It's a difficult question to answer, but as the lead animator for a small games studio, perhaps I can give you a bit of helpful advice.
The first thing you have to know is that the video games industry doesn't need you. The world will accept all of the doctors and engineers it can get, so long as they reach certain requirements. The games industry isn't like that; it has enough people already, so if you want to be a part of it, you have to be better than the other people also trying to get it. It's cold and unforgiving, but it's best to accept it as a fact.
Second, you should acknowledge that there is no gift. Nobody is a naturally good artist, or programmer, or animator. The best are those that have spent more time doing their craft than the rest. You won't ever get good at making games by playing them, you have to dedicate your time to making them, and a lot of it. You'll need to spend all the time you can afford drawing, illustrating, programming, designing, and animating to be competitive in the industry. I'm glad you're asking as young as you are, because now is the time to start getting serious about it. Start drawing every day, at least for an hour. If it looks terrible, good, draw more. A professor once said that everyone has 100,000 bad drawings inside of them; once you put all of them on paper, you'll begin drawing well. You don't even have to show anyone, just draw for you.
You'll have to spend a lot of time on it to set yourself above the competition. I honestly couldn't tell you how many 17-19 hour days I've spent working on animations or other assets for game projects, I've lost count, but that ended up being the biggest reason I got the position I have now. Many of the animators and modelers working under me are better artists than I am, but my employers knew that I was the one putting in the most time by far, and as a consequence I was the one they could count on to actually bring projects to completion and exceed their expectations.
You'll also be expected to know several parts of the industry well. There are so many talented artists and programmers in the field that those that only do one or the other are having an increasingly difficult time finding jobs. Studios have started looking for people that do both, and can show proficiency in both artistic and technical work.
So, what I would recommend you start doing now-
1- As mentioned, draw. A lot.
2- Start learning the classic principals. Pick up the Animator's Survival Guide by Richard Williams and learn how to make animations feel right, then apply those principals however you can. Try a basic program like ToonBoom Animate, or try getting ahold of the equipment needed to animate on paper. Classic animation may seem a bit unrelated, but even in games it's my bread and butter every day.
3- Learn the basics of good game design and storytelling. I would read Joseph Campbell's Hero with 1000 Faces and watch the youtube series Extra Credits for starters, as well as reading the relevant articles from sites such as Gamasutra.
4- Start learning the software as possible. I use Photoshop, Maya, Zbrush, and Unity on a daily basis, as well as Illustrator, After Effects, C#, and Java scripting frequently. Every one of those takes time to learn. You can find tutorials online for all of them. A few of those have free student editions, and the others you may be able to find at school. Practice by making (very) simple games in Unity.
5- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmdGZk-fF98
That's a lot, but if you invest at least an hour a day to drawing, and another hour or more to some of the other parts, it will all come together faster than you think. Good luck!
