Career profile · 15-1255
Video Game Designers
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.
What the work can involve
- Balance and adjust gameplay experiences to ensure the critical and commercial success of the product.
- Devise missions, challenges, or puzzles to be encountered in game play.
- Create core game features, including storylines, role-play mechanics, and character biographies for a new video game or game franchise.
- Solicit, obtain, and integrate feedback from design and technical staff into original game design.
- Conduct regular design reviews throughout the game development process.
- Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines.
Selected core tasks from O*NET 31.0. Responsibilities vary by employer, specialization and experience.
Preparation and entry routes
This O*NET group commonly calls for substantial preparation, often including a bachelor’s degree or considerable relevant experience. An introductory vocational course alone may not provide an entry route.
Check the route for the specific occupation where you plan to work. Education, employer experience requirements, occupational licensing and industry certification can be separate steps.
Understand the different credentials →Skills used in this occupation
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Learning
- Writing
Selected from the highest importance ratings available in O*NET 31.0. These describe the occupation, not a particular school's curriculum.
Knowledge to build
- Design
- Computers and Electronics
- Communications and Media
- Mathematics
- Psychology
Selected from the highest importance ratings available in O*NET 31.0. These describe the occupation, not a particular school's curriculum.
Common work activities
- Thinking Creatively
- Working with Computers
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems
- Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
- Getting Information
Selected from the highest importance ratings available in O*NET 31.0. These describe the occupation, not a particular school's curriculum.
Training subjects to investigate
The federal education-to-occupation crosswalk connects this role to the subjects below. These links do not endorse a school or guarantee that any particular award qualifies a graduate for the job.
- Computer and Information Sciences, General463 institutions →
- Informatics13 institutions →
- Human-Centered Technology Design8 institutions →
- Computer Programming/Programmer, General436 institutions →
- Information Science/Studies144 institutions →
- Computer Science329 institutions →
- Web Page, Digital/Multimedia and Information Resources Design417 institutions →
- Web/Multimedia Management and Webmaster127 institutions →
Working conditions to consider
These are the most common published responses to selected O*NET work-setting questions. They describe occupation-level survey findings, not every employer or a particular job.
| Work-setting question | Most common response | Share giving that response |
|---|---|---|
| Contact With Others | Constant contact with others | 40.0%08/2022 · sample 20 |
| Exposed to Contaminants | Never | 100.0%08/2022 · sample 20 |
| Exposed to Disease or Infections | Never | 100.0%08/2022 · sample 20 |
| Exposed to Hazardous Conditions | Never | 100.0%08/2022 · sample 20 |
| Spend Time Sitting | Continually or almost continually | 84.2%08/2022 · sample 19 |
| Spend Time Standing | Never | 50.0%08/2022 · sample 20 |
| Spend Time Using Your Hands to Handle, Control, or Feel Objects, Tools, or Controls | Continually or almost continually | 50.0%08/2022 · sample 20 |
| Time Pressure | Once a week or more but not every day | 45.0%08/2022 · sample 20 |
| Wear Common Protective or Safety Equipment such as Safety Shoes, Glasses, Gloves, Hearing Protection, Hard Hats, or Life Jackets | Never | 95.0%08/2022 · sample 20 |
| Work Schedules | Regular (established routine, set schedule) | 75.0%08/2022 · sample 20 |
O*NET 31.0 Work Context, selected topics. Only unsuppressed source responses with sample size at least 10 are shown. A most-common response need not be a majority. Sampling uncertainty applies; source dates vary. Ask employers about actual schedules, accessibility, protective equipment and working conditions.
Software used in the workplace
Use these O*NET examples to ask how a course builds practical digital skills. They are workplace examples, not a required shopping list or confirmation of a school’s curriculum.
- Analytical or scientific software: Virtual Battlespace 2 VBS2
- Configuration management software: Perforce Helix software
- Data base management system software: MySQL
- Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software, Microsoft SQL Server, Structured query language SQL
- Development environment software: Adobe ActionScript, Autodesk Scaleform, C, C for Graphics cg
- Device drivers or system software: Microsoft DirectX
- Electronic mail software: Microsoft Outlook
- Enterprise application integration software: Extensible markup language XML
- File versioning software: Git
- Graphical user interface development software: Graphical user interface GUI design software, Microsoft Expression Blend
- Graphics or photo imaging software: 3D graphic design software, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
- Metadata management software: Perforce software
Selected categories and examples from O*NET 31.0 Software Skills. Products and employer requirements change. These examples are not endorsements; check the complete official occupation profile.
Pay & employment outlook
Salary estimates for video game designers
This O*NET specialty shares the BLS 15-1255 occupation series. Pay is measured for Web and Digital Interface Designers, not separately for this specialty.
