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Game industry studies in Poland. What university would be the best choice? Is it possible to study for free? [19]
I don't know what to do
Keep calm and make a plan :)
Short term plan - number one priority should be to stay out of the army. Best way to be certain of that is to remain in university for now. Your degree may be boring and obstructing your professional development but see it as a means to an end. Exploit it for what you can get, which is freedom from being drafted into the army. Even if that's the only reason to stay in university it's a very good reason!
university deprived me of the opportunity to work on a cool project.
Not really. You had a choice and you chose to stick with uni instead of taking a job. That's ok. We all have to make difficult choices sometimes and we may regret the road we took but you're young. You'll still find a way :) For what it's worth I think you made the right choice. I wouldn't give up university no matter how boring and irrelevant to work for a Russian games company. Do you really want a Russian employer? :)) Games companies, even the best ones, don't have a great reputation for how they treat their staff. It's an industry that really does chew people up and spit them out and there have been plenty of allegations by Mundfish staff that the company is a nightmare to work for. Your degree may be boring and irrelevant but it's a degree and that piece of paper is always worth having. The really useful learning is industry based and the first two years of working will be your true apprenticeship but for now, carrying on with your degree was a good decision.
I don't know if you're aware Ryan (I'll shorten you if you don't mind!) that games development right across the board, in every country, pays the lowest developer salaries and has the longest working hours and a lot of what's called 'crunches' where the team has to work for weeks at a time with no days off to meet crazy deadlines. These crunches happen partly because of incompetent management who don't know how to properly plan projects. But if you really want to be a game developer, then go for it and see where it takes you and very best of luck with it.
Anyway, you have two goals. One is get out of Belarus and the other is to work in the game development industry.
maybe it's just the best out of private institutions?
No, Polish Japanese Academy is one of the best of all, public or private. You won't regret studying there. But Mafketis is right that most Polish private universities offer worthless diplomas and degrees. The only issue I can see is that you don't have a certificate of competency in the Polish language and may have to choose the English language option. Maybe you should start studying Polish more intensely now with a view to passing that exam.
If you've decided on Poland for study, then do things the Polish way. Forget about free studies. Most Polish students only study part time and they pay their tuition fees by working. The courses are delivered at weekends. Aim to get yourself an entry level, junior developer job in Warsaw (młodszy programista). Most junior developers are still studying so it's quite possible to get a job long before you finish your studies. On your CV say that you intend to apply to transfer your studies to Poland. You just want to earn money to support yourself in the first stage of your plan. If you're not having any luck with developer roles, try for games tester. There are plenty of opportunities there though salaries are not as good but it's a start. Junior developer salaries tend start at around 4,000zl per month in Warsaw for somebody without a degree or experience, games tester around 3,000zl but the developer salaries increase quite quickly and also if you're under 26, you won't have to pay tax on such a low salary. It will be a struggle at first but it's do-able.
Here is a link to a site showing living costs in Warsaw. It's fairly accurate. But as for rent, your best option to save money on that is to just rent a room in an apartment shared with others. Basically you get a bedroom with a lock and you share the kitchen and bathrooms.
numbeo.com/cost-of-living/in/Warsaw
Here's an example of a room to rent in the city centre. Rent is 700 and there could be extra bills so budget for 1,000zl:
morizon.pl/oferta/wynajem-mieszkanie-warszawa-srodmiescie-bednarska-20m2-mzn2039284040
Apply to the Polish Japanese Academy next year (don't worry about how you can pay for it, just apply!) When you get accepted it will look good on job applications 'currently in second year of studies in Belarus, accepted for Polish Japanese Academy blah, blah etc etc). Fees can be paid in monthly installments btw. And just keep looking for a job. If you find one, move to Poland (don't take a remote job if you can avoid it. It's very hard to work remotely on a first job in the industry and you want to get yourself physically to Poland asap!). And yes you apply sometime around May for Polish universities. However they usually continue accepting applications up until late August for the part time study options.
I have already made 2 small indie-games on Unreal Engine.
That's brilliant! :)) That's exactly the approach to take. Keep going on small projects and it will pay off. I'd suggest that for your next project maybe consider designing a bigger game and then making one playable level of it and try to ensure that you will learn something new from each project. Create a profile on LinkedIn if you don't already have one as other recruiters may find you and it makes you look professional. I assume you've already made some kind of website to showcase yourself and your work. You have lots of passion which really comes across in your communication and you are obviously a very hard worker. Somebody will recognize that and you will get your chance :))
Btw you mentioned CD Project Red, but do you know this other Polish company, People Can Fly? They made The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, a really beautiful game.
peoplecanfly.com/career/#how-we-fly
Finally here's a Polish programmer's forum which you may find useful:
//4programmers.net/
That's all I think of for the moment :))
