What is a Video Game Designer?
Position Description Design core features of video games. Specify innovative game and role-play mechanics, story lines, and character biographies. Create and maintain design documentation. Guide and collaborate with production staff to produce games as designed.
Life As a Video Game Designer: What Do They Do?
- Provide feedback to production staff regarding technical game qualities or adherence to original design.
- Provide test specifications to quality assurance staff.
- Review or evaluate competitive products, film, music, television, and other art forms to generate new game design ideas.
- Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines.
- Oversee gameplay testing to ensure intended gaming experience and game adherence to original vision.
- Provide feedback to designers and other colleagues regarding game design features.
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Video Game Designer Required Skills
Video Game Designers state the following job skills are important in their day-to-day work.
Programming: Writing computer programs for various purposes.
Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Types of Video Game Designer
- Mid Level Game Designer
- Interactive Multimedia Designer
- Gameplay Engineer
- Game Designer
- Designer/Writer
Is There Going to be Demand for Video Game Designers?
In 2016, there was an estimated number of 287,200 jobs in the United States for Video Game Designer. New jobs are being produced at a rate of 9.3% which is above the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 26,600 new jobs for Video Game Designer by 2026. The BLS estimates 22,400 yearly job openings in this field.
The states with the most job growth for Video Game Designer are Washington, Utah, and Nevada. Watch out if you plan on working in Alaska, Maryland, or Mississippi. These states have the worst job growth for this type of profession.
Video Game Designer Salary
The typical yearly salary for Video Game Designers is somewhere between $47,350 and $144,820.
Video Game Designers who work in District of Columbia, Maryland, or New Hampshire, make the highest salaries.
Below is a list of the median annual salaries for Video Game Designers in different U.S. states.
| State | Annual Mean Salary |
|---|---|
| Alabama | $87,060 |
| Alaska | $98,830 |
| Arizona | $85,010 |
| Arkansas | $73,670 |
| California | $103,270 |
| Colorado | $102,470 |
| Connecticut | $100,340 |
| District of Columbia | $117,540 |
| Florida | $78,900 |
| Georgia | $90,140 |
| Hawaii | $89,960 |
| Idaho | $80,610 |
| Indiana | $79,310 |
| Iowa | $78,810 |
| Kansas | $79,300 |
| Kentucky | $79,420 |
| Louisiana | $66,600 |
| Maine | $79,790 |
| Maryland | $113,330 |
| Massachusetts | $92,110 |
| Michigan | $76,400 |
| Minnesota | $81,650 |
| Mississippi | $81,280 |
| Missouri | $82,610 |
| Montana | $68,430 |
| Nebraska | $86,230 |
| Nevada | $72,610 |
| New Hampshire | $112,440 |
| New Jersey | $99,210 |
| New Mexico | $79,540 |
| New York | $90,750 |
| North Carolina | $88,650 |
| North Dakota | $70,730 |
| Ohio | $82,440 |
| Oklahoma | $78,490 |
| Oregon | $79,610 |
| Pennsylvania | $87,040 |
| Rhode Island | $81,290 |
| South Carolina | $92,100 |
| South Dakota | $81,250 |
| Tennessee | $74,000 |
| Texas | $90,290 |
| Utah | $76,890 |
| Vermont | $72,220 |
| Virginia | $105,270 |
| Washington | $91,620 |
| West Virginia | $83,660 |
| Wisconsin | $74,600 |
| Wyoming | $75,780 |
What Tools & Technology do Video Game Designers Use?
Below is a list of the types of tools and technologies that Video Game Designers may use on a daily basis:
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Office
- Hypertext markup language HTML
- JavaScript
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Outlook
- Python
- MySQL
- Microsoft Project
- Microsoft Visio
- Adobe Systems Adobe Photoshop
- Structured query language SQL
- Linux
- Adobe Systems Adobe Illustrator
- Extensible markup language XML
- PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor
- C
- Practical extraction and reporting language Perl
- Blackboard
How to Become a Video Game Designer
Are there Video Game Designers education requirements?
How Long Does it Take to Become a Video Game Designer?
Video Game Designers Sector
The table below shows the approximate number of Video Game Designers employed by various industries.
References:
Image Credit: Intel Free Press via Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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