What Is a Video Game Designer? Career Overview + FAQ

Video game designers bring ideas and concepts to life. It’s a dynamic career option with diverse responsibilities, including designing games for various formats and platforms, refining the user’s experience, and working as part of a team to create the end product. 

Explore details about this career, including the qualifications and skills you’ll need, to determine if it's the right path for your goals. 

What is a video game designer?

Video game designers create the worlds, characters, stories, rules, and overall gameplay of video games. The number of designers on a video game can vary from one to dozens working together to bring the vision for a video game to life. 

Video game designing might be the right job if you are passionate about storytelling and integrating characters and plots into interactive gaming. You can use your creativity to design new video games for consumers and educators. 

What does a video game designer do?

You’ll create games for computers and consoles as a video game designer. You may do everything from brainstorming game ideas to developing the characters, plots, and settings. Typically, you’ll work as part of a creative team.

Not only will you conceptualise ideas, but you’ll also work out how players will play the game, create the different levels, and determine the length of playing time. In some cases, game designers may help write the code for gameplay and ensure the audio and video run smoothly.

What’s the difference between a video game designer and a developer?

A video game designer creates a game’s theme, characters, plot, and skill levels. A game developer works on the game's coding, programming, and testing to ensure it’s ready for the market. 

How much do video game designers make?

For a video game designer, Glassdoor lists a median salary of £36,614 per year [1]. Glassdoor also reports that as a video game designer, you can earn anywhere from £30,000 to £45,000 per year in average base pay [1].

Types of video game design jobs

As a video game designer, you might work on a project from start to finish or have a specialisation. For example, some game designers might work as sound engineers or game testers. Others might compose music or work as level designers.

Multimedia artists and animators

Median annual salary (UK): £28,653 [2] 

As a multimedia artist and animator, you create graphic and interactive images for games. You might also work in television or film or be self-employed.

Art directors

Average annual salary (UK): £47,474 [3] 

As an art director of a video game, you’ll oversee the graphic designs and ensure they convey the visual concept intended for gameplay. Art directors can find career opportunities in advertising, publishing, and television. 

Graphic designers 

Median annual salary (UK): £27,982 [4] 

Graphic designers create visual elements for video games. Your job might include selecting the images, fonts, and colours for projects using digital platforms such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. 

Web developers and digital designers 

Median annual salary (UK): £33,276 [5] 

As a web developer or digital designer, you might work to ensure the game is navigable and that all functions work correctly. Your duties could include making sure the game is user-friendly and has an appealing look.

Video game designer skills

You’ll need various skills to create enjoyable games as a video game designer. Look at some of the skills employers may seek in a video game designer, as shown in the lists below.

Workplace skills

Video game design can be highly collaborative, requiring designers to work on teams of varying complexity to bring a game to life. 

• A passion for gaming

• Communication skills

• Creativity

• Analytical thinking skills

• Flexibility

• Problem-solving skills 

• Project management

• Resource management

• Willingness to work as part of a team 

Technical skills

Video game designers need technical skills to execute the functionality of video games. Employers also like to see candidates who have strong video game-playing experience. Some skills include: 

• Ability to use computer graphics 

• Animation skills 

• Adobe Photoshop proficiency

• Familiarity with design theory

• Knowledge of software and hardware development 

Video game designer education and training

Prospective video game designers have several ways to gain education and training and enter this profession. You can choose from a formal degree to informal training through certificate programs or on-the-job training through apprenticeships as you explore the best route for your career goals. 

While formal education is essential, acquiring specific technical skills and training is another critical component of video game training and education. Degrees and apprenticeships can provide you with projects to add to your portfolio to showcase to potential employers, as can relevant professional experiences and individual projects.   

Consider earning a degree. 

Video game design is a competitive field, and although employers only sometimes require a degree, pursuing one is advisable. If you choose the degree route, start by earning an undergraduate degree or a foundation degree in computer game technology, game development, or game design.

If you choose a route other than a degree, consider taking a level 3 or extended diploma in an area like games or animation. 

Some of the other degree fields aspiring video game designers may pursue include:

• Interactive arts 

• Computer animation 

• Computer engineering

• Digital art

• Communication

Complete an apprenticeship.

Some people take the higher apprenticeship route to gain on-the-job training while also working towards the position of video game designer. Consider completing an apprenticeship with a company or organisation for which you’d like to work as a video game designer if you don’t have a degree. You can find apprenticeship opportunities on company websites and sites like the government’s ‘Find an apprenticeship’ service and the UCAS site. You can pursue an apprenticeship as a game developer. Still, you can look for other options, too, including tester, visual effects artist, and animator, which might help you narrow down a specific field in this industry in which you’d prefer to work.

An apprenticeship can offer a chance to gain real-world experience and help determine if a career in video game design is a good fit. 

Gain technical skills and experience. 

If you’re not earning a degree through a university programme or completing an apprenticeship with a company or organisation, you might consider taking a bootcamp. Alternatively, you might seek out a certificate program. Both offer excellent opportunities to enhance your CV and provide additional portfolio content and knowledge in a shorter time frame. 

Start a video game designer career with Coursera

If you’re a creative person passionate about design, working as a video game designer might be the right career. Discover fundamental concepts of gaming design in Introduction to Game Design, part of the Game Design: Art and Concepts Specialisation from CalArts, and available on Coursera. Explore further with the Meta AR Developer Professional Certificate to discover AR knowledge that can help differentiate your game design resume. Enroll today on Coursera.

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