Over the past few decades, the video game industry has evolved to be the fastest-growing entertainment in terms of revenue. Game designer jobs are about managing video game projects, help in managing budgets, and working on schedules and deadlines. They draft a proposal to address important details like target audience, requirements, deadlines, and budgets. Know how to become a game designer.
To become a successful game designer one must have the passion and love for video games. Game companies look for game designers who are ready to invest their time in gaming and are familiar with different gaming consoles. Entering the field of the gaming industry is tough because it is highly competitive.
You need to put in a lot of hard work if you want to become a video game designer. You must do a lot of studying and do internships. Having a good game designer portfolio is important for you to land in a job.
How to Become a Game Designer
As a game designer, you are an inventor of games. The success of the games they design depends on the power of their imagination. You should have advanced problem-solving skills as the game design can be prone to problems and bugs that need to be quickly spotted and fixed.
You should make sure that the game is accurate and realistic. You should have expert knowledge of computer programming and software development as the games are created through lines of code.
Education Needed
You should obtain a bachelor’s degree to become a computer game designer. Colleges and Universities offer majors in computer science, game development, and game designing.
Computer game design programs concentrate on the creative design aspect of video games, digital media, and design courses and computer programming codes. These programs will help you in addressing the technical aspects of game designing. Besides a formal education, as a videogame designer, you should work on your creative and artistic ability.
[Also Read: Requirements to Become a Game Tester]
How to Create a Game Designer Portfolio
As a game designer, you should know that a portfolio is the easiest and the most effective way for you to show your work to game companies. A good portfolio helps you stand out from the crowd.
Your game designer portfolio should include game links or downloads of the games you had created so that the companies can play and check them out. Most of the game designers work from home and with different teams. So a portfolio is the best way to showcase their ability and experience in the gaming industry.
Steps to Create a Game Design Portfolio
Step 1: Build Your Portfolio and Start Adding Your Best Work
There are a lot of portfolio sites including Coroflot, Carbonmade and Behance Network in which you can create a game designer portfolio without any serious web design or programming skills. Highlight your best work there.
Step 2: Include Important Information in the Portfolio
Your portfolio should include your contact details such as Phone number, email, and Skype number. If you have a GitHub profile, or you use Perforce, you should consider updating them to highlight your major projects.
Step 3: Make Sure That Your Portfolio Looks Good
Once you have included all the necessary files and information in the portfolio make sure that it looks presentable. Your portfolio should be free from clutter and should have only a few pages that are well organized and easy to go through.
Step 4: Start Sharing Your Game Designer Portfolio
Once the portfolio is ready, you should start posting it on job boards and community forums where game developers visit to hire game designers. Make sure to add your portfolio link in your LinkedIn profile.
[Also Read: Learn How to Become a Professional Gamer]
Game Designer Jobs
There are different types of game designer jobs depending upon their job duties from writers to lead designers.
Content Designer
Content Designers come up with ideas for characters and plan the overall plot of the game. They work on the front end of the design process. They should be flexible enough to edit the plot they write as changes come up during game development.
Lead Designers
Lead designers supervise the entire design process. They are responsible for forming the main design document for the game that the production staff follows. They designate tasks to the design team, manage schedules and solve issues that arise during the game designing process.
Level Designer
Level Designers are responsible for creating an appropriate environment and setting for different levels of the game. They should also select the characters and objects needed to make the game look livelier.
[Also Read: Guide to Becoming a Game Warden]
Game Designer Salary
According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, animators and multimedia artists similar to game designers earned a median salary of $72,520 in 2018. Software developers made a median annual salary of $103,620 in 2018.(1)
Can Anyone Become a Game Designer?
Creative artists, concept-driven individuals and people who love working with cutting edge technologies can become a game designer. Breaking into the gaming industry is a tough job. The working hours are long, the job is challenging, but still, game designing is a viable career choice with lucrative paychecks.
