I think that is true for most programming fields, not just game development. Back in the day a 16 year old who knew HTML and a tiny bit of JavaScript could eas

I think that is true for most programming fields, not just game development. Back in the day a 16 year old who knew HTML and a tiny bit of JavaScript could easily get hired to do 'web development'. I got hired as a sys admin fresh out of high school simply by "knowing computers". My interview was basically "Hey, are you good with computers?" "Yes!" "Great you're hired. Go see if you can fix this thing" Back then there were simply much fewer people who had any relevant experience so the barrier to entry (experience wise) was much lower.