Right after graduating I managed to get into the game industry as a programmer. The trick?
Internships!
If you look on craigslist (I'm in the SF bay area so your mileage my vary) there are tons and tons of postings looking for cheap/free programmers in the form of internships. You gota put in your time there instead of putting in your time in QA.
Since you have been in QA a few years, you should talk to your manager about moving on to a jr level programmer position in your company. If they are willing to work with ya, problem solved. If not, time to move on ASAP.
Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother. - Kahlil Gibran
