What Does A Game Designer Do?
Game Designers work for video game production companies building innovative products to either educate or entertain players. They build concepts for a game’s character and stories and pitch these ideas to executives or their clients if they work as an independent contractor.
Once the game idea is approved, they’ll collaborate with and lead teams of Artists, Animators, Sound Engineers and Programmers to build games audiences will enjoy. They’ll regularly test prototypes and provide notes to designers on ways to add fixes to the games they’re creating.
Game Designer Skills and Qualifications
Many Designers come from a background in video games, so they’ll have experience in areas like level design or programming. However, computer science skills aren’t essential. A good Designer may only need to understand the basics of the team’s preferred programming language. Other important skills and qualifications for a Game Designer include:
- Problem-solving skills
- Technical writing skills
- Written and oral communication skills
- Listening skills
- Organization skills
- Time management skills
- Teamwork skills
Game Designer Salary Expectations
According to salary estimates from over 400 Indeed users, employees and job postings, the average pay for Game Designers in the United States is approximately $11 per hour. This works out to roughly $23,000 per year for a full-time employee.
Game Designer Education and Training Requirements
Video Game Designers typically have a bachelor’s degree in a related field, such as computer engineering or computer programming. Candidates may also complete a bachelor’s or master’s degree in game design. While there are no industry standard certifications or training requirements for Game Designers, applicants may have technical certificates in certain programming languages or software applications.
While working on a bachelor’s or master’s degree, students will complete courses in computer literacy, design principles and design applications. It’s also common for Game Designers to develop a portfolio of work while they’re completing a degree. This portfolio should include several small games or game concepts, demonstrating their ability to craft ideas and complete projects.
Game Designer Experience Requirements
Game Designers typically have several years of experience in other video game roles. They may start out in quality assurance testing or programming and transition into design roles after gaining five years of experience or more. Candidates with design degrees, however, may find work right out of college. Designers with few years of experience may only oversee one aspect of a game’s design, such a level design or sound design.
Job Description Samples for Similar Positions
If you aren’t finding everything you’re looking for with this job description sample, expand your research to include a few similar roles. These are a few similar positions you can review to strengthen your job posting: