How Much Do Video Game Designers Make 2017

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Game Designer

Who is a Game Designer?

Only a game designer knows the fun is not fulfillment ~ Anonymous

We have all played some or the other computer game at some point in our lives. Quite often we are completely amazed by what all a game has to offer and sometimes we wish some or the other extra feature to be there. Individuals pursuing career as game designer use computer programs to create digital representations of the characters. They then create storyboards that outline the main plot and dialogue of the game and animate scenes and character actions. In many cases, they need to develop game software that brings these components together. Game designing career involves taking all the different programs they made for the game and assembling them in a way that creates the game players will play. People pursuing career as game designer may work with a team of designers who include multimedia artists, animators and application software developers. In this article we will be providing you jobs in game design and development, job outlook for video game designers, game designer requirements, whether is it hard to become a game designer.

Game Designer

Game Designer in a Nutshell

An individual who is pursuing a career as game designers have duties like designing characters, levels, puzzles, art and animation. Game designing career requires writeing code, using various computer programming languages. Depending on their duties, they may also be responsible for project management tasks and testing early versions of video games.

Quick Facts for Game Designer

Industry
Technology
Suitable for
Male, Female

The career as game designer is dominated by men. Although there is no hard and fast rule so to this field belongs to the male gender only. According to research until the year 2017, the field of game designing consisted of 71 per cent men and 29 per cent women. Over the last couple of years, a number of women have joined the gaming industry has game designers as well as gamers.
Any special needs
Yes

Everyone, including those with physical disabilities, the career is appropriate for the career as game designers. Career as game designer is well suited to everyone, even those with special needs. One needs to be capable enough to use their computers without any problem in order to be a game designer. Obviously it is important to be mentally sound but it doesn't matter if one is physically sound or not as long as it doesn't come in between his/her job.

Table of Contents for Game Designer

What is the role of Game Designer?

An individual who is pursuing a career as game designer works from scratch, from conceptualisation of game design ideas to put that idea in the form of a game to work on the story of the main character or the style of the gameplay, they are involved in almost all the activities that are involved in creating a game. They bring to live the characters, give them a personality, create all levels of the game and decide the difficulty, or how the AI will react in the game. All these aspects of a game are designed by a game designer. Game designer jobs are like designing characters, levels, puzzles, art and animation. They may also write code, using various computer programming languages. Depending on their duties, famous game designers may also be responsible for project management tasks and testing early versions of video games. A game designer often works with other creative talents such as animators, graphic designers and in some cases UI designers. In this article we will be providing you jobs in game design and development, job outlook for video game designers, game designer requirements, whether is it hard to become a game designer.

Testing

A career as game designers provide test specifications to quality assurance staff. Reviewing or evaluating competitive products, film, music, television, and other art forms to generate new game design ideas.

Planning

Create gameplay test plans for internal and external test groups. The plan is divided into many segments such as objectives, goals, and tasks. A plan is a must for every task. Game designer job is to help you in putting pieces together and making a product.

Product planning

Balance and adjust gameplay experiences to ensure the critical and commercial success of the product. A career as game designers decide, how many levels will be there, who can play the game, how will be their experience, what all things they'll show in this.

Writing

Write or supervise the writing of game text and dialogue. Narrative designers shape the overall arc of a game. They design quests, figure out character arcs, and make sure there is an overarching story to the game, all of which dictate how a player will experience the game.

Innovate

Game designer job is to present new game design concepts to management and technical colleagues, including artists, animators, and programmers. A Game designer needs creativity for making a game. Designers execute their ideas whichever they think could work.

Documentation

Game designer job is to create and manage documentation, production schedules, prototyping goals, and communication plans in collaboration with production staff.

Types of a Game Designer

Lead designers : Several people work in order to design one game. Therefore, someone has to take charge of the entire team and supervise several game designers. Not only that but they also take care of proper communication between the whole team and a lead designer presents a design outside the team for instance, in case of a pitch.

Level designers : Every game has several levels. Therefore, a level designer is responsible for the creation of several levels, stages, or missions in a game. He or she may use either the level editor tool to do so or could also use the game's built-in level editor program. A level designer works on every level he or she designs from pre-production to the final completion of the level.

Content designers : Content designer jobs are to make sure that the gameplay that is being designed is in accordance with the vision of the game. They need to communicate with the team in the best way possible. The job involves working with elements such as text, pictures, or videos. It is an important job profile in the field of game designing as content defining the elements of the game, gives the consumer a pleasant experience.

Game writers : All video games have a plot just like any feature film or TV series. The job of the game writer is to write the plot and dialogues of the game. A game writer is responsible for designing a whole story for the video game. This is done during the pre-production process of the game. They create characters as well as describe narratives of a video game.

