Video game designer

Here is some salary info

When looking at video game design salary trends, it's quite apparent that earnings for those involved in video game development will continue to see a steady increase. Below we have listed what one can expect to make in the gaming industry depending on experience and job description.

Note that the salary ranges are based on US earnings. The low number represents what to expect in the first year, and the higher number reflects 5+ years or more of experience.


Artists: $40,000 to $65,000
Animators: $45,000 to $70,000
Lead Artists / Animators: $65,000 to $80,000

Game Designers: $40,000 to $70,000
Creative Directors / Lead Designers: $45,000 to $90,000

Programmers: $50,000 to $90,000
Lead Programmers: $75,000 to 100,000
Technical Directors: $90,000 to $120,000

Audio Designers: $65,000 to $75,000
Music Composers / Musicians: $65,000 to $90,000

Video Game Testers: $25,000 to $45,000
Lead Game Testers: $40,000 to $60,000

PR Marketing: $50,000 to $85,000

 

Not to be a jerk by doesn't Devry or ITT Tech or one of those crap schools offer this? I remember seeing a commercial like "real gamers come to ITT Tech to take their game to the next level! Do you have what it takes?"

Here it is: http://www.itt-tech.edu/teach/list/degd.cfm

Tuition is what $17,000 a year?

Who falls for that?

 

This is the best school for game programming, the campus shares the same building as Nintendo of America.

But I think it's tough to get in to.

 

I believe DD is involved in this industry in some capacity, he could probably answer most of your questions

 

im pretty sure this industry gets you laid A LOT.

kind of like pro sports/music industry etc.

 

designer is the most difficult to get experience/employed. unless you can come up with something like portal (digipen students)

all areas in my experience are difficult to get a salary paying job. you need a great portfolio to get an interview. portfolio is all that matters for artist, most programmers a bachelors is required. programmers will always have more jobs and higher pay.

i wanted to be a 3d artist, my portfolio was too small/quality of work not high enough. i no longer had the drive/heart for it to work low wage jobs while i worked on my portfolio. currently back at school for something i really love and not just as a hobby.

you have to be really good or know someone to be on salary at a large company like EA. most companies will contract or hire you for crunch time then let you go.
personally i discovered it was a hobby, not something i could do 40+ hours a week.

 

Hi, I'm a game designer.

In general...not great. You need to be doing it for the passion. Pretty much ALL my friends in any type of corporate job gets paid a lot more than me. I work in Australia so maybe the industry pays better in the US, not sure.

This is a tough question. Generally speaking, landing a game design job is a bit of a catch 22. You can't get one without experience and you can't get experience without having the job in the first place. There are many routes into game design. These examples are based off my mates at work.

• Go to a game college. Create a kickass demo for your end of year project and pimp the hell out of it on industry night. You'll make a lot of contacts and hopefully a company looking for a junior designer will appreciate your work and give you an interview at the very least. This is how I got in. But, junior designer positions are very rare. In fact...other than the company that hired me I've never seen any other company willing to take a chance on an inexperienced aspiring designer. There are many industry veterans that look down on 'game degrees'. I'm not one of them...but there are many out there.
• Get involved in the gaming community. Either work on a mod or build maps for Unreal or whatever. Start compiling a desginer's showreel/portfolio. If you are enthusiastic and have examples of work to show for it, you'll have a shot. You can include creative writing/game design documents as well, but actual playable demos are better.
• Get into the industy any way you can. People generally get their foot in the door as a QA tester. Then...in addition to your QA duties, provide additional feedback on gameplay, suggest how the game could be better. If you show that you have a good grasp of game design and actively demonstrate it, you'll definitely be given a shot. A lot of designers at my company started in QA.

Did a lot of overtime on my first two projects. Not as crazy as some other's I've read about but still quite a bit. 6 days a week during crunch, maybe until 9pm-10pm each day. Very little overtime on my last two projects. I guess they were managed a lot better. This really depends on the project.

Again...not sure about the US. But in Australia...VERY bad right now.

Good luck mate!

 

Man, those salaries don't seem high enough for positions that technically demanding. I guess a job like that isn't about the money.

 

It's a job that is very difficult to get, but doesn't pay well. That about sums it up.

 

I designed and developed 3 games back in 1989 and 1990 when it was actually possible to do so with just 1 or 2 people.

That might be a route to take. There are a lot of free game engines and SDKs that you can get your hands on. Produce some public domain/freeware games that are fun and addictive.

Those guys that did Bejeweled have their engine available for free download, for example.

It might not be the type of game you ultimately want to design, but it's something on the resume.

There was a thread here within the last week with a guy showing a game he's developing. You might check that out.

 

- Depends, generally designers start out around $40,000 a year and go up from there. It is sort of a nebulous job in our industry as some game companies don't have desingers per se, and use programmers or artists as designers.

Me personally, I always use designers, and am one myself.

You don't have to go to school at all, the best way into the industry is to get a job as a tester, do a good job at it and move up, another way is to learn how to make levels in Unreal or another popular engine and submit those to whatever game community and have them be well received. The best 2 designers I ever hired did Neverwinter nights mods as part of their resume....

Long - usually at least 50 hours per week to start, and during crunch over 100 hours per week, but it is a lot of fun.

Mixed, it is always good to know someone and it depends upon where you are looking for a job.

DD

 

Yeah that was me

It was a solo effort, something I did on the side for fun. There's definitely a market for indie games these days and it's much more rewarding than working for a company in many ways.

 

LOL at the responses. Sounds like the worst profession ever unless you're at the top. I guess they're all like that.

 

Ya, Digipen is awesome, I still have my paperwork from them when they were in Canada. Back in 96, I really wanted to go there but Canada wasn't just the easiest move.

 

I think being a QA while attending the program is the best option if you really really wanted to be a designer/game programmer.

 

I don't think there is one that is head and shoulders above another...I have heard good things about the Guild Hall at SMU though.

And I am on the board of directors of both ACC and UT's programs...we set the ciriculums for the new programs, but game design is a brand new field for colleges they are a ways away from making it seriously worthwhile.

DD

 

I don't have any experience in video game designing at all, but if its anything like most high demand, low supply jobs, you'll have to work your way from the bottom for little pay. The landing the job part is also going to be hard.

My advice: network.

You need to expand your network in general, then start trying to expand your network with people in the industry.

I obviously don't want to speak for anyone on the board, but in this thread alone, there are two people in the industry that may be willing to look over your work and give advice...then maybe they know someone else, and they know someone...etc.

Also, perhaps attending events and conferences, showing interest, etc.

I will also say, in many industries, the job you want is often the goal, but the path is not necessarily as straight forward as you think. Perhaps just working at a game company, or a vendor, supplier, contractor for one of those companies in a job that has nothing to do with game design is a good way. Maybe they need project managers, accountants, finance folks, HR people, sales people, communications people...all the things that most companies need. Then, when you are "IN" you can really expand your network, get to know people that actually work on games, get advice, show your portfolio, etc.

 

It's a dieing industry. Most kids prefer playing outside nowadays