Become a Video Game Designer: Everything You Need to Know Part 1
Introduction
I have been asked the question of “how do you become a video game designer” countless times. Instead of answering each and every time (like I had been doing), I decided to write this article. I hope this is helpful to you.
What is a game designer?
More so than any other discipline in the video game industry, the game designer is the most outwardly glamorous position. You are the linchpin that holds animation, art, and programming together. There are a great number of rewards for being a game designer, you get to see your ideas and creations take shape and come to life on the screen, your work gets seen by a lot of people, there is no dress code and work hours are usually very flexible. Since I love games and presumably you do too, you get to work in an industry that creates things that you love and is your favorite hobby.
Being a successful game designer is not without sacrifices. Despite the EA spouse letter, the industry as a whole is still terrible at work-life balance. You can expect to put in a staggering number of hours. Also, since most full-time workers are on salary, you will not be paid for overtime. I am not complaining about this, only that this is information that you should have before you commit to a career in game design. As a game designer I usually put in 50-hour weeks and this ramps up dramatically before monthly milestone deadlines and the inevitable crunch period that occurs before a game ships. The crunch period starts up to six months out from a game shipping. During this time you can expect to be putting in 12+ hour days 6 or 7 days a week up until the game ships. I have been in some really bad crunches where I was averaging over a hundred hours every week for months at a time without a break.
If the above warnings have not deterred you and you have decided you still want to be a game designer, your next question is probably “how do you become a game designer”.
Work ethic
You will need drive and determination. Game design positions are extremely competitive. Getting in requires an unquenchable desire, dedication and the ability to keep going despite setbacks. Only those of you willing to claw, kick and scream will make it. In order to get the drive necessary to succeed you should first answer for yourself the question of “why you want to become a game designer”. Your answer to this question should be something so strong that you can cling on to it in your bleakest hours and it will keep you hungry to succeed. Once you have the answer to this question, you will have the reason for all the hard work you are about to put in to be able to overcome any obstacles in your way.
Now that you have the proper mindset and work ethic required, we can start talking about how to best direct your work with the goal of obtaining a job as a video game designer.
Find a company to apply to
The next question you should ask yourself is what genre of game would you like to make? Select a genre or genres of games that you are drawn to, are knowledgeable about and enjoy playing and then find out and list all the companies that make these types of games.
The gaming industry as a whole is heavily situated in a few areas in the United States. If you are not currently residing in one of these areas, you must be willing to relocate to get the jobs. Some of the places in the United States with the most densely populated game studios are Southern California, Seattle Washington, Austin Texas and San Francisco California. Again, you will want to focus on the companies that specialize in the genre of game that you want to work in. Do not apply to a studio that makes first-person shooters hoping to work on a real-time-strategy game.
Once you have a list of studios, learn about their previous titles, the history of their company, the names of the founders, how their stock is doing, etc…
Education
Although you do not technically need a degree, I have found a rounded education to be very valuable. To be a successful game designer you will need a broad education. In fact, I became a game designer because it is one of the few professions that allowed me to apply my diverse interests in writing, history, movies and games in one job. If you are self-motivated to constantly learn about a broad range of topics and expose yourself to new things, you will be able to get by without a degree.
Needless to say you will need to play games. A lot of games. As a video game designer you should have an encyclopedic knowledge of games from all genres. Do not only play games that recently came out that received high marks, but go back and play older and lower reviewed games. As you play these games, write about why they are fun, what they did to promote replayability, what was not fun, what would you do differently to make a better game, what mechanics influenced the level design, how did the enemy and weapon placement affect the way you played the game, study the weapon balance, controls, interface, pacing, audio, etc.
Communication
Learn how to communicate effectively both written and orally. A major part of a game designer’s job is to communicate the design vision to their team. To do this effectively you will need to have good social and communication skills. These are skills that you will want to place an emphasis on to practice and develop if you do not already possess them.
Read books
Read everything that you can get your hands on about storytelling, game design and the process of game development. In subsequent articles I will be covering specific books in my book review section, but here is a list to get you started.
http://www.edge-online.com/features/50-books-for-everyone-in-game-industry
Read part 2 of Become a Video Game Designer: Everything You Need to Know
Tags: applying to a game company, Become a Video Game Designer, creating a game design portfolio, creating a video game portfolio, game company jobs, game design, game job interview, getting a job at a game company, getting a job in the video game industry, how to become a video game designer, limitlessunits, limitlessunits.com, quality assurance, riposte101, tony huynh, video game cover letter, video game design, video game design portfolio, video game education, video game industry jobs, video game resume, what is a game designer?, work ethic
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 3:31 am and is filed under Books, Video Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
[...] I naturally put more weight on gameplay mechanics than other people. If you read my other article “Become a Video Game Designer: Everything You Need to Know” and are looking for some games to research, I would highly recommend any of the games on this list. [...]
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hello
“4. The red explosive barrels that do not affect the enemies are a “wtf moment.”"
