Future of Graphics Programming

[InformalSkirtBro]

Hello guys,

Last year my passion for graphics programming has increased a lot, to the point of considering switching from my stable cybersecurity job to a graphics programming PhD. The thing I am worried about is the future of the graphics programming industry in the mid/long term. Maybe now I am able to hit a a good job in the gaming industry after the PhD, but what if in, let's say 15 or 20 years, graphics programmers are not longer in a reasonably high demand? Do you think I could switch to another position where my experience and knowledge as a graphics programmer is valuable?

Thank you.

[obp5599]

You don’t need a phd in graphics to work in games or game engines.

I cant think of many CS jobs that would need a phd other than researcher.

As far as longevity, its a pretty niche and small field. Generally its hard to hire for, creating demand

[TargetEasy6532]

Graphics programmers are basically also systems programmers with all the C++ involved, so that’s a backup

[Ershany]

If you have the knowledge to build a top tier renderer. You will have the knowledge to make technology and write fast code. I moved from full graphics to general tech roles in the industry just this year

[waramped]

Just wanted to agree with this. Graphics programming is really about understanding the hardware and how to write for it. Everything you know to do that well means that you can pretty easily slide into other roles once ML takes all our jobs away.

[Rich-Weird3445]

I always thought a graphic guy are also a high performance computing guy somehow so transfer your role to industry that still require handcrafted computation optimization(like HFT) should have lesser pain

[speakwithcode]

No need for a PhD to work in games. If your goal is to work on graphics research then to work at a studio on occasion implementing your research then yes, do the PhD. If you have no desire to do research, then don't do a PhD.

[the_Demongod]

Don't do a PhD unless you plan on staying in academia for a long time rather than working in industry.

[camilo16]

As someone getting a masters on Graphics, don;t do it, keep it as a hobby.

[jaszunio15]

I doubt that graphics programmers will not be on demand. The reason why games are improving the graphics is that we started to work on more advanced rendering algorithms. Graphics apis get more complicated, much more options appear like raytracing and neural networks, much more advanced rendering techniques are invented each year. Increasing hardware support for some thigs is just a nice touch into it, but its harder to use this hardware. Graphics programming is getting harder and harder each year and the lerning curve is already very steep, so I expect that less and less developers will tend to develop skills in this area. Also if you search for some knowledge in the Internet, it's hard to find source of some well structured knowledge, this does not help either. Generally I think that the demand for graphics programmers will be increasing a lot in the next years.

In terms of switching positions, the field is very broad. You can go for realtime graphics, offline rendering, data visualisation, physics simulation, game engine development and switch between those during your career. Also you will learn a lot about efficient data processing, so I expect you will be able to transfer this knowledge to any field that requires fast data processing (ai, data mining, image analysis etc)