[Tiktaalik]

I think this sort of thing is still very possible in the Games Industry.

The most accessible job is QA Tester, paid an hourly wage and accessible to anyone really[1]. Anyone that shows themselves to be smart and useful very strongly has an ability to move into Production/Product Management, especially if they're at a smaller studio.

From there, Production is one of those really weirdo jobs where at its lowest rungs you're doing things that no one really wants to do, like taking notes in meetings and filling out Jira tasks, but the top of the Production job chart is Executive Producer or Studio General Manager with substantial sway around the strategic direction of a game or studio and pay to match.

In contrast the Art/Programming paths achieve much higher pay and interesting work at the low end, but also have a lower ceiling in terms of sway and pay.

[1] Anyone that understands what a video game is and plays them of course. Though at this point I'm sure people with some sort of indie game dev experience have an edge in hiring.