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Companies that make video games have been creating jobs. That industry is expanding. And for kids who grew up on those games, working to make them can be a dream.

Joshua Brockman visited a gaming company in Rockville, Maryland.

(Soundbite of video game, "Fallout 3")

Unidentified Man: These experiments. Don't be a damned fool.

JOSHUA BROCKMAN: It's midday on a Friday, and thirty-nine-year old Todd Howard was playing "Fallout 3" in his office. When he first started at the Bethesda Softworks 15 years ago, his parents told him to have a backup plan. He didn't need one. Now he's the company's game director. He oversaw the creation of this popular coming-of-age video game.

(Soundbite of video game, "Fallout 3")

Unidentified Woman: Happy birthday. Can you believe it? He is growing up so fast.

BROCKMAN: The company ? a division of ZeniMax Media ? is also having a teenage growth spurt of its own. Todd Howard.

Mr. HOWARD: For our company, there are certain areas we're hiring very aggressively 'cause we are growing rapidly.

BROCKMAN: And the entire video game universe is maturing. Drew Davidson is the director of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University.

Mr. DREW DAVIDSON (Director, Entertainment Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon University): I'd say game industries are sort of coming out of their adolescence. You know, they're in their late teens and so there's still a lot of growing to do.

BROCKMAN: Game Developer Research says there are about 45,000 total employees in the U.S. video game industry, with an average salary of close to $80,000. Salaries can reach into the six figures, and programmers are among the highest-paid. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment for computer software engineers, some of whom develop video games, will grow by nearly a third in the next decade.

Davidson says colleges around the country are tuned in.

Mr. DAVIDSON: We're seeing a huge upswing in terms of universities trying to offer degrees that focus around games or interactive media. The why is just because they're so popular.

BROCKMAN: More than 200 institutions from MIT to DigiPen Institute of Technology are offering courses or degrees in video games. Michael Gallagher heads the Entertainment Software Association, a trade group for the video game industry.

Mr. MICHAEL GALLAGHER (CEO, Entertainment Software Association): The U.S. is the number one video game market in the world. So, here at home we have a very strong market for employment in video games.

BROCKMAN: And that market is growing because of mainstream demand. Just look around - you can see people of all ages playing games on mobile phones. Social networking games are also wildly popular on Facebook. Todd Howard of Bethesda Softworks says people also want jobs in the video game industry, because a day at the office is casual, not corporate.

Mr. HOWARD: Sometimes I equate it to an organized fraternity. We play games at lunch, we have a giant movie theater in the building, we have a pool table, we have multiple video game setups.

BROCKMAN: They also have their own chef. So, employees effectively live at the office. It's an industry that values creative collaborations between artists, designers and programmers. The majority of jobs are full time with benefits, and it's a fluid career with people moving across the country, or the world, to take on new projects. But recruiter Mary-Margaret Walker says these patterns may change.

Ms. MARY-MARGARET WALKER (Recruiter): I think we will see more consulting and more contracting and more virtual working.

BROCKMAN: That means development teams may no longer work and play in the same physical space.

(Soundbite of video game)

BROCKMAN: Back in Todd Howard's office at Bethesda Softworks, he's got both hands on the wheel - I mean the Xbox 360.

Mr. HOWARD: The greatest feeling in the world is making a game and then going to the store and seeing somebody buy it. It's very special.

BROCKMAN: The journey from start to finish for a big console game can easily take about three years and cost more than $100 million. These high stakes ? and new gaming platforms ? are among the reasons smaller, independent companies are taking root to produce games for the future.

Joshua Brockman, NPR News.

(Soundbite of music)

INSKEEP: And we'll conclude New Jobs for a New Decade tomorrow, with a look at the future of jobs in the financial sector.

Unidentified Man: For at least the last 50 years or so, every time there's been a slowdown, the businesses have expanded in its wake and indeed have way exceeded what the businesses were at before.

INSKEEP: The financial sector tomorrow.

(Soundbite of music)

INSKEEP: It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News.

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