What Does it Take to Be a Video Game Designer?

Job Description & Duties: 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.

A Day in the Life of a Video Game Designer

Devise missions, challenges, or puzzles to be encountered in gameplay.
Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines.
Collaborate with artists to achieve appropriate visual style.
Provide test specifications to quality assurance staff.
Create gameplay prototypes for presentation to creative and technical staff and management.
Provide feedback to production staff regarding technical game qualities or adherence to original design.

Skills Required For Video Game Designers

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.

Tools & Technology Used by Video Game Designers

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
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Outlook
Python
MySQL
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Visio
Adobe Systems Adobe Illustrator
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Perl

Salary for a Video Game Designer

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.

How to Become a Video Game Designer

Individuals working as a Video Game Designer have obtained various education levels.

Job Opportunities

In the United States, there were 287,200 jobs for Video Game Designers in 2016. 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 Designers by 2026.

The states with the most job growth for Video Game Designers are Washington, Utah, and Nevada.

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