From Classroom to Games PR: How an Ex-Teacher Doubled Her Income in the Indie Games Sector

In 2019, Jarvs Tasker was forced to leave her teaching career at 28 after developing a chronic illness. Seven years later she runs Jarvs Indie Insights, a communications and marketing service for the video games industry, and says she now earns roughly double her former annual salary as a teacher.

Mark Backler of Game Anglia says the group works to raise awareness about careers in the gaming industry [John Fairhall/BBC]

Tasker visited the University of Suffolk's e-sport facility in Ipswich for an event organised by Game Anglia that celebrated independent developers and small studios across the East of England.

Developer Sam Read-Graves says the industry is growing in the East of England [John Fairhall/BBC]

"I can comfortably say it probably would have taken me about 20 years in teaching to earn what I make now," Tasker said.

After leaving the classroom, Tasker began by volunteering on PlayStation's YouTube channel. She emphasises that many skills translate between teaching and community or PR work: managing groups, communicating clearly and nurturing engagement are useful in both fields.

Abbygale Dunn studied game design and programming at university [John Fairhall/BBC]

"Managing a community is very similar to managing a class of kids, so there's a lot of crossover skills there," she said. "Passion is the most important thing."

Growth And Challenges In The East Of England

Game Anglia has been promoting clusters of developers and students across Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. Mark Backler of Game Anglia described the games sector as one of the UK's largest creative industries and said it is now more possible than ever to develop and release indie titles—though it remains competitive.

Game scout Omar Khalil says it can be hard to create the next big game [John Fairhall/BBC]

Developer Sam Read-Graves noted the region has expanded significantly in the past decade thanks to initiatives that bring together talent and training. He added that big franchises like Call of Duty or FIFA are unlikely to originate in the East of England at present because there are few large studios there, but independent developers can still produce financially successful games.

Voices From The Scene

Abbygale Dunn, 22, founder of Astral Forge and a graduate in game design and programming, said the industry has become more welcoming to women. "When I studied, there were only about three women in my course," she said, but she now feels the community is kinder and more inclusive.

Omar Khalil, game scout lead at Entity, stressed that the UK has plenty of talent but the biggest hurdle for indie creators is visibility. "There are so many games out there right now... it's how do you get visibility on those games? I think that's the biggest challenge," he said.

Views On AI

Tasker and other speakers said the industry is cautious about using AI-generated content. Many players express dislike for AI in creative roles, and speakers welcomed ongoing emphasis on human creativity and authentic work.

The event highlighted a thriving independent scene in the East of England, growing opportunities for varied career paths into games, and persistent challenges around discoverability and studio scale. Attendees left encouraged about the region's momentum and the range of routes into the industry for people with different backgrounds.