Our internship applications for 2022/2023 are now closed! Thank you to everyone who applied. You can read more about the next steps in the FAQ below.
The Player 1 Programme is a paid opportunity looks to open doors into the games industry and provide a platform to help kickstart careers in a AAA studio. Learning alongside our Senior Leads and Mentors, Interns will contribute to actual deliverables for the production of our upcoming online multiplayer game!
This is a hugely exciting opportunity, and if you want to hear more about why we’re so passionate about this internship – you can read this blog by our two Studio Heads, Tara and Stuart.
We hope to run the internship programme again in future years!
FAQs
Who is this Internship for?
Our Internships are open to anyone aged 18 and over, or turn 18 from January 2023 (Happy Birthday!) and are looking to get into the games industry. To us, it is someone who is super enthusiastic and passionate and may not have a degree, or access to courses. Or perhaps you’ve been working in a different industry, and never had the opportunity to work in games but would like to. For some of our Intern roles, we will be looking to see portfolios, which you may have worked on in your spare time (particularly for our tech and design Internships). They may not be polished, but demonstrate passion. If you have had any games experience, we would imagine it would be around 3 months or less – but experience in games is NOT a requirement!
What roles do we have available?
🖥️ Tech Intern
🖌️ Design Intern
📈 Production Intern
What will I gain by doing this Internship?
- Visibility of the studio and what it is like to work onsite for a AAA games studio.
- Opportunity to shadow and work with industry professionals and contribute to actual deliverables in game production.
- Chance to build up connections in the industry by attending career fairs and industry events such as London Gaming Festival.
- Access to learning and development resources e.g., Access to GDC Vault giving you a collection of in-depth design, technical and inspirational talks, and slides from influencers of the game development industry.
- A year in industry will put you in good stead for Junior positions after your Internship.
- You will gain access to mentorship opportunities to develop your career and skills.
- You will take part in LinkedIn, interview and CV workshops from our internal recruitment team, learning how to make your LinkedIn and CV attractive for future employers and learning interview techniques.
- We will give our Interns the opportunity to spend time shadowing other specialisms of their choice.
Specific details for design, tech and production are posted in the job descriptions!
When and where can I apply?
Our application window has now closed, but watch this space for an announcement next year when we hope to roll the programme out again!
When will the Internship start? How long is the Internship?
The internships are 12 months as a fixed term contract. The placements will start January 2023. Once the Interns have finished their placement, we will look at the scope for Junior positions within London Studio. If there are no Junior positions available, we can reach out to the other PlayStation Studios to see if they have any suitable roles and provide all the support you need to keep your career in games.
Where is the office?
15 Great Marlborough Street,
Soho,
London,
W1F 7HR
Can I do the Internship if I don’t live in London?
Ideally, we would prefer for our Interns to work from our London office for a minimum of 2 days per week. The remaining 3 days per week is totally up to you. You can work from our London office or work remote. If your situation doesn’t accommodate this hybrid model, we still want to hear from you.
We can assist with some regional relocation costs. Unfortunately we are not in a position to accommodate remote working outside of the UK, but if you are a successful applicant who wishes to relocate to the UK and requires sponsorship, Sony Interactive Entertainment will support you with the visa process.
Is the Internship paid?
Yes, we will be offering £25,000 per annum and a discretionary bonus.
Are my travel expenses paid for?
We will give you a travel allowance of £2,812 for the year you will be interning with us. This will help you with any travel expenses.
What other perks do I get?
- Free breakfast & lunch on us in our canteen for the duration of the Internship.
- Free Studio snacks, PlayStation swag and merchandise.
- Access to our Studio gym, canteen, video game library, high spec PC’s & much more!
- You can check out further perks we offer here.
Why is our Internship called Player 1 Programme?
As a Studio we are passionate about developing future game industry professionals especially for those who may not have had opportunity to work within the industry before. We want to make sure that your personal and professional development into the gaming industry is our top priority, you are player 1 in your Internship journey with us and we are here to support you!
What does my application need to include?
A CV, cover letter (optional) and a portfolio (for our Tech and Design placements). A portfolio should really give us an insight into your interests and we’re always keen to see what amazing things you’ve been working on! Alongside your application, we will give you 4 short questions. You need to answer at least 3. You will find this in the application form. We are happy for you to decide how you might like to submit your responses! We would suggest submitting a word document with your answers to the document in the upload section. If you would like to create a video, you can upload it onto YouTube and make it private or upload it via Google Drive. Then submit the link on the application. So you can start preparing, the questions will be:
- What games or other creative content has inspired you?
- What do you hope to gain from this Internship?
- Describe yourself in 3 words, and then tell us why!
- You’re in a lift with Hermen Hulst (Head of PlayStation Studios). In a short elevator pitch, tell him why you want this opportunity at PlayStation.
We also recommend checking out some of the advice our two Studio Heads, Tara and Stuart give in their recent blog post.
What is the recruitment process?
Once we have reviewed all our applications, we will be inviting successful applicants to an HR screening call the week commencing 17th October. If successful after the call, you will be invited to a 30-minute call, week commencing 31st October. This will be with the team to discuss the Internship in more detail, and you will talk them through a piece of work you’ve done that you’re proud of. Remember, you don’t have to have worked in the games industry before! We just want to see your passion! The final stage after this will be our Open Day which we will be hosting for 6 people per internship placement. If invited, you will hear about this by the 9th November. Our Open day will be held in our London office week commencing 21st November. We would love to see as many of our invitees onsite, but we will be able to host this virtually for those who are unable to attend onsite. Once the Open Day has taken place, we will be choosing our Interns.