degrees as a requirement prior to getting hired in North America... Maybe somewhere else, but not here unless something has changed and I missed the memo. The industry has people without degrees and with undergraduate degrees, certificates and diplomas. When I say the "industry" I'm referring to anyone actually working in any capacity in Game Development or General Programming (employed, or self-employed).

How is it impossible to obtain knowledge in math and other subject matters without stepping into a class room? That is an absurd statement. Do you realize the amount of time programmers put into maintaining and upgrading their skills throughout their careers which doesn't consist of going into a class room? I'm assuming you're a programmer yourself? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

It might come as a shock to some, but you don't need to go to school for a masters degree, or any degree for that matter to become a competent programmer. It takes a lot of hands on experience and exposure that develops you, not sitting in a class room for a few years. What about all the self taught programmers out there? You seriously cannot make the argument that someone who doesn't go to school is going to be producing garbage code.

All of the prerequisites to programming up to the advanced and beyond can be taught with the vast amount of books, videos, and speed courses available today. The rest gets developed on the way, and as needed. There is nothing wrong in getting a degree, and I do encourage people to get one if they can, but that degree isn't going to be some magic dust that transforms the individual into good programmer without working in a real environment and taking an active stance in their own development as required.

5 minutes ago, Rutin said:

How is it impossible to obtain knowledge in math and other subject matters without stepping into a class room? That is an absurd statement. Do you realize the amount of time programmers put into maintaining and upgrading their skills throughout their careers which doesn't consist of going into a class room? I'm assuming you're a programmer yourself? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

To understend a task field people need a fundamental basis in math that only university able to give. Anything else is wodoo-programming and not a development expiriene at all.

7 minutes ago, Rutin said:

The majority of people wanting to get into programming jobs are not going for master degrees as a requirement prior to getting hired in North America...

Programming is a kind of engenireeng, and say more is a topmost mathematically loaded kind of engenireeng.  It is nonsence to try to design something without engineer qualifcation that require a 5-years university degree. Nobody will fly on Boeing planes, for example, in case its wings will be designed by unqualidied designers. But same wiht code - it same parts of planes and anything else.

16 minutes ago, Rutin said:

All of the prerequisites to programming up to the advanced and beyond can be taught with the vast amount of books, videos, and speed courses available today

Especially from videos like "learn C++ in 1 hour". Idiots that make and look its videos ever not undertend that knowledge of language and development skills is ortogonal.

Just now, Fulcrum.013 said:

To understend a task field people need a fundamental basis in math that only university able to give. Anything else is wodoo-programming and not a development expiriene at all.

You do realize experts in their respective fields publish things called books... right? Not to mention the countless resources published in audio, video, and even online now. If you honestly want me to believe learning can only be achieved in a formal institution, I wont bite, sorry! There is zero evidence to support that people are incapable in learning math outside of a formal education platform. If you required a "class room experience"  to get through the fundamentals, then that's your scenario, and doesn't hold true for everyone else.

1 minute ago, Fulcrum.013 said:

Programming is a kind of engenireeng, and say more is a topmost mathematically loaded kind of engenireeng.  It is nonsence to try to design something without engineer qualifcation that require a 5-years university degree. Nobody will fly on Boeing planes, for example, in case its wings will be designed by unqualidied designers. But same wiht code - it same parts of planes and anything else.

Well I guess I'm not qualified based on such a standard... Only been at this for 18 years. I run my own IT company, among other businesses, and program daily as I'm working on a new title. There are many talented people out there that never stepped into a College or University and they're doing just fine, myself included.  

I don't see eye to eye with you on this one however, but either way you're free to have your opinion.

21 minutes ago, Rutin said:

Do you realize the amount of time programmers put into maintaining and upgrading their skills throughout their careers which doesn't consist of going into a class room?

It require to have a basis to upgrade it.