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Video Game Designer

Occupation Information table
Overview: 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.
Duties:

A game designer is responsible for designing the layout and gameplay of a video game, including the characters, plot, different levels, and scoring of the game. Heavy coding and programming skills are often a requirement.

Game designers need artistic abilities for creating graphical and animated components of the games. The ability to work well in a team and time management skills are also necessary if you're serious about gaining game design employment.
Degree(s): A.S. Digital Art and Design 
A.A.S. Internet and Information Technology 
A.A.S. Music Production 
Job Outlook: Employment in this field is projected to grow 2% to 4% from 2018 to 2028, which is slightly slower than the average projected growth for all occupations.
Growth: Growth
Education Level: Training for this occupation generally requires an Associate Degree from a 2 year or community college.
Additional Training/Education: A bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science is a must for a video game programmer, along with good analytical and reasoning skills. Many universities and colleges these days offer bachelor’s degrees in computer game development. These degrees are good stepping stones for aspiring game programmers. Active involvement in open source software development projects also help a lot. Video game programmers must have good knowledge of games and must be passionate about playing games as well. Experienced video game programmers may pursue a degree in management disciplines and shift towards managerial positions
Advancement Info: Advancement in video game programming primarily depends on the programmer’s skills, and how quickly he/she is able to improve upon those. Concepts of game programming are undergoing rapid changes with every passing year, and the faster a video game programmer can adapt to the continuously evolving trends, the better his/her career prospects. Demand for video game programmers has increased to a good extent in the last few years, and is expected to grow even further in the coming decade.
Recommended Skills:
  • Writing computer programs to perform specific information handling operations.
  • Weighing out the options in a situation or a problem and logically choosing the best course of action.
  • Analyzing requirements for a new product or service and creating a design to satisfy those needs.
Recommended Values:
  • Being able to decide on how to get something done without significant direction from someone else.
  • Create new ideas, programs, things, or anything else not previously developed by another person.
  • Doing something where you can physically see the results of your work.
  • Being able to express creative ideas through the arts.
 

* National data collected by the Department of Labor in 2014 with projections through 2024. For New York green job information .

* For New York salary data information .

* For New York green job information .

Understanding acquiring positions in this field may be enhanced through continuing academic study (i.e. earning a baccalaureate or a master's degree) and/or work experience in the field, Queensborough Community College has established transfer agreements with other institutions for students who wish to further pursue their educational goals. Students are highly encouraged to meet with one of our Career Services to fully understand the opportunities available through study in their degree program.