This photo shows a student learning Video Game Design.
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Most jobs in Video Game Design require a bachelor's degree in a major such as Programming for Electronic Games, although there are jobs available with lower requirements, but lower pay. A student can take courses for Video Game Design at colleges like Macomb Community College or Southern New Hampshire University. Students may also be able to take online courses either as part of their college education or to further develop their skills through programs on Udemy. Other skills a future Video Game Designer could develop through college education or online courses are creative writing, art, and communicating in a business setting.
The salary of a Video Game Designer may vary depending on what type of college degree they have. According to the New England Institute of Technology, a Game Designer with a Certificate or Diploma would make an average salary of $64,700 per year, a Video Game Designer with an Associate Degree will make an average of $70,000 per year, a Bachelor's degree will make a Game Designer an average of $88,000 per year, and a game designer with a Master's degree will make an average of about $114,000 per year. The amount of experience someone has will also affect their salary.
The first Video Game was created in October 1958 by William Higinbotham at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Since then, the concept behind video games has been expanded upon at increasingly fast rates. In the 1970s, Arcade Machines with simple 8-bit processing made video games accessible to a wider audience. In the 1980s, early home consoles and hanheld consoles started to emerge, allowing people to play video games from home. PC gaming skyrocketed in popularity in the 1990s, and mobile games emerged in the 2000s. Now, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are the newest breakthrough in the gaming industry. With each new breakthrough, the demand for game designers who can create an experience that utilize new technologies has increased, thanks to video games now being able to reach a larger audience.
The Video Game Industry has grown significantly since Video Games first emerged, and it is projected to continue to grow in the coming years, too. According to Statista, the Video Game market is projected to grow 9.99% annually from 2024 to 2027. By 2027, the market value in the United States is projected to be about $103.80 billion. The rapid growth of the Video Game industry is thanks to its rising number of users. By 2027, Statista projects that there will be around 91 million people who buy and play video games. As new technological breakthroughs are made and demand for new games continues to grow, more employers will be searching for innovative Game Designers.
Listen to this short audio recording to hear about the first video game.
As stated on the website's home page, Video Game Designers are responsible for the ideas behind a Video Game. They create elements of a game like the story, characters, and concepts for how the game will be played. Teams of game designers may be made up of writers, artists, animators, and occasionally testers. Additionally, Game Designers can often work without having to know how to program a game, since their job is primarily focused on the creative aspects of making video games, although knowledge of computer programming and game development engines may be helpful for certain roles, such as Video Game Testers.
The work of Video Game Developers primarily revolves around the technical aspects of a game. They are responsible for programming the game's controls, bringing the Game Designers' vision to life, and polishing a game by fixing bugs reported to them by the game's testers. Unlike Game Designers, Video Game Developers must have a proper understanding of how to program a game and know how to efficiently use game development engines like Unity, Godot, or Unreal Engine. Video Game Developers will occasionally need to know multiple programming languages, such as JavaScript, C++, and Python. Game Designers must have problem solving and technical skills.
If you wish to learn more about Video Game Design, you can watch this video.