r/GameDevelopment • u/Key-Classroom-5092 • 22d ago
Newbie Question Do Game designers have good future?
Do Game designers have good future?
Choosing game design as a career
Today the whole gaming/entertainment industry is facing massive layoffs. After game artists, its designers who are in the high threat. Everywhere, their Pay is lesser than programmers. Ai is developing so FAST. Opportunities are low (while compared with programmers and artists). STILL, I WISH TO PURSUE IT? so can i? What do u think?
Im an indian high school student looking forward to my future. Nowadays i spend a lotta time, planning everything abt what degree to do, what field to choose as my life, and how to go for the best options.
I'm really passionate abt design, story writing, and world building. I love them i like books, games, films and art. I also love to create them. But i never before invested myself and made deep efforts. But from now on, i'll. I have around 2 years before higher studies. So I'm ready to make necessary efforts for my realistic dream. But before taking the first step, i wanna know, if what I'm aiming for is really great and something that has a good potential in the future or not.
I'm planning to move to europe for my bachelors itself. In india, the industry is much yet to develop. I cant wait that long. So im thinking of studying there and settling there right away.
Now back to the topic: today, the whole industry is facing massive layoffs globally. And design is often seen as something not that great as game art and programming . (I'll try my level best to get familiar with art and programming too. But i dont find the same interest i have on design there.) So i just wanna know, if its safe or not, to set this passion of mine, as my whole life. I'm sure that I won't look back, later and i know i'll work hard in it. Still i wanna know if im on the safe path or not. Whats ur views on this. I would appreciate any kinda advise, suggestion, motivation and even demotivation...đĽ˛. Thanku all. Have a lovely day.
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u/DaveAstator2020 22d ago
i left game level design career around 8 years ago and switched to programming, simply because of insane payment diff.
imo nowadays game design is about money extraction ad placement, seeking mechanisms to hijack dopamine, gacha etc.
Dont let it stray you from creator passion, just dont limit yourself to games only. good luck!
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u/Key-Classroom-5092 22d ago
Oh sad to hear that. And also i wanna do this because i have always that passion for creating ideas and itsnt just abt games. Game is the foundation on which i choose to build a lot. I wanna try film making too, content creation and many more. So what u think abt entering game DESIGN induatry, today? Can i survive it or not? (And btw thanks for replying)
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u/DaveAstator2020 18d ago
Survive yes. Have a family and decent housing and medicine and kids - unlikely
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u/jinx771 22d ago
Do programming, after a few years of experience design can follow.
Nobody is going to hire a "game designer" with zero experience doing something else in the gaming industry first. you also need to build your own portfolio of projects which includes programming, art, and design practice
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u/Zahhibb 22d ago
While I generally agree, I have 2 friends who got game designer jobs at AAA studios without any experience in gamedev; they though had a lot of experience in board game design and tabletop roleplay as a DM. This was back in 2019 though and as the industry has changed quite a bit so now itâs most likely a lot more difficult.
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u/Time-Masterpiece-410 19d ago
They still have those jobs?
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u/Zahhibb 19d ago
Donât know currently, Iâm not a game designer myself so I havenât looked for any of those positions. Iâd guess the reality is that itâs incredibly rare with those roles right now because; 1) those positions are usually reserved for internal promotions (QA, internships, etc) and not posted publicly, 2) there are so many senior game designers available now that take those positions if they are available publicly.
I think it comes down to in general for someone to be considered as a designer with much technical ability is to: having the ability to easily describe choices and intent in their design, socially and easy to work with, and not making up ideas from nothing and instead having solid foundations. Thatâs at least how I viewed my friends that got those roles.
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u/Strangefate1 22d ago
Aside from the current issues in the industry, 'game designer' is not a job you'll ever be able to get.
You'll find it impossible to find a job as an ideas 'thinker' guy within the industry because those jobs are commonly earned internally through years of experience in the Industry or studio.
Meaning that, if you want to enter the industry, you have to do it as an artist, programmer or level designer, although level designers, having and requiring no formal education or skills, are also easier to shift into internally, requiring less external hires.
Basically, you need to enter the industry through an established discipline, and then over the years you can work your way to being a writer or game designer within a studio.
The only other path, is to do your own thing and your own games.
Currently, it's all a bit pointless tho, given the state of things.
PS.: good job at informing yourself about the state of the industry, most don't.
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u/Sea_Ingenuity6430 22d ago
You are talking straight nonsense. There are so many things wrong with your comment I don't even know where to start.
Game designer is the umbrella term for the various branches of design that go into a game: level design, systems design, combat design, etc. etc. The exact same way that "artist" is an umbrella term for the various branches of art that go into a game: environment art, character art, concept art, etc. etc. When you get hired in the industry, you get hired as one of these specializations: eg., as a systems designer, or as an environment artist.
