What is a Game Designer?

Game designers work with a team of programmers, designers, artists, and management to oversee the complex task of creating a video game. They design, develop and implement game features as well as complete accurate documentation for all assigned features. They assist in managing budgets, work schedules, and project timelines. Also, they help with the constant review of the game's progress to adjust the implementation of assigned features. Additionally, they are responsible for writing the game codes and testing the early versions.

As a game designer, you'd be required to have a bachelor's degree in game design or a related field with a minimum of three years of experience working in a design capacity. Essential skills include communication, creativity, presentation, collaboration, project management, interpersonal, and analytical skills. You must also be familiar with computer systems and programming languages. Game designers make an average salary of $72,833 annually. Their salary varies between $48,000 and $112,000.

What Does a Game Designer Do

There are certain skills that many game designers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed detail oriented, problem-solving skills and analytical skills.

Learn more about what a Game Designer does

How To Become a Game Designer

If you're interested in becoming a game designer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 74.2% of game designers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.7% of game designers have master's degrees. Even though most game designers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Game Designer
Top Game Designer Jobs Near You

Game Designer Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of lead designer you might progress to a role such as art director eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title founder and chief executive officer.

Game Designer

Average Salary for a Game Designer

Game Designers in America make an average salary of $87,645 per year or $42 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $127,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $60,000 per year.
Average Game Designer Salary
$87,645 Yearly
$42.14 hourly
See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

Roles and Types of Game Designer

There are several types of game designer, including:

Designer

Role:

A career as a designer can go so many different directions. From fashion designers to floral designers or even graphic designers or interior designers, as long as you have an eye for detail and a steady hand you could design whatever you wanted.

The education that is required to become a designer can vary depending on what type of designing you're going to be doing. For example, a floral designer only needs a high school diploma, but a graphic designer may need a Bachelor's degre. It really depends on what direction you want to take your career.

  • Average Salary: $66,347
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

User Interaction Designer

Role:

User interaction designers are software developers who structure and design digital products to ensure the end users have a seamless experience. They mostly work on apps and websites and structure elements such as speed, motion, aesthetics, space, layout etc. They literally put themselves in the shoes of the people they are designing for so as to ensure that they are satisfied and comfortable with using the product.

User interaction designers work very closely with other professionals such as product managers, engineers, marketing professionals and user experience staff in an effort to strike a balance between the users' needs and the business technological abilities. Most user interaction designers work in offices or studios while some are freelancers.

User interaction designers usually work 40 hours a week 9 to 5 if in formal employment. Freelancers have flexible work schedules and work with their clients' schedules.

  • Average Salary: $82,651
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Game Designer Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active game designer jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where game designers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Game Designer Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California2,600$96,135
2New York1,130$87,153
3Texas1,040$77,766
4Georgia687$71,107
5Washington686$102,106
6Illinois642$67,566
7Florida611$71,453
8Virginia600$74,475
9Massachusetts597$93,396
10Pennsylvania565$76,411
11North Carolina490$70,722
12Ohio445$85,285
13Michigan430$78,110
14Oregon383$78,880
15Minnesota364$65,956
16Maryland331$89,940
17New Jersey330$77,393
18Colorado319$77,525
19Wisconsin291$88,306
20Arizona255$73,860
21Indiana221$87,777
22Missouri221$76,820
23Tennessee204$71,227
24Utah199$85,590
25South Carolina171$81,888
26Alabama156$67,848
27Connecticut153$92,694
28Kansas133$64,480
29Iowa128$64,497
30Kentucky123$79,472
31Oklahoma113$67,232
32Louisiana94$85,507
33New Hampshire88$92,799
34Arkansas84$71,493
35Nevada79$105,036
36Nebraska79$75,603
37New Mexico73$78,554
38Rhode Island61$103,903
39Maine59$98,477
40Idaho57$92,571
41Mississippi55$82,594
42Delaware43$100,838
43Montana40$76,917
44West Virginia37$85,977
45South Dakota34$75,218
46North Dakota31$77,001
47Vermont28$90,094
48Alaska22$88,065
49Hawaii20$65,285
50Wyoming17$64,159

Game Designer Education

Game Designer Majors

Graphic Design
25.5 %
Computer Science
17.9 %
Fine Arts
5.7 %

Game Designer Degrees

Bachelors

74.2 %

Masters

10.7 %

Associate

10.6 %

Top Colleges for Game Designers

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

3. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

5. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-State Tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

6. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

7. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

8. University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$14,184

Enrollment

30,845

9. University of Chicago

Chicago, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$58,230

Enrollment

6,600

10. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,226

Enrollment

31,568

Top Skills For a Game Designer

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 10.0% of game designers listed unity on their resume, but soft skills such as detail oriented and problem-solving skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Game Designer Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Game Designer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Game Designer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume
Game Designer Resume

Game Designer diversity

Game Designer Gender Distribution

Male
Male
88%
Female
Female
12%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among game designers, 11.8% of them are women, while 88.2% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among game designers is White, which makes up 67.7% of all game designers.

