To anyone embarking on a Video Game / 3D art career...
Pain is coming...
++ Do yourself a favor and and learn Blender first... Its free, its open source... You can still learn 3ds Max / Maya after for career related jobs... Just don't fall into the easy trap of locking yourself into these programs exclusively at first.
++ Its tempting and easy to do.... Why? Because even full versions of these apps are completely free to students... But the end of traditional licenses will be a thumb screw for most 3ds Max & Maya students. Free at first, but then the sting, a subscription running into thousands of euros a year.
++ Even just to buy the perpetual license now costs well over 6000 euros. And Autodesk see that as a steal, that's why the offer is ending / ended !!!
++ Are Autodesk's programs any better than Blender for game design? No, not really, just a common requirement for career jobs, a fact not relevant to most Indie work.
++ There's also Modo which is growing popular, and C4D and others too. But if you have to buy into the Autodesk lock-in, then at least go the Maya route. Maya Lt is crippled but at least its a cheaper option than 3ds Max, which has no budget equivalent...