The median divides workers into two equally sized groups by pay. It is not a starting salary, a school’s graduate outcome or a promise of employment. Lower percentiles are not automatically new graduates.
National outlook: 2025–2035
- Typical education for entry
- Bachelor's degree
- Related work experience
- None
- Typical on-the-job training
- None
BLS national employment projections, 2025–2035. Openings include people leaving occupations or the labor force; these are not advertised vacancies. Education categories describe typical entry, not legal eligibility or a guarantee that any specific program is sufficient.
Compare wages across 48 state/DC estimates
| State | Annual median | Hourly median | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $51,860 | $24.93 | 130 |
| Alaska | $71,300 | $34.28 | 30 |
| Arizona | $98,070 | $47.15 | 810 |
| California | $136,110 | $65.44 | 27,090 |
| Colorado | $95,880 | $46.10 | 3,250 |
| Connecticut | $94,660 | $45.51 | 1,060 |
| Delaware | $93,880 | $45.14 | 130 |
| District of Columbia | $107,650 | $51.76 | 480 |
| Florida | $77,730 | $37.37 | 4,620 |
| Georgia | $103,810 | $49.91 | 2,800 |
| Hawaii | Not published | Not published | 50 |
| Idaho | $64,250 | $30.89 | 340 |
| Illinois | $85,710 | $41.21 | 2,050 |
| Indiana | $63,430 | $30.49 | 1,160 |
| Iowa | $69,060 | $33.20 | 670 |
| Kansas | $70,620 | $33.95 | 200 |
| Kentucky | $77,000 | $37.02 | 590 |
| Louisiana | $68,790 | $33.07 | 170 |
| Maine | Not published | Not published | 380 |
| Maryland | $96,760 | $46.52 | 1,310 |
| Massachusetts | $113,540 | $54.59 | 2,740 |
| Michigan | $81,010 | $38.95 | 1,750 |
| Minnesota | $82,650 | $39.74 | 1,520 |
| Mississippi | $48,550 | $23.34 | 230 |
| Missouri | $70,970 | $34.12 | 1,210 |
| Montana | $77,030 | $37.03 | 100 |
| Nebraska | $65,520 | $31.50 | 720 |
| Nevada | $80,120 | $38.52 | 1,180 |
| New Hampshire | $111,150 | $53.44 | 430 |
| New Jersey | $95,310 | $45.82 | 2,170 |
| New Mexico | $53,300 | $25.63 | 200 |
| New York | $120,990 | $58.17 | 16,560 |
| North Carolina | $97,990 | $47.11 | 3,400 |
| North Dakota | $64,260 | $30.90 | 40 |
| Ohio | $83,360 | $40.08 | 2,520 |
| Oklahoma | $76,440 | $36.75 | 340 |
| Oregon | $102,220 | $49.14 | 1,230 |
| Pennsylvania | $104,160 | $50.08 | 2,820 |
| Rhode Island | $105,990 | $50.96 | 240 |
| South Carolina | $80,930 | $38.91 | 800 |
| Tennessee | $63,510 | $30.53 | 3,610 |
| Texas | $102,650 | $49.35 | 5,910 |
| Utah | $99,990 | $48.07 | 1,060 |
| Virginia | $77,140 | $37.09 | 1,990 |
| Washington | $130,480 | $62.73 | 11,580 |
| West Virginia | $71,880 | $34.56 | 200 |
| Wisconsin | $95,340 | $45.84 | 880 |
| Wyoming | $67,020 | $32.22 | 110 |
Metropolitan and nonmetropolitan wages
Search the 201 published local-area estimates for this occupation. Metropolitan areas can cross state lines; a city’s postal name is not necessarily the statistical area’s name.
Sources: BLS May 2025 OEWS public downloads and 2025–2035 employment projections, retrieved September 9, 2026. Unpublished estimates stay unavailable. “+” means BLS’s upper reporting threshold ($239,200 annually or $115 hourly). Wages exclude self-employment and nonwage benefits. How to interpret these figures.
Compare the route and prepare for work
Questions to test the fit
- What does an entry-level working day look like, and how does it differ from the experienced role described here?
- Which tasks, work environments and schedules would I enjoy or find difficult?
- What education, supervised practice and credentials do local employers actually request?
- Can I speak with someone in the occupation or arrange a suitable workplace visit?
- How does the complete training cost compare with my realistic budget and available routes?
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Related through shared training-subject mappings. Entry requirements can differ substantially.
Sources and attribution
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. Trade School Guides selects and organizes the material and adds explanatory guidance. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. Occupation code: 15-1255.01.
Training connections: CIP 2020–SOC 2018 crosswalk. Snapshot: September 8, 2026. See the methodology.