Sorry for replying in the wrong topic I am out of time before work
Yes, they do affect enemies. They have to be close, or use kenesis to shoot them at the enemy directly
I did not use the explosive barrels with the telekinesis. However I watched a group of the small Necromorphs walk right through an explosion when I set it off with my gun and it did nothing to them. They should have tuned the explosive barrels to be more effective is all I’m saying.
Good site I \”Stumbledupon\” it today and gave it a stumble for you.. looking forward to seeing what else you have..later
[...] Huynh presents Become a Video Game Designer: Everything You Need to Know Part 1 posted at LimitlessUnits.com, saying, “Become a Video Game Designer: Everything You Need to [...]
Thanks! I appreciate it.
nice seeing the crunch warning in there
some friends left a very popular MMORPG company when they worked out they were only being paid $4 an hour
[...] my other related articles also: Dead Space Through the Eyes of a Game Designer Become a Video Game Designer: Everything You Need to Know Part 1 8 of the Most Underrated or Overlooked Video Games of All Time 10 Greatest Video Game Designers [...]
Hello! I am still in high school, but I look forward to go to college and learn a lot about game developing and designing. What is the difference between game developing and game designing?
Good luck Justin. I’ve found it to be a rewarding career path. To answer your question regarding the difference between game developers and game designers is that the term “game developer” encompasses all video game disciplines, while the term “game designer” only covers the designer discipline. For example, a developer can be any one from the animation, artist, programmer or design discipline. The term “game designer” only refers to a designer. To sum it up, “Game developer” is just a broader term. Hope that made sense
Great site, just when I was thinking if I could work as a game designer like my friend who works as a designer in blizz for Sc2. But he started off playing at professional level SC and went into balancing then finally design.
However, I am probably only half the professional player he is. Do I have hope for the career change ?!
Hey Jim,
Thanks for the compliments. Blizzard is a unique company. They have a history of hiring hardcore theorycrafters of games in the same genre that they are working on. For instance Rob Pardo and Jeff Kaplan of Blizzard can trace their origins back to the Everquest guild Legacy of Steel.
It is never too late for a career change. If you make the decision to make the change, go all the way. Don’t half-ass it. Start talking with your friend and ask him how he did it. Play RTS games of all types and analyze them, write down what you are seeing, start learning the tools that come with the games and begin to make your own maps. Build out your portfolio.
Good luck!
WOW, Tony i feel stupid on part 2 i left a comment and put Justin because i read justins comment that had that stuck in my head sorry hehe.
Fantastic article, easily the most helpful information I’ve found so far, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your thoroughness. A couple questions I was hoping you could help me with:
1.) Are there gaming companies you would recommend, or one’s you’d strongly avoid? Personally I’m looking at PC based MMO’s, though I enjoy FPS’s as well and feel the gaming industry is getting close to developing something that successfully combines the two.
2.) In terms of a degree, are there any schools that seem to have a “renown” factor when it comes to producing / training game designers? Or, perhaps, could you recommend any schools or universities?
Again, thank you for all your help.
I really appreciate your article. I know that there is nothing more I’d rather do than work in the video game industry, even if it means working from the bottom up at a studio. One question for you, I live in Texas, and degrees in game and art focused areas are hard to find and at the few places they are offered they are around 80k. I have found a few places offering associates degrees that are affordable for me (the degrees are called “Digital Media and Design, and “Game Design”) but I wonder if an associates degree, passion and a good work ethic would be enough to get my foot in the door, or should I get an online Bachelor’s in Game Design from a school like Westwood or ITT tech. So the real question is, would an Associates degree in digital media and design or game design be adequate for a starting position or would it be more beneficial to get a Bachelor’s and if so, Would and online school like Westwood or ITT tech be acceptable or would an employer look down upon the degree, and if it is acceptable which online school could you reccomend?
Again, you have no idea how much this is appreciated, thank you.
i love shakaboob..mmm yummy yummy in my tummy
Albert Einstein: It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.
“Hi Tony,
I just wanted to say thank you for sharing with us your personal experience with regards to the gaming industry. I love your note regarding the fact that one of the greatest rewards as a game designer is creating a vision and being able to successfully transform that vision into something that can be appreciated by many. That in my opinion is art in it of itself and seems to have been greatly overshadowed by a much bigger priority, profit. The notion of creativity and innovative gameplay seems to be lacking among the gaming industry today.
This is especially the case for the so-called “Blockbuster” games such as the New Super Mario Brothers for the Nintendo Wii. This game, while has sold to over 3 million copies in Japan, fails to bring any new form of creativity or innovation. Instead, the game merely rehashes the same style of gameplay from the classic Super Mario Brothers game released 15 years ago. The only difference here was adding a four-player mode. This is an example of how lazy the gaming industry has become. Making a profit seems to be of greater importance than creating something new altogether.
Lastly, I also liked your mentioning of the issue regarding the work-life balance. As when creating any art piece (even a video game), it is really about doing whatever it takes to achieve that vision that you, as a designer have set out to do. It shouldn’t just be about making money.
-Charin”