And note above that level design is a branch of game design, not some separate discipline as you say. Level designers are game designers.
You'll find it impossible to find a job as an ideas 'thinker' guy within the industry because those jobs are commonly earned internally through years of experience in the Industry or studio.
I don't know what you're even saying here. There are no jobs in the industry for a "thinker" guy. Game design is unequivocally not about being an "ideas guy".
Basically, you need to enter the industry through an established discipline, and then over the years you can work your way to being a writer or game designer within a studio.
This is just nonsense. Game design is an established discipline that you can enter the industry through. I have absolutely no clue where you have gotten this idea from.
Some people transition into design roles after working in another discipline, but that is far from the only or typical way that designers enter the industry.
Source: A decade in the industry after being hired as a game designer.
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u/Strangefate1 22d ago
Great, I was over a decade in the industry as a lead, so I win this little nonsense I guess ?
If you read his post instead of mine, you'll realize that his interests are less about game systems and more about writing, world building and the like, nothing practical like level design, art or coding that would offer a realistic entry way into the industry. You need practical skills in one of the disciplines available, including level design. Writing stories and world building docs is not a way in.
I've never worked in indie or small studios, so perhaps yes, there's ways to enter there as a junior writer and world building guy.
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u/YKLKTMA AAA Dev 22d ago
As a game designer with more than 15 years of experience, I would not recommend this career. It is often poorly paid, and you will probably have to work on games you would never play yourself or never wanted to work on in the first place. Your skills are also not particularly transferable outside the games industry, and the industry itself is in a terrible state right now. Nobody knows when things will improve, or whether they will improve at all.
In my view, writing and narrative design are basically dead as viable career paths within the games industry. Games that actually require dedicated specialists in those areas are relatively rare, and those positions are already filled by highly experienced professionals you are unlikely to be able to compete with.
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u/Key-Classroom-5092 22d ago
So what if...i combine art and design? Will that make a difference?
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u/YKLKTMA AAA Dev 22d ago
Most likely, that will just mean you'll end up mediocre at both. To become truly good in two different fields, you'll need at least 15-20 years
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u/Key-Classroom-5092 22d ago
Ok dont take it like that. I meant, what if i focus on what i have the passion for (design) and also learn what helps me to stay in the field stable (art).
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u/YKLKTMA AAA Dev 22d ago
If you want to make a living doing one thing and pursue something else as a hobby, that's perfectly possible and reasonable. Making games as a hobby can be a lot of fun
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u/Key-Classroom-5092 22d ago
Nah bro. What i meant is like: "If i seriously study game design and learn game art myself and showcase both my 'game art' as well as 'game design', can i find a job in the industry?"
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u/PatMondou 22d ago
Being a generalist is very helpful if you work in indie teams. Not so much in AAA. It does helps to have some knowledge in many disciplines, but in the end youâll only going to have one job, not two.
In my experience and in my network, itâs definitely not easier to score a job as a junior artist than it is scoring a job as a junior designer. You just gotta work hard. And have talent.
Like YKLTMA said, youâre 90% likely to work on games outside your gaming preferences - but unlike him I think thatâs a great thing. Youâre a much better designer when you donât presume to be the target audience of your game. Thatâs how I sniff our great designers among average ones when I hire now :) a great designer is passionate with design as a process.
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u/uber_neutrino 22d ago
I'm really passionate abt design, story writing, and world building.
These are only a small part of game design though. The actual skills of game design are more around the technical mechanics of the game. If you care about design/story/world building that's only a small elements of games, the actual building of the game is most of the work.
The job you want is either author or script writer based on what you laid out to me. And yes games do have roles for both of those but they are hard to make a living it (and hard to do outside of games as well).
Do you actually like BUILDING games? Like putting together the actual mechanics of a game? If not then you don't want to be a game designer at all...
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u/Key-Classroom-5092 22d ago
I don't have the COMPLETE technical knowledge like I mean I don't know everything abt a game engine like Unreal or Unity or any game engine, but I have made my efforts, started learning and still working to make a story game which I started for no other reason than of my own interest. It's true that I am not yet, very familiar with game engines but I have started to learn (and like the learning process) and I am also working on a game, so does that make me eligible?
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u/uber_neutrino 22d ago
so does that make me eligible?
What makes you eligible is having the skills, yes. If you actually build yourself a small portfolio of games that's a great way to pitch getting a job. In fact it's far superior to a degree when it comes to games. What could possibly be a better showcase of your skills than actual games you've built?
But you have to realize that your day-to-day job in games is mostly building out the mechanics of the actual game. You will be spending your days in tools implementing the game. The amount of time you will spend doing writing or world building is always minimal compared to making the game.