System designers : The job of a system designer in the field of game design is to take care of the implementation as well as the balancing features of the game. System designer job description is to work on a game design right from the beginning to the very end of it. Their role is to develop a comprehensive plan and instructions that can be given to game programmers. Their job profile and work attributes are quite similar to software developers and software engineers.

Technical designers : A technical designer is a very integral part of the game designing team. They are responsible for the technical design work during the process of designing a game. Their work is to create and deal with complex technical game designs or include the system design elements in the game. They work closely with the entire game design team in order to understand all the aspects of the game so that they can include it in the technical design of the game as well.

UI designers : A UI designer in the field of game designing works in order to create a user interface for the game. They aim at maximizing the utility of the game as well as enhance the user experience. UI design is all about creating intuitive, aesthetically-pleasing, interactive interfaces that can please the eyes of the game consumer.

Senior designers : As a Senior Game Designer, one is responsible for developing the game systems. He or she controls and interfaces as well as the other interactive elements of his or her project in order to bring the vision of the lead designer and creative director into a playable experience. They coordinate with the entire team in order to deliver their work properly.

Software developer: Software developers develop applications that allow individuals on a computer or other device to do specific tasks also build the underlying structures that manage the equipment or control networks. Generally, developers work closely with computer programmers. In some industries, however, developers write code themselves, instead of providing programmers guidance.

Also read - Career as animator

What is the workplace/work environment of Game Designer like?

The culture of game designers is made of individuals that are living their highest passion. Because of this, they are enthusiastic, dedicated and creative. A career as game designers are able to experience the gratification of creating something that not only they are personally passionate about, but that others are also able to enjoy. This is what helps make the game design work environment different from any other industry.

Does Game Designer require travelling?

Not Likely

No, the job of a game designer does not require travelling. One needs to have a laptop/computer in order to work on the game's design that can be done in the office itself. One is not required to travel in order to do that.

Employment Shifts

Full Time, Part Time

Career as a game designer is a full-time as well as a part time job. The latter only when a person is working on project basis.

Employment Nature

Permanent, Contractual

The nature of employment of game designer job is permanent as well as contractual in nature. They work on a full-time as well as part-time basis in an office set-up.

Work Place

Home Office

Game designer jobs are carry out activities in offices and home. The job does not require too much physical labour, but intelligence and mental strength are needed.

Presence in Geographical Area

Semi-urban, Urban

The kind of companies a game designer works for are generally located in urban locations. There might be a few in semi-urban locations as well.

Time Pressure

Likely

Individuals pursuing career as game designers are generally required to work under a lot of time pressure. The job is filled with tight schedules, the urgency to complete tasks along with risk involvement. Hence, game designers are required to manage all these things along with meeting their project deadlines. The work environment involves a lot of time pressure and stress.

Overtime Details

Typically, a person following a career as game designers work for nine hours per day. But depending on the deadlines and current situation, they might be required to work overtime. During busy periods and urgency, they are required to put up some extra hours to the work.

Weekly Hours of Work

Min 40 Hours

The standard hours of work for employees are either 8 hours a day (40 hours a week) or 7.5 hours a day (37.5 hours a week). This is usually worked between 08:00 or 08:30 and 17:00, Monday to Friday inclusive. They may work on Saturdays as well depending upon the company they are working for

How to become a Game Designer?

01 Step

Qualify 10+2 in any stream

Students need to be clear about game designer qualifications. Here we will be providing you with a number of steps to know how to become a game designer. Gaming is a highly competitive sector where one needs to balance everything. They need people from different sections, who are passionate and creative in this field. In order to become a Game designer, Candidate must have completed 10+2 in science stream. We will be providing you with the game design courses in this section. In this article we will be providing you the game designer requirements.

02 Step

Entrance Examination

Various institutes and colleges conduct entrance examinations in order to give admission to their various design courses.

Some of the popular entrance exams for game designing courses are :

NID DAT (National Institute of Design aptitude test) : NID DAT is a national entrance examination conducted by the National Institute of design. Candidates who are 20 years of age or more are eligible for this examination.

UCEED (Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design) : UCEED is a common entrance examination for design conducted by IIT Bombay. Candidates can attempt the examination two times in two consecutive years. And can apply from any stream.

AIEED: All India Entrance Examination for Design

CEED: Common Entrance Examination for Design

03 Step

Pursuing Bachelor's course

The gaming industry opens up a lot of opportunities for students such as Game Design, Game art, Game animation, and Game programming. It is necessary for a student to clear the entrance examinations to get admission to a Bachelor's course.

Below are some of the Bachelor courses students can pursue

BSc Animation & Gaming : B.Sc. Animation & Gaming is a three-year undergraduate course that is divided into six semesters. The course focuses on the concept and mechanics of game development. It also includes the concept of 2D games which can be played on PC, PSP ( Playstation portable) platform, and online.

