Video Game Developer: Definition, How to Become, Career

A game developer is anyone involved in making games. Game developers don’t even have to know anything about programming! Enough buzz and conflicting information surrounds the game industry that many young gamers looking to break in aren’t sure where to start. Learn the differences between “game developer”, “programmer” and “software engineer,” and what the roles and responsibilities are. Learn about the paths and programs available for game developers, and select the best first steps for your game dev journey.

What is the definition of a game developer?

The definition of a game developer is anyone who makes, designs, tests, markets, and ships games, but it has two other common meanings.  The first is a studio that makes games: Bungie would rightfully be called a game developer, as an example. The second definition is a game programmer. Game developers are imagined to be computer geniuses who taught themselves to create programs from the age of 7 on a Macintosh, but programmers are in truth only one type of game developer.

A game designer is another type of game developer that interacts with all the other disciplines involved in making games. Game designers are like the directors of a game project. Designers are responsible for the overall vision, story, or mechanics of a game. They cycle through adjusting mechanics, play testing, analyzing, and going back to make more adjustments again.

“Game designer” is the default target of this article. Read “game designer” for “game developer” when there isn’t any clarification. Game programmer, game developer, and software engineer, similarly, are another two terms commonly confused.

Is a game developer a software engineer?

No, game developers aren’t software engineers. Software engineers are themselves game developers, but “game developer” includes management roles, producers, artists, and many individuals who don’t necessarily have a deep knowledge of computers.

Software engineers support and implement software required for a game project. Game engines, physics calculations, computer graphics, and network coding require technical knowledge to implement and support. A company which develops its own engine, like Valve, needs engineers with these skills to keep pushing the boundaries with its technology. The realistic physics calculations and lifelike animations set the Half-Life games apart in their day.

Knowing where to start is a challenge when game development involves so many disciplines. No-one masters every skill required to ship a completed game on their own. The next step is learning how to develop a portfolio and build evidence of the skills that employers in the games industry look for.

How to become a game developer?

Curious amateurs become game developers by getting lots and lots of practice. Pick a type of game or skill you are comfortable practicing for a long time. Then get to work creating games. New game developers commonly build their portfolio by completing challenges or game jams. Effective novices don’t keep that work to themselves, but share it with a community. Look for groups online and find mentors in the field who have the expertise to give valuable feedback. Attend conventions or network online to build up that support system. The final step is up to the individual: shape a portfolio for permanent employment in the industry, or forge a path ahead as a solo dev.

Decide what type of game to make early on. Working on projects similar to what you ultimately want to make is the only way to develop a critical eye to how a fun idea gets translated into a fun game. Game design skills take years to develop, so it’s crucial to pick a type of game you won’t get bored with. Toby Fox became a successful game developer by sticking to his strengths, for example. Fox is best known as a composer and solo creator of the popular 2015 game Undertale. He created ROM hacks for the game Earthbound and experimented with RPG maker in high school, where he first began to play with game design. Years of showing off RPG creations to his friends culminated in his successful work on Undertale and Deltarune.

Build a portfolio by taking on game design challenges, if you don’t have friends giving you ideas for projects. Look in game dev discords and communities for examples of challenges. Challenges focus on specific aspects of development. Examples of challenges from the Game Dev League include creating cel-shaded assets, writing computer log entries for an abandoned research facility, or designing a mission given a character background. See our create a game challenge here at Funsmith for another opportunity to build a portfolio.

Start small with independent projects. Game jams are timed events where members must submit a completed game within a limited amount of time in response to a prompt. Players create something small in order to bring it from inception to a playable build before time runs out. The biggest game jams draw thousands of contributors and judges. Ludum dare, the GMTK Game Jam, the Epic Game Jam,  and the Global Game Jam are examples of the biggest jams. Other game jams focus on specific genres: the IF Comp (Interactive Fiction Competition), SCREAM JAM (Horror), and Boss Rush Jam.

Look for a community online where developers discuss their ideas, share resources, and participate in community events. The GDS Funsmith Club and the Game Dev League on Discord have channels for different disciplines and subjects. New developers who want to start learning a skill can ask questions in the career server or go to one of the servers for 2D Art, 3D art, or game engines such as Unity or Unreal.

Find mentors in the field to help refine a portfolio. Mentors have a holistic picture of the industry; they are able to give advice on the process from beginning to end. They know how to present your work and get a job, not just how to use Unity. You can meet mentors by taking courses, like the ones Game Design Skills is offering. I am teaching, at the time of writing, a class about creating deep, replayable game mechanics. The final section of the course has students show off their designs and participate in mock interviews to prepare them for the industry. Our other courses include polishing a game writing project and a creating a 3D level blockout.

Attend game dev conventions where attendees to meet mentors, potential employers and like-minded devs. The IGDA (International Game Developer Association) hosts the GDC, the Game Developer’s Conference. The GDC is the most prominent international conference. John Hight, the Warcraft general manager, said several of the projects he worked on in his 20+ year long career came to fruition just by meeting other devs at GDC.