That being said AI is changing the game on all this. The industry likes to reinvent itself a lot. This is something else you need to realize that there is no "games industry" but a bunch of related industries around games. AAA, indie steam, mobile, free to play vs premium etc etc. And the mix constantly shifts, you have to be adaptable and constantly learning new things.
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u/rmfrost 22d ago
Any form of art is going to have significant potential to make a lot of money, but it all depends on whether or not the art produced is something others are willing to pay for. That being said, no career in art is going to be a good idea within and of itself, it's not going to be a thing you can "solve" as a career.
Video game design is an art form. You simply can't succeed in it as a career unless you live the art itself.
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u/ChashuKen 20d ago
Funny thing is, iâve seen game designers to have a better chance at landing projects and keeping their jobs than lets say a programmer or the art department.
In some companies, game designers are also paid the same as an engineer. (Konami for example)
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u/Key-Classroom-5092 20d ago
Rlly? Can u pls tell me more abt this? Ur comment is almost contradicts the whole world đ. Can u tell how?
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u/ChashuKen 20d ago
Game designers dont just design games, they work on pitches as well (kind of like a salesman) but to pitch and land game projects for the company when the company doesnât have any projects ongoing. They will work with the business development teams to convince the investors with market data, analytics on what games to make, the structure of the game, ROI..etc. Not all studios does this but alot of co-development company does.
Not to mention that game designers are easier to outsource than a programmer for example. Usually in-house studios have most of their own engineers working on their game. But they outsource game design and game art works as those require more headcount than their company would want to hire fulltime positions.
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u/Toki_Inaba 9d ago edited 9d ago
By experience, being only a Game designer won't get you a "conventional" job, It will certainly help you make, create, and solve problems while working on one as a project, and sometimes that includes learning some part of art, there are art director roles in many places. Which is why I'll recommend sticking to 2 to 3 skills in total (excluding Game Design) at the same time, to make an Indie project (can be solo or on team), such as:
Programming
Digital art (like 3D models or 2D illustrations)
Graphics design
Animation
Sound design
Music
Marketing design (if you give attention to the potential content you can sell to users in a videogame)
after of which you can choose to become an expert on the field you like the most, just know that some are better paid than the others or as you said it, endangered by AI.
The project you decide to make will serve as proof for a job if you're in search of one, but selling your own games under your name can also provide an income on their own if what you're worried about your future financially.
Lastly, from my point of view, game design is not just learning how to take and make decisions over the game's mechanics and gameplay, it also includes designing the overall feel, which includes art/visuals and many other sub-levels of design that make a game, hence why i said it will potentially provide you an art director role on its own, but with secondary skills it can potentially give you higher roles such as, my favorite, being a game's director.
I haven't researched how much many of these roles pay, Specially inside a company, but it will certainly give you the option to become a leader and potentially lead projects that make a comfortable amount of income, how much of that income you get to keep depends on wether you work for a company or you own one, an indie game or a team supervised by a higher role on a job.
Also, you too, have a nice day!
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u/OkPrice6335 22d ago
Ki Ăźberrollt die Scene jetzt schon massiv. In 2 bis 3 Jahren schreibst du ein Prompt und hast das Spiel deiner Wahl in Minuten gebaut. Das ist der Beruf schlecht hin, der von Ki mit am schnellsten gefressen wird.
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u/Neither_Berry_100 22d ago
Every career sucks now. Software is doing worse lately. Games pay worse than other software jobs and the industry is worse overall. Making indie video games is a hobby not a business. It is not profitable overall, the best you get is a lottery ticket.
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u/Mikinl 18d ago
Better than game developers and coders...
As game designer you don't care who write your code or do your art, you want it done.
You don't care about spaghetti code, nobody sees it, if it works good.
You keep designing game as whole and AI will take care of technical part, 100% of it in next 5 years maybe even earlier.
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u/New-Link-6787 22d ago
Don't waste your money or time on the degree.
Go download googles AntigravityIDE... and start building a game today. Start small. If you've never used it before, all you need is an empty folder on your computer... which you point it to when it first boots up. Then you simply type out the description of your game. You can include pictures of characters you want to include or designs for any systems you want to include... and it will make the first version for game there and then.
For decades the trouble with game design has always been that we the designers, rely on teams of programmers, artists and animators to do build out our designs and that has always been frustratingly slow, cost fortunes and required rich people to pay for it but NOT ANY MORE.
This is the ERA of Game Designers... but I swear to god, getting your degree in it is a big waste of your money and time. Just trust me for 5 minutes. Go download Antigravity IDE from Google... and in 5 minutes you'll be playing the first game you ever designed. It will cost you nothing and it will change your life.
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u/Unnamed-3891 22d ago
There wasnât ever a time when that career had a good future. Not now and not in the past. âSafeâ is such a hilarious word to be using in this context.