Jasmine Gonzalez wasn't sure she was eligible. She'd graduated in 2019, was working full-time at the Science Museum, and had built up a solid production skillset across project management, Agile workflows, game jams and prototyping. A friend encouraged her to apply to the IG50 anyway. She's glad they did. Growing up in New Jersey, games were always part of her life, but pursuing them professionally wasn't something she'd ever been pointed towards. It wasn't until the pandemic that it clicked. Games became her escape from a draining job, and a slow realisation grew: game development was something she could actually do. She saved up, made the move to England in 2021, and started over to chase that passion. The IG50 gave her a way in. After winning, she attended Develop:Brighton, met industry professionals, and received the kind of career guidance that's hard to access when you don't already know the right people. But the bigger change came next. As a direct result of her win, Jasmine was matched with Pantaloon, an indie games label, through Into Games' Boost paid placement programme. There was no production lead at the studio. Within weeks, Jasmine had become one. She built the project intake pipeline from scratch, developed a clear studio services deck, set up automated tracking systems in Notion, sat in on developer pitch meetings, contributed to branding workshops, and got a hands-on introduction to Steamworks. For a studio used to one person doing everything, the impact was immediate. Jamin, the CEO, said it changed how he was able to work within the first fortnight. What she found surprised her. Publishing, which she'd assumed would be intimidating and transactional, turned out to be collaborative and human. "Good publishers want to help developers succeed," she says. "It's not what I expected at all." She left her full-time job to go freelance in the games industry shortly after the placement ended. Her advice is direct, and aimed specifically at people who might talk themselves out of applying: "If you're from a working-class background and you think you might be overqualified because you're already working full-time and have been out of uni for ten-plus years, you're not. It's never too late to pursue your passion. It's definitely worth the risk."