For many, the ultimate dream job is to work in an industry that you spend much of your free time in. I recall as a young gamer thinking that working in the video game industry could be one of the ultimate jobs to have. As you get older, you begin to think about the ups and downs of all jobs.
Advantages of being a game designer include your ability to have flexible hours, working form home, and being able to assign yourself daily tasks that interest you. The most successful game designers are life-long learners, organized, and self-driven.
If your goal is to be a game designer, I would consider reviewing some of these advantages to determine if this industry is a good fit for you. Not all industries are created equal, and while the game industry has many up sides, it is not for everyone. Only you will truly know if the benefits are a good fit.
Advantages of Game Design
Flexible Hours
In the class, I often try to reach out to game designers to seek their input, interact with students, perhaps doing short interviews remotely. They are often some of the most exciting times for students.
Several times reaching out to game designers, my experience has been that game designers have some of the craziest schedules. I recall on several occasions after reaching out to them, that I simply was unable to find a time that would work well.
Many of them would agree to participate until they realized that a 10:00 am wake up call might be a bit early for themselves. Many were within the time zone range that would allow them to participate. However, their flexible schedules allowed them to work in the evening times or late into the night, which was more efficient for their natural sleep schedules.
Telecommuting Opportunities
It seems to be the growing norm that many of the game development studios in the independent scene are telecommuting. This industry is still seeking out great talent. If you are good at what you do, there are others that would love to work with you.
The upside to telecommuting becoming the norm is that you can really find the right match of people to work with. Every game designer has strengths and weaknesses and my first advice in finding a small group to work with if you want to be in the indie scene would be to work with people that are strong in areas that you are weak.
Telecommuting to your job allows you some opportunities to travel, be with family, and ultimately often work fewer hours. My current job, although I love it, requires me to travel 45 minutes each way to work. This is two hours of my day sitting in my car, generally being less productive. I only imagine what additional work or things I might be able to complete with an extra two hours per day back in my life!
Creative Work
When I speak to people about game design, one of the first things that often comes up is that I love creativity. In most things I do, I look for ways to be creative in it. I have found that I tend to value creativity heavily in people.
In addition, the thing I love about my current job and where I work is that I have opportunities to be creative in it. Game design allows designers to flex their creative muscles. There is almost no other medium that requires more thought, intentionality, and design than a video game.
Assign Yourself Tasks That Keep You Interested
Working in a job that is extremely repetitive gets tiresome quickly. I can never see myself working in assembly line work. The job would be entirely too repetitive.
Although game design does have some repetitive tasks, the upside is that you get to decide what you do each day. This allows you to break up your day, or perhaps week. I find myself when organizing projects to break it up this way. I might want to work on 3D models for a few hours, then switch to something else such as programming.
Be a Part of an Industry That Continues to Grow
According to Grand View Research, the video game industry is on a path to continue to grow. In fact, the game design industry is projected to grow at a rate of more than 12.9% between 2020 and 2027.
Where other industries may be on the decline or heavily hurt by our recent pandemic, the game design industry continues to see growth year after year. In this industry, I think you can truly be confident that most of the main platforms are not going anywhere. If they do, the tools we are generally developing on allow us to be flexible.
Salary Growth Opportunities
In many jobs, there is often a barrier that you hit. If you are in finance, rarely can you advance without a degree. The great news about game development is that it is less about your educational background and more about your experience.
Some of the most successful game designers have no degree. They have an amazing portfolio. My advice to anyone getting into the industry, despite being in education, is that you should get a great portfolio first.
Do you want to work at a larger studio? I would recommend releasing a few games on your own or as an independent first. This shows that you understand the overall process. The great news is that oftentimes the people at the top in our industry do not have bachelor’s or master’s degrees. They have a lot of hard work in their past and amazing work to show for it.
What type of person makes a great game designer?
Game designers can be wide in skill, knowledge, and ability. With that being said, the most successful will be self-driven, organized, life-long learners. The perks within the industry lend themselves to need these types of individuals.
You will not be successful in telecommuting if you are not self-driven. Waking up at a reasonable time, ensuring you put in a good number of hours per day, will be crucial to your success. For me, telecommuting would not be a great thing. I tend to be distracted easily. I truly need an office to go to, but for many people, this would be a great thing!
A game designer must love to learn. With an industry that changes so quickly, plan on learning new things on a regular basis. Each project you work on, there is likely to be something you have never seen before. A task that you need to complete that you have never had practice with. The truth is, a lot of research on new techniques and methods is needed to stay up to date.
Lastly, I believe a game designer has to be well organized. Those that are great in this area can truly do well in an environment where they are managing their own tasks. An organized person will be able to flow from task to task quickly, instead of deciphering the maze after each task is complete, often wasting valuable time.
An organized game designer is capable of placing the most important tasks upfront. They can prioritize more easily. In the end, since time is often money, organized people will complete a project quicker, more efficiently, and ultimately make a better return on their investment. Whether working for a company or as an independent, efficiency is important.
Is Being a Game Designer A Good Job For Me?
If some of the qualities we spoke about and some of the advantages of being a game designer appeal to you, then I think it may be a great fit for you. I think often times the most difficult part for people is telling people they love that they want to be in this industry. You will have many that think it is the coolest thing ever, others will stare at you and wonder if really you are just sitting at home playing video games.
I want to encourage you to develop your skillset. Some of the things mentioned above take time to develop. As an example, being organized. I know very organized people that use traditional methods to keep track of their work. If a notepad and pencil is your method of staying organized, then stick to it. Others need more structured environments. Either way, my suggestion is to get started now.
Develop skillsets outside of this industry. When talking about being a life long learner, you should take this into whatever industry you decide to go into. My dad gave me some advice long ago that has stuck with me to this day when it comes to working. My dad would say, “Be the guy that picks up the broom when there is nothing else to do.”
I want to be the hardest, most diligent worker in any work I have ever done. It has led me to my career now, where I consider myself to have a dream job. With that said, I developed those skillsets that I continue to use today from working in a fast-food job at sixteen years old. Do what’s right now, to set yourself up for tomorrow.
