Video Game Designers
Design core features of video games. Specify innovative game and role-play mechanics, story lines, and character biographies. Create and maintain design documentation. Guide and collaborate with production staff to produce games as designed.
Also called: Design Director · Designer · Environmental Artist · Game Design Consultant · Game Designer · Gamemaster
Median pay (national)
$98,090
$47,840–$192,180 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
111,400
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
+7%
~9,100 openings/yr
Typical entry
Bachelor's degree
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for video game designers shows an unusually wide range: the top 10% earn $192,180 versus $47,840 at the bottom 10% — 4.0x. The median of $98,090 leaves roughly 96% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change +7% from 2024 to 2034 — faster than the 3% all-occupation average. Even so, BLS projects about 9,100 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 53 states with released data, California pays the most for this role (median $130,240, +33% vs the national median), while Guam sits lowest at $30,820 — a 323% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list. On the tools side, O*NET flags Adobe Photoshop, Autodesk Maya, C#, C++ as in-demand technologies for this role.
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Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Writing
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Mathematics
- Learning Strategies
- Science
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- Balance and adjust gameplay experiences to ensure the critical and commercial success of the product.
- Devise missions, challenges, or puzzles to be encountered in game play.
- Create core game features, including storylines, role-play mechanics, and character biographies for a new video game or game franchise.
- Solicit, obtain, and integrate feedback from design and technical staff into original game design.
- Conduct regular design reviews throughout the game development process.
- Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines.
- Document all aspects of formal game design, using mock-up screenshots, sample menu layouts, gameplay flowcharts, and other graphical devices.
- Provide feedback to designers and other colleagues regarding game design features.
- Create and manage documentation, production schedules, prototyping goals, and communication plans in collaboration with production staff.
- Provide feedback to production staff regarding technical game qualities or adherence to original design.
Tools & technology
- Adobe Photoshop
- Autodesk Maya
- C#
- C++
- Python
- Unity Technologies Unity
- Unreal Technology Unreal Engine
- Adobe After Effects
- Adobe Creative Cloud software
- Adobe Illustrator
- Atlassian JIRA
- C
- Extensible markup language XML
- Git
- Hypertext markup language HTML
- JavaScript
Knowledge areas
- Design
- Computers and Electronics
- Communications and Media
- Mathematics
- Psychology
- English Language
- Engineering and Technology
- Sociology and Anthropology