Turn your passion into your career: study video game design

Video games are not just another form of entertainment. Not anymore. Video game designing is a 64 billion-dollar industry and is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.

It’s a well-known saying that “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” And perhaps this applies most to the gamers, you can now study video game design and turn your passion into your career.

Studying video game design in the United States is indeed a great opportunity for an international student or as a gamer would say a ’noob’ looking to kickstart a career in the video game industry. So read right on to explore everything you need to know about video game designing.

What is video game design?

Video game design is the first level of video game development. It is the origin point of a video game. It is the process of creating the blueprint of the video game that consists of the content, rules, gameplay, characters, levels, settings, storylines, etc.

A video game designer is a writer, artist, and programmer all in one who turns complex ideas and stories into playable products.

As a videogame designer, you should be creative and technically skilled. Writing skills would come in handy too.

Think of it this way, a video game designer is to a game, what an architect is to a building, a screenwriter to a movie. They set the scope and build the foundation for the entire project.

Video game designers create vivid stories full of characters and different environments and kick off the process of video game development. Simply put, they create the story of the video game.

There are three types of video game designers.

1. System Designers – System designers build the basic technical structure and mechanical plan for the smooth operation of the game.
2. Level Designers – They are responsible for designing the progression of the video game, the step-by-step stages the players go through in the game.
3. Narrative Designers – As a narrative designer you define how the overall story is experienced by the player. You decide what they see and how they experience it.

Why study Video game design?

Everyone dreams of making money from their hobbies or from things they’re passionate about. This is your opportunity to raise a successful and profitable career out of your passion. Video game designing is one of the very few careers that has creativity and passion as the only deciding factors.

Getting academically qualified in video game design will bring you right to the doorstep of achieving your lifelong dream, doing what you love for a living.

what’s more? It’s easier than ever too. There’s a wide variety of degrees and courses in world-renowned universities in the US, related to video game design.

The most important reason why video game designing is one of the hottest industries in the world right now is the fact that the industry is rapidly growing at a rocket speed rate. Video games after all are a global entertainment phenomenon.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor, video game designer employment will skyrocket 30% this decade, placing it among the fastest-growing careers in America.

According to the BLS, the salary payment for a game developer in 2020 was  $110 – $140 per hour. And with a few years of experience, you can start earning over $100,000 per year, according to recent salary surveys.

So needless to say a career in video game design is the total package.

What to study?

Another perk in the world of video game designing is that there are no fixed required educational criteria.

However, having a bachelor’s degree or a recognized formal educational qualification will take you a long way as it will be a great added qualification. Especially when securing a job at a high-end studio like Nintendo or Ubisoft or even with an employer with limited vacancies.

Since there are no fixed educational criteria for video game design, many employers accept bachelor’s degrees in other related areas of the subject such as a bachelor’s degree in software development or a bachelor’s degree in computer graphics.

So your degree or master’s does not have to be in video game design as long as the required skill set that an employer will look for is present.

The general skills you should have as a video game designer includes

• Creativity
• Project management skills
• Technological skills
• Presentation
• Time management
• Creative writing skills

Here are some Popular courses for video game design (undergraduate, graduate)

• Bachelor’s degree in Game design
• Bachelor’s degree in video game development
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science
• Bachelor’s degree in digital cinematography
• Bachelor’s of science in games
• Bachelor’s degree in software engineering
• Bachelor’s degree in mobile application development
• Bachelor’s in data science
• Bachelor’s in software development
• Bachelor of arts in interactive entertainment.

Under these courses, you’ll study a wide variety of subjects related to video game design and development such as,

• Game history and development
• Programming
• Introduction to game design
• Computer theory
• Game technology
• Principles of game design
• Game production
• Level design
• 3D modeling
• Narrative design
• Game systems
• Experience design
• Software architecture
• 3D content creation
• Engine development
• Digital illustration
• Image rendering
• Software engineering
• Structure of game design

Where to study?

There are several things you should look into before selecting where you want to study and what exactly you want to study.

The availability of the latest technology is pivotal to get the maximum understanding of what you’ll be doing as a videogame designer. For instance, the University of Central Florida has a 3300 square feet MOCAP (Motion capture) studio on campus.

Industry placement and internship opportunities are equally important. The average starting salary of an FIEA  (Florida Interactive entertainment academy – university of central Florida ) hire is $73000.

Interdisciplinary studies, where you get the opportunity to explore multiple branches of the subject are very beneficial as well. ‘Bachelor of Science in computer science, entertainment arts, and engineering emphasis’ offered by the University of Utah is one such course.

Through their programs, the University of Utah allows you to become a video game designer capable of multiple disciplines.

As a video game designer, you are required to work hand in hand with a lot of other experts such as artists and animators. American University’s game lab provides the opportunity for students to work in collaboration and create real playable games in school. This hands-on approach will give you all the experience you need to be a skilled video game designer.

A Career in Video game design

Video game design has a wide scope of careers that you can pursue. There are three main variants in game design.

Video game designers – You’ll be responsible for building the blueprint for the whole video game by formulating the storylines, characters, levels, rules, and other basic details.

Video game programmers – Create artificial Intelligence that controls the playable elements of the program. Programers also write the coding that controls the difficulty level of the game.

Video game Artist – As an artist, you’ll be creating the specifics and features of the different characters and the environments of the game.

There’s a lot of other related careers you can pursue by studying video game design as well.

• Concept/storyboard artist
• Programmer
• Systems designer
• Digital animator
• Texture artists
• Creative writer
• Storyline editor
• Character artist/animator
• Level designer
• Game tester
• Multimedia Artists and Animators
• Software Developers
• Art Directors
• Graphic Designers

Your salary will also increase as you mature and become experienced as a video game designer.

Salaries according to experience level.

• Entry level (0-12 months ) – $55,501
• Early career (1-4 years) – $62,520
• Mid career (5-9 years ) – $77,018

According to the BLS, the median salary for a game developer in the US is $68,000, while the minimum and highest salaries are $37,000 and $119,000 respectively.

As an International student studying video game design in the US, you can equip yourself with everything you need and more to have a successful career in video game design.

So go on and enter the next level by talking to our highly experienced team right now. Your future begins today.