You may have spent hours playing video games but do you know that they can be complex to make? Some games can be developed by one person, while there are others that require a team of over 1,000!

While this shows that there are opportunities in the industry, Malaysian video game animator Jax Lee is living testament that applying hardwork and talent can help you succeed in life.

Jax is enjoying an illustrious career in the United States of America and has been flexing his talent in the animation field, having worked on several big-name projects to date, including developing popular video games such as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Dead Space 2, Dead Space 3 and Battlefield 4 for different platforms (PC, Xbox, PlayStation, etc.).

After graduating from the Dasein Academy of Art in Kuala Lumpur, Jax continued his studies in character animation at the Academy of Art University (AAU), San Francisco, USA. During this time, California-based video game developer Stormfront Studios (now defunct) came to AAU to give a talk. Students were also encouraged to show their demo reel to the company for feedback.

Even though the studio wasn’t hiring, Jax’s work impressed Stormfront’s art director so much that he was invited for an interview and eventually offered a job!

“I am a detail-oriented person, which was what I was trained to be while studying Illustration at Dasein Academy. I prepared my demo reel with a DVD cover to Stormfront Studios. My animation was also fully rendered with textures and lighting. The art director was impressed by the entire package,” Jax said.

Jax continued to enjoy an illustrious career in the field, with some of his notable projects include working on Eragon’s video game. He was then recommended to join LucasArts (yes, the George Lucas!) as a character animator in 2006, where he worked on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Indiana Jones. The Force Unleashed has won awards for Best Video Game Writing and Best Use of a Creative License.

Two years later, Jax joined Disney ImageMovers Digital and worked on 2 new video games, A Christmas Carol and Mars Needs Moms.

Jax has also worked for leading gaming publisher Electronic Arts (EA) where he worked on popular video games Dead Space 2, Dead Space 3, Battlefield 4 and Battlefield Hardline.

Remarkably, Jax completed his part-time Masters in Fine Arts in 3D Animation and Modeling in between developing games for Disney and EA!

An exemplary Malaysian of true talent, Jax has made a career out of his passion, proving that dedication does take you places!