How To Become A Video Game Programmer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a video game programmer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a video game programmer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $37.55 an hour? That's $78,099 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -7% and produce -17,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreVideo Game ProgrammerUS Average

Salary

6.1

Avg. Salary $78,099

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.1

Growth rate -7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 16.13%

Black or African American 3.72%

Hispanic or Latino 6.54%

Unknown 4.29%

White 69.16%

Gender

female 11.11%

male 88.89%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

5.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.7

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a video game programmer

Explore video game programmer education requirements

Most common video game programmer degrees

Bachelor's

68.8 %

Associate

15.6 %

Master's

12.5 %

Start to develop specific video game programmer skills

Skills	Percentages
Video Games	48.17%
Combat	22.36%
PC	11.87%
AMX	9.33%
Yahoo	8.26%

Complete relevant video game programmer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New video game programmers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a video game programmer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real video game programmer resumes.

Research video game programmer duties and responsibilities

Develop different VBA macro tools to automate reporting and assure information accuracy, overlapping avoidance and management control.
Perform remote setup and troubleshooting of PC base DVR security systems install in banks.
Implement combat system to designer spec.
Hand-Code HTML 5 and Java script base on web standards and best practices for scalability and accessibility.

Prepare your video game programmer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your video game programmer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a video game programmer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable video game programmer resume templates

Build a professional video game programmer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your video game programmer resume.