BSc in Gaming : BSc in Gaming is an undergraduate course, the duration of the course is three years. The course provides in-depth knowledge about game genres, game art design, and game production methodology.

There are several options that students can choose post-bachelors to go about their career path. Below are mentioned the two major options for career path:

Option 1: After completion of a bachelor's degree, students can further continue their studies and go for a master-level programme without any gap in the academic year. After completion of a master's degree, they can join the industry with an entry-level position.

Option 2: After completion of a bachelor's degree, candidates can start working in the industry with an entry-level role. After gaining an experience of one or two years, they can further resume their studies and pursue a master-level programme in the related specialisation. A master is considered crucial for senior-level roles.

Popular master's degrees

What are the skills and qualities required to become a/an Game Designer?

Here are some of the video game designer skills listed below:

Innovation skills: Technically, creativity involves creating a new concept, or taking an existing idea and making it to work more efficiently. Workplace creativity seems to describe the processes of implementing something fresh as well as unique. Innovation abilities depend on the ability to experiment with new techniques in order to create social or strategic interest. Innovative technology abilities are a variation of one's capacity to think differently, resolve issues, and professional skills. Devise the missions, challenges, and puzzles that will be encountered in gameplay.

Communication skills: Communication in the workplace is essential to businesses as it helps organizations to be competitive and run properly. Workers might expect a rise in productivity, efficiency, and engagement if they would interact within a company. In the field of game designing, a game designer doesn't make the entire game on his own. He/she generally has a team. It is important for him/her to be good with communication skills in order to be able to explain their team so as to what they are required to do.

Teamwork: Working in teams is when employees merge their different competencies to reach a goal. Essential organizational teamwork and collaboration include supporting and directing, encouraging, voluntarily and enthusiastically communicating, becoming versatile, and projecting dedication. A game designer works with a team and they need to have the spirit of a team player in order to be good with whatever they are developing.

Programming: A career as game designer needs to be good at programming languages in order to be able to build games. Computer programming skills are the abilities needed to operate in compliance with these kinds of limitations and also to solve all tests with appropriate time and space difficulty. They need to learn programming skills to do their work efficiently through the use of the software.

Writing skills:The significance of writing stories is the primary idea with which the reader should have been walking away. These are some of the easiest ways to define the key concept is to find issues which are not the principal concept. Video games are mainly based on a specific story, in which one player starts and eventually ends up with the final stage. While not exactly the job of a game designer (more of a writer) writing stories is most of the time an essential part of a game.

Interpersonal management: Interpersonal skills are the qualities and strategies that an individual uses to effectively communicate with others. In the business world, the word means the willingness of an individual to work with others. Interpersonal skills vary widely from behavior to communication and teamwork. It is important in order to know what they want; this requires some people skills.

Learning skills: Learning seems to be something that we could not interrupt in any phase of life, we continuously learn and adapt things which will provide knowledge. Learning new skills is an activity that supports day-to-day life and professional life too. Game designers deal with the emotional and cognitive aspects of human beings in order to propose interesting gaming experiences. Understanding other things (thinking psychology, math, history, computers, etc.) helps them accomplish that feat.

Project management: Project management provides the skills in organizing and collaboration which could be applied to any project. Project management fundamentals require considering the project's initiation, execution, and completion and all these basics could improve the understanding of the responsibilities. A career as game designers maintains design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines and mission outlines.

Which certifications and internships can be helpful in becoming Game Designer?

We have mentioned below certifications that individuals may opt who want to establish a career as Game Designer.

Internship Availability

Yes

When it comes to a game designer job, they are not responsible for very elaborate or complex functions but some of the responsibilities include: Evaluating designs quickly. Crafting creative high-quality work. Possessing a good understanding of visual design principles, style guidelines, design processes and creative workflow. Assisting in the creation of user-centered design practices to deliver outstanding interactive game experiences. Interfacing, collaborating with key internal client and project partners to ensure the user experience reflects player needs and consistency. There are several ways through which one can grab an internship in game designing. There are game design websites that can be approached. One can also learn game design online and learn several video game elements or the parts of a video game, the game design process and develop game design ideas.

What is the job outlook for Game Designer?

A career as game designers in gaming industry is one of the few sectors that continue to grow irrespective of the economic turmoil happening all around. It grew when the 2008 recession took place and it is growing when the Covid-19 pandemic is taking place. As far as job growth is concerned, there is a huge potential for someone who is genuinely interested in creating games. People want to be entertained and are always on the lookout for new experiences, game designers provide those experiences. As far as the game designer job market is concerned, there are plenty of opportunities present for those who are interested in developing games. For example, India has now become a huge market for mobile games and there are many companies providing mobile gaming experience to the users. So the market for the job is quite hot right now. Similarly gaming companies in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom who specialise in console gaming area always hiring talented developers from countries like India. So there is immense scope to grow in terms of professional growth in game designing career.

