Meet Our Intern - Jade

Interested in pursuing a career at EA? Our internship program provides great opportunities for students to start and grow their career, while cultivating their passions along the way. Interns at EA come from a variety of backgrounds and experience levels and have a diverse range of stories to tell. Read about Jade’s here.

Fast Facts:

• Name: Jade Smith
• Title: Intern Game Designer
• Major: BSc Interactive Media (with Placement Year)
• School: University of York

Describe yourself and your background.

I am originally from Newcastle, I’ve always had an interest in combining the technical aspects of coding with the creativity of design. I’m always excited to get involved in extracurricular activities such as the end of year showcase for my course and dance performances for the Korean Society I’m involved in at university.

What made you interested in studying Interactive Media?

Interactive Media is a relatively new course at the University of York and it only became an option in my second year of study. The course covers a wide variety of skills from coding to design to understanding how technology affects society and that is what drew me to the course. I wanted a course that not only challenged me technically but also creatively in the module assessments we would need to do.

What about a career in STEAM interests you so much?

The emerging interest in STEAM careers is important in emphasising collaboration in the workplace. I love the diversity of skills STEAM careers place into the spotlight. I believe that in the game industry, no matter what role you work under, you will always need an understanding of aspects from each skillset in order to fully be able to fulfil your role. 

What drew you to the EA and how did you find it beneficial?

A pattern which I noticed from looking at potential jobs in the future is that employers look for candidates to have experience in the workplace. So, when my course introduced the option to look for a placement, I immediately jumped at the opportunity to work at EA. The process itself was very simple: I sent my application to the EA website, had a Skype interview with two of their designers and then had an onsite interview in the Guildford office. Everyone was very friendly when I met them and from seeing the office in person, I knew this was the place I wanted to work in.

What about EA’s push for inclusion and work in technology drew you to an internship here?

I really respect the values that Criterion has. One that especially resonates with me is their views towards creative collaboration and this is something you can see immediately stepping into the office. It’s amazing to see how many different people from different roles you can work with daily. As I am part of the level design team, we not only work very closely with the artists in order to make the best world possible, we work with the loot team to discuss loot distribution and general gameplay designers to make sure we are hitting the right gameplay moments with our placement of assets.

What do you do at EA?

Since the beginning of my placement, I have been working on the Battle Royale game mode for Battlefield V, Firestorm. It’s an exciting project to work on and as a level designer, I get to work on a variety of parts in the game. I’ve helped design a wide range of areas from outlining landmark areas from a gameplay perspective to looking the smaller details by dressing main buildings and using environmental storytelling to make the landmark areas feel more lived in and tell a story of those who used to live there. I’ve also had an opportunity to work on aspects that I didn’t expect to fall under level design such as loot distribution around the world.

How do you think your internship at EA will help you on your career path?

The way my internship works allows me to try several different roles from UI, loot, gameplay and level design to name a few. Having the choice of these diverse roles has really helped me decide on what design role I would like to take on after I graduate from University.

What do you think makes EA a unique place to advance your knowledge of technology?

Working at Criterion has been a dream come true as a first job. I have been given responsibility on real life projects from the start of the programme which is really encouraging to see so early in the internship. Everyone who works here is so welcoming and supportive in the work that you do which is really reassuring for someone just starting out in the industry. The opportunities I have been given have been challenging but rewarding and I can’t wait to see what else I will get up to in the rest of my time here.

Tell us something we don’t know about you.

I am a huge fan of pixel art! I follow a Twitter account that gives daily prompts of something to draw which is really fun to do and it’s fascinating to see what people come up with.

Want to work as intern at one of our locations? Find out more info here!

Stay in the conversation of all things Inside EA: Visit our site, and follow us on Twitter, 
Linkedin and Instagram.