In order to impress Bethesda and land a job at the studio, 19-year-old Alexander J. Velicky created a sizable Skyrim mod called Falskaar.
Velicky’s mod adds almost 25 hours of content, a land mass one-third the size of the one in Skyrim proper, original music, voice-acted characters, and a whole host of quests.
“The best way to show Bethesda Game Studios that I want a job there and should be hired is to create content that meets the standards of their incredible development team, Velicky told PC Gamer.
According to Velicky, he spent over 2,000 overs and over a year building Falskaar. The project required that put his post-high school education on hold during this time and postpone finding conventional sources of income (read: a job).
“[My Dad] was incredibly supporting and allowed me to live here, paying for living expenses and charging me no rent,” said Velicky. “I was able to not go to school and not have a day job. Meaning, more or less, that Falskaar was my day job.”
Falskaar is available for download on Skyrim Nexus, where it’s received over 60,000 downloads.