Computer and Video Game Designers


Overview

Introduction

Computer and video game designers, also known as game developers, create the ideas and interactivity for games. These games are played on various platforms, or media, such as video consoles and computers, digital devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, iPads), and online. Designers generate ideas for new game concepts, including sound effects, characters, story lines, and graphics.

Designers either work for companies that make the games or create the games on their own and sell their ideas and programs to companies that...

Quick Facts


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Median Salary

$123,480

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Employment Prospects

Excellent

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Minimum Education Level

Bachelors Degree


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Experience

Internship


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Skills

Computer|Digital Media|Drawing/Design


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Personality Traits

Artistic|Creative|Technical

Earnings

Most development companies spend up to two years designing a game even before any of the mechanics (such as writing final code and drawing final graphics) begin; more complex games take even longer. Companies budget anywhere from $1 to $5 million to hundreds of millions to develop just one game for a personal computer. Online games cost between $1 million and $100 million to produce, according ...

Work Environment

Computer and video game designers work in office settings, whether at a large company or a home studio. They often have to work long hours when project deadlines near. Fifty-one percent of salaried designers said that their job involves this type of crunch time (and another 24 percent reported working long hours or extended hours that they did not classify as crunch time), according to the 2023...

Outlook

Computer and video games are a fast-growing segment of the U.S. entertainment industry. The global market research and technology company Circana reports that total U.S. consumer spend on video games reached $56.6 billion in 2022—up from $43.5 billion in 2019.

Employment of multimedia artists and animators in the software industry is projected to grow 19.7 percent (much faster than the a...