Game Design Jobs: Learn How to Break into the Industry
Enjoy playing video games? Want to build your own game or work in the gaming industry? This article tells you how to break into this highly lucrative industry. Learn what game designers do, how much they make, and how to become one. Discover if game design is a good career and tips for landing your first job. There are many job opportunities available in this field, well-suited to your strengths, qualifications, and interests.
What Do Game Designers Do?
As the name suggests, a game designer designs games for the consumption of the target market. They bring innovative and creative ideas, build prototypes, create interactive narration, and develop the game’s mechanics. They also design easy-to-maintain systems that are expandable and convenient to use, while making the entire game engaging and a fun experience for the end user.
What game designers also do is to help with building the story, fleshing out characters, and aiding with visual designs, and layouts. However, they also need to have a strong balance between their creative and technical skills. Technical skills call for proficiency in technical game design and game programming, hands-on experience with industry-standard computer software, art software, and all the necessary scripting languages and tools, and programming languages.
Some of the tasks that game designers perform include:
- Collaborating with developers
From helping with the outline of the idea of a new game to creating a storyboard that highlights key plot points, characters, and graphics, game designers do it all.
- Building prototypes
Make the game come to life by building prototypes that include interactive narration and the game’s mechanics, such as how players interact with objects in the game.
- Designing systems
A difficult-to-play game can be a huge turn-off for gaming enthusiasts. A game designer pays close attention to systems, ensuring they are easy to use, maintain, and expand.
- Developing concepts, art, and animation
The more engaging a game, the more immersive the experience it offers the players the better its chances of success. Game designers use techniques like motion capture and voice acting to ensure the gaming experience is rewarding.
Game Design Job Description
Online video games have always been popular. Today, apart from game publishers and development studios, other industries are also hiring game developers as part of their marketing and branding exercises.
So, what does a game designer job description look like?
The job description of a game designer can differ from company to company, depending on the size and type of a project, and the studio. Games today have become increasingly more complex and teams have become larger. As a result, some of the traditional roles of a game designer have branched out into specializations such as a Level Designer and/or a Systems Designer.
Here are some of the roles and responsibilities that companies expect from a game designer:
- Creativity: That’s a given as this is a creative field and requires game designers to be creative out-of-the-box thinkers, and innovators. They also have to constantly learn more about their industry and keep up with the trends. They have to craft the game’s aesthetics, story, characters, and gameplay mechanics.
- Technical expertise: All game designers need to be highly technical and adept at solving complex problems on a daily basis. They are required to write scripts, design storyboards, and code the game using different programming languages.
- Collaboration: Game designing is a collaborative effort and one has to be a good team player for that. Game designers need to work with other designers, artists, programmers, and animators to create a prototype and produce the game.
- User experience: A key component of any successful game is user experience (UX) and how rich it is. It is the game designer who brings their expertise to the table and leads the user experience design elements to ensure players have the best possible immersive experience.
- Quality assurance: Ensuring the game is bug-free and there are no glitches that mar the gaming experience for the end-user is the game designer’s responsibility. They work with and train quality assurance (QA) testers to play the game and test it properly before market launch.
How Much Do Game Designers Make?
Interested to know how much game designers make on average in the US? According to Glassdoor, The average salary for a Game Designer is $109,564 per year in the United States. However, how much game designers make can vary depending on education, experience, location, and other factors.
How to Become a Game Designer
Now that you know that game designing can be a rewarding career, growth-wise and salary-wise, let’s explore how you can become a successful game designer.
Be clear about your role
Although game development involves many different skills, if you are sure you want to pursue a career in game designing then research the about it and find out if it suits your interests, strengths, and goals.
Learn the tools
If game designing is for you, then be sure to familiarize yourself with the most popular and relevant tools for your role and genre. For example, if you want to design 3D games, you should learn how to use Unity, Unreal Engine, Blender, or Maya. If you want to design 2D games, you should learn how to use GameMaker, Construct, or Phaser. There are many online tutorials, courses, and resources to help you learn the tools.
Make games
As they say, the best way to learn how to drive a car is to drive one! Similarly, while learning game designing or honing your craft, don’t restrict yourself to theory alone. Make sure you get practice. The best way to learn game designing and showcase your skills is to design actual games. Start with small and simple projects that you can finish and do well in a short time.
Be innovative and experiment with different genres, styles, and mechanics to expand your creativity and knowledge. Use game jams, challenges, or prompts to get ideas and feedback for your games. And for feedback, nothing like sharing your game design on social media to get exposure and build an audience. This way you also build a portfolio of a body of work that can be then showcased to potential employers.
Join a community
Game development and designing does not happen in silos. It calls for team effort and collaboration. Think of joining a community of game designers who can support you, inspire you, and collaborate with you. Search for online forums, groups, and platforms where you can ask questions, share tips, and showcase your work. If possible, attend local events, meetups, and workshops where you can network with other developers and industry professionals.
Apply for jobs
The best way to learn is on the job itself. So, if you are just starting out in the game designing industry, you’ll likely land an entry-level job but that is fine. Learn the ropes, master the skills, get mentored by seniors, and the next job you move to will see you make a jump in both salary and designation.
Keep learning
The gaming industry is a constantly evolving field that requires continuous learning and improvement. Don’t sit on your past achievements as skills in the gaming industry can quickly get obsolete with new and advanced ones coming along. Make sure to keep up with the latest trends, technologies, and best practices in the game-designing industry. Challenge yourself to learn new skills, tools, and techniques.
So, is game designing a good career? Yes, it is. As the gaming industry expands over the next few years, the demand for skilled game designers will only increase and you want to ride that wave. To help you get the best opportunities and employment options as a game designer at any professional level, reputed job portals like VeriiPro are here to help, guide, and mentor. With an impressive network of some of the top employers in the gaming industry, helping you apply for dream jobs is what VeriiPro excels at. So, don’t wait. Contact us and get hired today!
Frequently Asked Questions –
What skills are needed for a game design job?
Game designers need creativity, technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and knowledge of game development software.
How much do game designers make annually?
Game designers’ salaries vary, but the average annual salary ranges from $50,000 to $100,000, depending on experience and location.
What does a typical day look like for a game designer?
A typical day involves brainstorming ideas, creating game mechanics, collaborating with developers, and playtesting games.
What education is required to become a game designer?
While a degree in game design or a related field is beneficial, many game designers also have backgrounds in computer science, art, or graphic design.
Is game design a stable career choice?
Game design can be a stable and rewarding career, especially with the growing demand for video games and interactive media.
