How to Write a Cover Letter for Gaming Jobs (Template)

Three cover letter mistakes are getting gaming job applicants rejected before recruiters even open their resume. Here's the fix from a career coach who reads 15-20 resumes a day. Most people in the gaming industry have given up on cover letters. You sent a few, heard nothing, and your imposter syndrome confirmed what you already feared. So why bother? But the math tells a different story. If 1,000 people apply and only 10% write a cover letter, you just moved yourself from a pile of 1,000 to a pile of 100. That advantage is real. The problem isn't that cover letters don't work. The problem is that most cover letters commit one of three sins that actively hurt your chances. Sin one: restating your resume, which makes the recruiter read the same information twice. Sin two: apologizing for gaps or imperfections in your background, which hands them a reason to disqualify you. Sin three: listing personality traits like "passionate" and "humble." Which, as I put it in the video, basically describes a golden retriever. In this video I walk through the specific paragraph-by-paragraph cover letter structure I teach my coaching clients: how to open with a referral name drop that creates a trust signal and social pressure, how to show empathy for the hiring manager's actual problem before pitching yourself, and how to close with a proof story instead of a claim. Every sentence in your cover letter has one job: make the reader want to open your resume. If it doesn't do that, it's stealing time from the document that actually gets you the interview. Cover letters work. They just won't solve all your problems. WEEKLY CAREER STRATEGIES (FREE) Join thousands of gaming professionals who get my best insights every week. 👉 Subscribe here: https://christrancoach.substack.com ABOUT ME I’m Chris Tran—former Riot Games leader turned career coach. I help mid-career gaming professionals get hired, get promoted, and stay relevant in a cutthroat industry. Let’s connect: ► Newsletter: https://christrancoach.substack.com ► LinkedIn:   / chrisltran   ► Website: https://www.christran.gg ► Gaming industry job board (open roles at 150+ studios): https://jobs.christran.gg TIMESTAMPS 2:38 Why you stopped believing cover letters work 3:46 The math: from a pile of 1,000 to a pile of 100 4:31 Cover letter time vs resume time (the shared pool) 5:46 Sin 1: Restating your resume 6:28 Sin 2: Apologizing for your career gaps 7:14 Sin 3: Listing personality traits (the golden retriever) 8:38 The paragraph-by-paragraph template 11:24 Cover letters work — they just won't solve everything