Video Game Designers
Special Requirements
Video game designer is not an entry-level job. You have to know how video game design and development works, and experience as a programmer, artist, or producer helps. Video Game Designers usually hold a bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology or a related field. Skills in collaboration and negotiation help you make sure the final product is created true to your original vision.
Video game designers work in small start-up companies as well as large multimedia corporations.
Education Requirements:
A good education is first and foremost. Here’s where it gets a little tricky, though. You'll need to choose a degree that matches the specific aspect of video game design you want to go into. That means if you’re interested in programming games, you’ll want to look for a computer science/programming degree that focuses on creating interactive programs (generally in C or C++) and interfaces. Supplementing these programming classes with classes in computer design isn't a bad idea either.
On the other hand, if you want to work creating game concepts or characters, you’ll want to look for a good creative writing program. While most of these programs prepare students for careers as journalists or fiction writers, the classes in character and plot development will be very helpful for future video game designers. If possible, take a few scriptwriting classes as well – scripts for movies and video games are actually fairly similar in their design and setup.
If you’re an artist interested in doing art design for video games, you’ll want to look for a good art program that focuses on computer-generated (CG) graphics. While any degree in fine art is going to help, much of the actual artwork used in video games is not hand-drawn first. Being familiar with the programs used in computer generated artwork will put you ahead of other artists looking to do video game work.
Video game designers often have to be well-rounded since they almost always work in teams. With this in mind, it’s not a bad idea to get a minor in another video game design-related field. Programmers who minor in art or creative writing can bring more skills to the table, for example, than students who have only a programming degree. Since many games are brought over from Japan, writers with minors in Japanese language are very sought after. Having these additional skills will help you land a great job over someone who only has a major in a video game design field.
In addition to the education needed to be a video game designer, many game design companies want to see that you have a passion for video game playing. In fact, some companies actually ask for a video game resume – a listing of the game systems you’ve used, your favorite game titles and your rankings in these games. If you’re applying to work in a specific game genre, it’s important to know the leading titles in that genre. For example, if you want to work for Square-Enix, you should be familiar with the Final Fantasy series – the company’s biggest success – and with role playing video games in general.
The video game design industry is competitive, and you’ll be facing some stiff competition to land a job. Anything and everything you can do to improve your resume – be it adding a minor to your degree program or playing every video game you can get your hands on – will help you jump-start your career in video game design.
For more information on video game careers and schools, please see What Does a Video Game Programmer Do?
The data sources for the information displayed here include: Virginia Career VIEW Research.