Frequently Asked Questions for Game Designer

Que. Is game designer a good career?

Ans.

The demand is high. However, like any career, a game design and development career is only a good choice if one has a passion for it and values the output that an individual is creating. If one has a real love for the aspects of modern gaming, the game design will be a great choice for a career to enjoy and grow in.

Que. Is it difficult to get a job as a game designer?

Ans.

First of all, getting a job as a game designer directly after completing a course is hard. Traditionally game designers are former testers, programmers or artists that change their job profile while working in the industry. Even with a good portfolio, it's still quite difficult to land a first job directly as a game designer.

Que. Who is the highest paid video game designer globally?

Ans.

IGDA reports entry-level video game designers make between $50,000 and $80,000 annually, averaging $57,500. The highest reported salary was $200,000.

Que. What companies are hiring game designers?

Ans.

Que. Does a game designer get paid differently depending on the city where they are working?

Ans.

Employees with Video Game Designer in their job title in Bangalore, Karnataka earn an average of 28.8 per cent more than the national average. These job titles also find higher than average salaries in Mumbai, Maharashtra (22.8 per cent more) and Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (19.3 per cent more). The lowest salaries can be found in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (52.5 per cent less), Pune, Maharashtra (21.6 per cent less) and New Delhi, (20.8 per cent less).

Questions related to Game Designer

Showing 4 out of 4 Questions

15 Views

what are the requirements for game designer?

Hello,

A game designer is the creative driver responsible for bringing a game to life. They are generally a cross between a writer, artist and programmer. So it is like a blend of different people altogether. For this you need to be talented and be enthusiastic enough to learn things. Video game designers typically have a bachelor's degree in game design, computer engineering, or computer science which takes four to five years to complete. Courses in a game design degree program may include project management, integrated video design and technology, game prototyping and level design.

So you need to have calculation, mental ability, creativity along other things to develop good games. Working in the video game industry is one of the most rewarding careers on the planet, but it is also extremely challenging and often requires specific skills and even personalities to be successful.

Game designer is just as hard as getting into any other career, but with added competition and the need to be constantly fresh and relevant. However, by applying yourself and keeping your long-term goals in mind, it can be a rewarding and fulfilling career as easy to progress through as anything.

Hope this helps!!

15 Views

game designer colleges out of India

Hey!

Firstly, Getting a degree in Game Development sounds great as it is a perfect option for students who want to turn their Gaming hobby into an enjoyable career.

Studying abroad is definitely going to be useful for you as you will see that how people all over the world experiment and engage with video games. you'll learn from experts about Game developments process, different theories behind successful games.

Now, Talking about best options for your Gaming career abroad:

Top universities offering Game development/Design programs are:

UK, Belgium, USA and Canada- these countries are mainly the Hub for Gaming and development.:

1. University of Windsor (Windsor, Canada)

2. Digipen Institute of Technology (Redmond, Washington)

3. Michigan State University(Michigan, United States)

4. Teeside University(Middlesbrough, UK)

5. Abertay University (Dundee, UK)

6. Trinity Western University (Vancouver, Canada)

7. University Of California, Santa Cruz

8. University of Southern California, Los Angeles

9. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

10. University Of Utah (United States)

These are a few best options to study game design Abroad. Bachelors degree is for 3 years but it can also take longer time depending where you study.

Studying abroad will help you to understand the Global scale and influence of the Gaming Industry. you can not just play games but you can also develop your own games.

All the Best!

385 Views

iam going to complete my 12th mpc this year. what course should i take to become a graphic designer or game designer??

Hello!

A person with a undergraduate degree is preferred more in this field. There are certain colleges with this game development as a degree itself. You can pursue this by completing B.Sc in graphics, animation and gaming, B.Tech/B.E in computer Science and game development. Similarly there are many such courses (do browse about that). You will need the knowledge of coding for pursuing with game designing. These graphic design and game developing are a professional course in certain colleges like VIT (Vellore Institute of technology). SRM, etc.

Choose wisely, ALL THE BEST. Hope the answer was of some help.

Thank You

36 Views

I HAVE finished 10th standard,I want to become a game designer in diploma college.show me the government diploma game design collage

Hello,

There is no government college as such that offers diploma in game designing course.However there are some private institutes like Arena animation that can offer you the course.But going for this course after 10th is a very bad option because you have absolutely no base or knowledge regarding designing and programming and that will later creat lot of problems for you in understanding this deeply.
If you want to become a successful and legitimate gane designer then you must go for B.E or B.tech in Computer Science after 12th.Or if not then at least first complete your 10+2 with science stream and keep computer science or IP as a subject and then after completing HSC you can go for Animation and designing course and side by side you can lear programming and designing.

I hope this helps.