Examining Video Game Designer Salaries

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Video Game Designer Salaries

Video game designer salaries reflect developments in an $11 billion industry. More jobs in game design have opened. Practically every household plays video games that use platforms such as mobile phones, gaming consoles and PDAs.  

Some Video Game Designer Salaries

An entry-level video game designer salary, according to payscale.com, will average $40,695 to $60,930 annually. But education and training or a degree from a video game design school can mean wages. Professionals earn from $50,000 to over $75,000 in a year.  How much you make depends on what aspect of game design you work in. Sales of games you help design will also influence how much you make.

These figures show the payscale for different personnel with a video game designer career. The first column lists different game designer jobs. Figures in the second column are the median salary for less than three years of experience.  Figures in the third column are for three to six years of experience.  Figures in the fourth column are for over six years of experience in a video game designer job. 

  • Programmer/Engineer $52,989 $73,618 $90,658
  • Lead Programmer $76,848 $81,591 $100,528
  • Technical Director N/A $107,738 $121,071
  • Artist/Animator $45,675 $61, 065 $69,457
  • Lead Artist/Animator N/A $68,112 $82,750
  • Art Director N/A $65,313 $98,696
  • Video Game Designer $43,486 $54,777 $69,813
  • Writer $51,944 $61,000 N/A
  • Creative Director N/A $72,125 $88,734
  • Tester $24,797 $29,722 N/A

The Video Game Design Industry

The history of video games reveals how video game designer salaries rose to their present levels.

Some twenty years ago, video games were comparatively unsophisticated. Video art and design were primitive. Graphics were simple lines and boxes. For instance, a character with a gun would be shown on the screen by a square and a line. 

Games on floppy discs were retailed.  Graphics were still undeveloped.

As the technology for personal computers advanced, so did the industry. Games began to build an audience. Specialty computer game stores opened. 

A decade ago, the video game design industry was for hobbyists only, a cottage industry. No job description existed for a profession called Video Game Designer. A group of five to ten people would work on creating a game. One of the larger versions would cost about $500,000 to make.

Today, ten times that number of people work on one game. It may take up to three years and tens of millions of dollars. Costs, resources and risks multiplied.  The industry now had deadlines and business schedules.  Specialists were hired. Video game designer salaries rose. More on-campus and online course programs in design and animation were offered.  More video game colleges offered degrees. Software companies made applications for techniques such as 3D. In our time, there is such a thing as a video game design career. 

In 2006, computer and video game software sales in the US gre w six percent over the pa st year to $7.4 billion.  The figure explains why video game designer salaries have rea ched their levels today. 

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