Game designer vs lead game designer

The differences between game designers and lead game designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a game designer and a lead game designer. Additionally, a lead game designer has an average salary of $108,878, which is higher than the $87,645 average annual salary of a game designer.

The top three skills for a game designer include unity, UI and game development. The most important skills for a lead game designer are game mechanics, unity, and IP.

Game designer vs lead game designer overview

	Game Designer	Lead Game Designer
Yearly salary	$87,645	$108,878
Hourly rate	$42.14	$52.35
Growth rate	3%	3%
Number of jobs	45,227	46,144
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Average age	44	44
Years of experience	4	4

Game designer vs lead game designer salary

Game designers and lead game designers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Game Designer	Lead Game Designer
Average salary	$87,645	$108,878
Salary range	Between $60,000 And $127,000	Between $73,000 And $161,000
Highest paying City	Reno, NV	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	Nevada	Rhode Island
Best paying company	Meta	Meta
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between game designer and lead game designer education

There are a few differences between a game designer and a lead game designer in terms of educational background:

	Game Designer	Lead Game Designer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 74%	Bachelor's Degree, 73%
Most common major	Graphic Design	Graphic Design
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Game designer vs lead game designer demographics

Here are the differences between game designers' and lead game designers' demographics:

	Game Designer	Lead Game Designer
Average age	44	44
Gender ratio	Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8%	Male, 71.4% Female, 28.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between game designer and lead game designer duties and responsibilities

Game designer example responsibilities.

Lead brainstorming meetings to develop new ideas and concepts.
Manage the bug tracking database for the entire design team.
Lead the design of world-class social games on the Facebook platform.
Manage creative team including lead illustrator, lead painter, animation and sound design.
Manage QA and drive testing plans, which deliver a high quality product on time.
Design the project's path, and manage an android programmer, a graphic designer and a musician.

Lead game designer example responsibilities.

Design the project's path, and manage an android programmer, a graphic designer and a musician.
Collaborate with fellow programmer to program a game using Java and GML.
Lead game from concept to final product, guide by prototyping and playtesting.
Assume a leadership role in developing an animation style that become the standard in the department.
Maintain python threading systems for in-game computer terminals.
Utilize Unity3D asset bundle capability to increase load/memory performance.

Game designer vs lead game designer skills

Common game designer skills

Unity, 10%
UI, 6%
Game Development, 6%
Game Mechanics, 6%
C++, 5%
Math, 4%

Common lead game designer skills

Game Mechanics, 9%
Unity, 8%
IP, 7%
Animation, 7%
Level Design, 6%
Prototyping, 5%