  • The most common foreign language among game designers is Spanish at 27.4%.

Online Courses For Game Designer That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Game Writing: Storytelling through Video Game Design

udemy
4.6
(948)

Write and design your own games; develop ideas, character and plot to create a compelling storyworld. (Made with Unity)...

2. Unreal Engine: Intro to Game Design

udemy
4.6
(800)

Like "Fortnite?" Master the tools used to build it as we build a simple shooting gallery game using the Unreal Engine!...

3. Become a Game Designer the Complete Series Coding to Design

udemy
4.4
(7,738)

Master Unity, 3D game design, 2D game design, coding, C#, game development, 3D animation, programming, level design...

Show More Online Courses For Game Designer
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary

Best States For a Game Designer

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a game designer. The best states for people in this position are Nevada, Rhode Island, Washington, and Delaware. Game designers make the most in Nevada with an average salary of $105,036. Whereas in Rhode Island and Washington, they would average $103,903 and $102,106, respectively. While game designers would only make an average of $100,838 in Delaware, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Game Designer Jobs: 686
Highest 10% Earn:
$147,000
Location Quotient:
1.7

$102,106

Avg. Salary

View 686 Game Designer Jobs In WA

2. Rhode Island

Total Game Designer Jobs: 61
Highest 10% Earn:
$158,000
Location Quotient:
0.91

$103,903

Avg. Salary

View 61 Game Designer Jobs In RI

3. Nevada

Total Game Designer Jobs: 79
Highest 10% Earn:
$154,000
Location Quotient:
0.68

$105,036

Avg. Salary

View 79 Game Designer Jobs In NV
Full List Of Best States For Game Designers

How Do Game Designers Rate Their Jobs?

Working as a Game Designer? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Top Game Designer Employers

Most Common Employers For Game Designer

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Meta$150,736$72.4710
2Microsoft$123,529$59.3916
3Sony Interactive Entertainment America$93,287$44.8510
4Rockstar Games$92,472$44.466
5Electronic Arts$92,404$44.4236
6PlayStation$91,716$44.0910
7Naughty Dog$91,630$44.0510
8DoubleDown Interactive$90,972$43.746
9Schell Games$89,898$43.227
10Zynga$89,887$43.2121
Show More

Game Designer Videos

Day in the life: Computer game designer
Extra Credits - So You Want To Be a Game Designer - Career Advice for Making Games
Day in the Life: Video Game Designer

Becoming a Game Designer FAQs

Game Designer Vs. Game Developer

A game designer is someone involved with all the creative aspects of making a video game, while a game developer is someone focused on writing the code for a video game.

Game designers work for large and small video game production studios. They are involved in every step of creating a video game, from brainstorming general ideas and then creating the plot, characters, and style of gameplay. Game designers usually use scripting languages that allow them to test concepts within the game design.

Is Game Design A Good Career?

Yes, game design is a good career. The field offers various avenues of creativity and pays well.

Video game designers create all of the creative and technical content required to produce a video game. There are a number of roles within game design that are open to those working in the field. Game animators are typically artists who use their skills to create animations that will be used to tell the gaming story. Programmers and audio engineers then take the creative concepts and create the software necessary to create the game format.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Being A Game Designer?

The pros and cons of being a game designer are that while it offers a creative and fulfilling career, it also requires long hours, intense competition, and a risk of burnout. Overall, being a game designer can be a rewarding career for those with a passion for gaming and creativity, but it is important to consider the potential downsides, such as long hours, high-pressure environments, and job instability.

Have more questions? See all answers to common computer and mathematical questions.

Search For Game Designer Jobs

Game Designer Related Careers

Game Designer Related Jobs

What Similar Roles Do

Resume For Related Jobs

Updated April 6, 2023