All About Video Game Designers
Job 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.
List of Video Game Designer Job Duties
- Review or evaluate competitive products, film, music, television, and other art forms to generate new game design ideas.
- Create gameplay test plans for internal and external test groups.
- Keep abreast of game design technology and techniques, industry trends, or audience interests, reactions, and needs by reviewing current literature, talking with colleagues, participating in educational programs, attending meetings or workshops, or participating in professional organizations or conferences.
- Solicit, obtain, and integrate feedback from design and technical staff into original game design.
- Oversee gameplay testing to ensure intended gaming experience and game adherence to original vision.
- Document all aspects of formal game design, using mock-up screenshots, sample menu layouts, gameplay flowcharts, and other graphical devices.
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What Every Video Game Designer Should Know
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.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Other Video Game Designer Job Titles
- Video Game Designer
- Game Engineer
- Video Game Developer
- Lead Level Designer
- Computer Game Designer
Are There Job Opportunities 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. There will be an estimated 22,400 positions for Video Game Designer per year.
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.
How Much Does a Video Game Designer Make?
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 |
Tools & Technologies Used by Video Game Designers
Although they’re not necessarily needed for all jobs, the following technologies are used by many Video Game Designers:
- 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
Becoming a Video Game Designer
What education is needed to be a Video Game Designer?
How many years of work experience do I need?
Video Game Designers Sector
Below are examples of industries where Video Game Designers work:
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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