Video Game Designers: Career Overview
Design core features of video games. Specify innovative game and role-play mechanics, story lines, and character biographies. Create and maintain design documentation. Guide and collaborate with production staff to produce games as designed.
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What Tasks Do Video Game Designers Take On?
The core tasks performed by video game designers include:
- Balance and adjust gameplay experiences to ensure the critical and commercial success of the product.
- Devise missions, challenges, or puzzles to be encountered in game play.
- Create core game features, including storylines, role-play mechanics, and character biographies for a new video game or game franchise.
- Solicit, obtain, and integrate feedback from design and technical staff into original game design.
- Conduct regular design reviews throughout the game development process.
- Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines.
- Document all aspects of formal game design, using mock-up screenshots, sample menu layouts, gameplay flowcharts, and other graphical devices.
- Provide feedback to designers and other colleagues regarding game design features.
Skills and Knowledge
Top video game designers rely on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.
Most Important Skills
The competencies that matter most in this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:
Knowledge Areas
Types of Video Game Designers Jobs
This career also goes by job titles like:
- Computer Game Designer
- Computer Video Game Designer
- Concept Artist
- Content Creator
- Design Director
- Designer
- Environment Artist
- Environmental Artist
Employment and Demand
The U.S. employs around 202,634 video game designers working in the United States today. This occupation is expected to grow by +2.6% over the projection horizon.
How Much Do Video Game Designers Make?
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual median | $62,617 |
| Hourly median | $30.10 |
| 10th percentile | $40,545 |
| 25th percentile | $51,581 |
| 75th percentile | $73,653 |
| 90th percentile | $84,688 |
Wages vary widely based on experience, location, and industry.
Video Game Designers Salary by State
| State | Annual median salary |
|---|---|
| California | $130,240 |
| Washington | $126,960 |
| New York | $121,700 |
| Rhode Island | $111,200 |
| Massachusetts | $107,560 |
| Hawaii | $105,560 |
| Colorado | $103,990 |
| Georgia | $100,530 |
| Utah | $99,300 |
| Vermont | $99,160 |
| Oregon | $98,970 |
| Connecticut | $96,200 |
| Illinois | $94,660 |
| South Dakota | $94,630 |
| District of Columbia | $91,820 |
| Maryland | $89,680 |
| Texas | $89,630 |
| Ohio | $88,170 |
| Montana | $87,660 |
| New Jersey | $87,070 |
| Maine | $86,230 |
| North Carolina | $84,990 |
| Minnesota | $84,950 |
| Oklahoma | $83,640 |
| Nevada | $81,230 |
| Michigan | $81,120 |
| Wisconsin | $80,210 |
| Arizona | $78,330 |
| Missouri | $76,320 |
| Florida | $75,480 |
| Kansas | $73,640 |
| Iowa | $72,820 |
| West Virginia | $72,630 |
| New Hampshire | $72,200 |
| Delaware | $71,490 |
| South Carolina | $70,690 |
| Indiana | $70,550 |
| Alaska | $69,190 |
| Idaho | $67,260 |
| Virginia | $66,240 |
| Kentucky | $66,190 |
| North Dakota | $64,390 |
| Louisiana | $62,700 |
| Nebraska | $62,700 |
| Tennessee | $61,590 |
| Pennsylvania | $61,030 |
| Mississippi | $60,680 |
| New Mexico | $57,680 |
| Arkansas | $57,020 |
| Wyoming | $51,320 |
| Alabama | $49,770 |
| Puerto Rico | $35,740 |
| Guam | $30,820 |
Where Video Game Designers Earn the Most
Pay for video game designers vary by region. Top regions by median wage:
| Region | Median annual wage | Share of U.S. jobs | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Far Western US | $127,302 | 33.5% | 2.22 |
| Middle Atlantic | $104,508 | 21.2% | 1.68 |
| New England | $101,844 | 4.2% | 0.93 |
| Rocky Mountains | $97,850 | 4.1% | 1.11 |
| Southwest | $86,739 | 8.5% | 0.70 |
| Great Lakes | $84,468 | 7.3% | 0.51 |
| Plains States | $76,183 | 4.3% | 0.71 |
| Southeast | $76,149 | 16.8% | 0.88 |
Where the Jobs Cluster
| Metro area | State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $178,100 | 4,290 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $160,980 | 7,930 |
| Binghamton, NY | NY | $136,760 | 120 |
| Boulder, CO | CO | $134,360 | 430 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $132,310 | 6,400 |
| Salem, OR | OR | $120,990 | 50 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | NY | $120,430 | 13,460 |
| Iowa City, IA | IA | $119,680 | 50 |
Industry Breakdown
The bulk of video game designers work in these industries:
| Industry | Employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Information | 34,540 | $120,580 |
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 31,850 | $93,040 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 6,190 | $108,200 |
| Finance and Insurance | 6,060 | $121,710 |
| Wholesale Trade | 5,900 | $86,990 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 5,430 | $112,110 |
| Retail Trade | 5,130 | $69,280 |
| Manufacturing | 4,290 | $99,660 |
Video Game Designers work in the following industries:
Tech Stack
- Video creation and editing software: Adobe After Effects (hot technology)
- Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Creative Cloud software (hot technology)
- Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Illustrator (hot technology)
- Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Photoshop (hot technology)
- Project management software: Atlassian JIRA (hot technology)
- Development environment software: C (hot technology)
- Object or component oriented development software: C# (hot technology)
- Object or component oriented development software: C++ (hot technology)
- Enterprise application integration software: Extensible markup language XML (hot technology)
- File versioning software: Git (hot technology)
- Web platform development software: Hypertext markup language HTML (hot technology)
- Web platform development software: JavaScript (hot technology)
Work Environment
The on-the-job environment of video game designers reflects the following characteristics:
- Spend Time Sitting
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams
Getting Started in This Career
Entry-level video game designers positions require a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry-level education. The role falls in Considerable Preparation Needed (Job Zone 4), reflecting the level of preparation typically expected.
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- Computer Programmers (Primary-Short)
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- Web Developers (Primary-Short)
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Top Programs to Study For This Career
Aspiring video game designers often complete programs in:
Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
8 programs across 6 majors
- Computer Science
- Computer Information Systems
- Information Science
- Computer Programming
- Computer Software Applications
- Information Technology
Visual and Performing Arts
2 programs across 1 majors
Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs
1 programs across 1 majors
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
1 programs across 1 majors
Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services
1 programs across 1 majors
Sources
Data on this page comes from the following authoritative sources:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
- BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
- O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.
SOC code: 15-1255.01 (Web and Digital Interface Designers).
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