The final goal is up to the individual. Those with an eye for more permanent employment at a studio polish their portfolio in response to feedback from their mentors and apply for jobs. Others looking to get into business for themselves, as risky as it can be, continue practicing. Check out our other article on how to become a game developer for more information about courses and strategies for getting into the industry.

How hard is it to become a game developer?

Becoming a game developer is very hard because years of work are required to build up the portfolio and skills employers are looking for. Getting noticed by an employer is an additional challenge that many budding designers struggle to pass. New designers who go into business for themselves avoid the issue of getting noticed, if they are successful. Your first project will need outside funding, in that case, and you’ll likely have another full-time job to make ends meet.

I know from personal experience that finding your footing in the games industry is difficult. While I was fortunate to already have a job in tech before I made the switch to games, I had spent 4 years developing the Cosmos UI mod, which had built up a reputation with the developers of World of Warcraft. Without that, I might never have caught their notice. While there are more jobs in the industry now than 20 years ago when I started, the competition in terms of talent has also never been more difficult. There are so many passionate people willing to make huge sacrifices to just have a chance.

Devs who have made the hard decision to follow this path face another hurdle: they need to learn the skills required to finish a game. Developers in larger studios fall into four categories: game designer, game artist, game programmer, and game producer. A solo dev looking to create their own game from scratch takes on all of these.

Consider how many different assets go into a completed game. Larger studios have separate roles for concept art, UI, backgrounds, level geometry, 3D characters, textures, animation, music, and sound effects. The tools and goals of each discipline here are different. A solo dev who wants to focus just on adding a 3D character models, retopologizes, rigs, textures, and animates it themselves, unless there is funding to outsource that work.

Programming is another skill a budding designer is faced with, although there are ways to mitigate this at first. Games are built on systems, systems that tell the enemy AI how to behave, how the lighting and shading work, how the UI turns a button click into a realized action. A solo or novice dev is responsible for all the systems working together. Using well-documented game engines like Unity, which also have community-made assets, offsets the workload. Creating mods for an existing game is another way to limit the headache.

Solo devs looking to turn their games into commercial releases are responsible for project management, budget, contracts, and marketing. Larger studios have dedicated roles for these tasks. A solo dev, however, has an equally large task ahead of them. 18,731 games were released on Steam in 2024. A game needs to stand out to attract publishers and players. Promoting the game on social media, rolling out demos, and managing the community are parts of the job too, even though producers don’t write any lines of code.

Game design, coding, art, and production – if you stay solo – are all skills you need at least a shallow familiarity with. Some create mods for existing games to focus on one aspect of development, which is hard but not as difficult. Others familiarize themselves with all these skills, which presents a substantial challenge.

Can you become a game developer without a degree?

You can absolutely become a game developer without a degree! I got my start making content for Graal Online when I was 13 years old. Geoff Scott Mercer, aka Daelo, was a chemist before he started working at Blizzard Entertainment. While he wasn’t an expert on tech or coding, he took the time to learn the games they made and built up a reputation for reliability.

Effectively presented portfolios show completed projects and skills, which is more important than just having a degree. Hugo Peters’ portfolio, which is easily findable online, is a well-constructed example. Peters shows off technical projects he has completed, including a game engine and high-school passion projects. He was able to get a job at Ubisoft after graduating and became a Narrative Systems Programmer by the end of the 6 years he spent at the studio.

Tailor a portfolio to the skills a studio is looking for. Alejandro Hitti earned a job at Rockstar North with the portfolio demo reel embedded below. Hitti’s selection shows off camera controls and UI systems he implemented, which corresponds well to the Tools programmer Rockstar was looking for.

Dean Tate’s website is an informative example of what an experienced game designer’s portfolio looks like. Tate’s website gives video footage and explanations of how he worked with a team to make the contributions he did. Tate’s description of the “hub-and-spoke” level plan for Neptune’s Bounty in BioShock both shows how he approaches design problems and a specific contribution that improved the entire game. A potential employer has a clear idea of the hard and soft skills he has.

How long does it take to become a game developer?

Research shows it takes about 10 years to become an expert in many fields: chess or music composition or painting or piano playing. Game development is the same way, although the learning process never ends. Passionate novices spend years building up the portfolio and skills which make them desirable employees. New designers first get a junior designer position; junior designers don’t work independently but are given specific instructions by senior designers. Devs spend 3-4 years as an assistant before beginning to specialize (see our article about types of game designers). After several more years, they might move on to senior and lead positions.

Education adds another 4-6 years to the timetable. An undergrad degree takes four years, and master’s programs tend to take two years. Be certain that what you have chosen is something you can spend a long time doing: the chess players only needed 10 years to become grandmasters!

What education is needed to become a game developer?

A degree in game design specifically isn’t necessary to enter the field, but computer science degrees aren’t uncommon. I had a computer science degree before I entered the industry. LocalThunk, creator of Balatro, had a computer science background and no professional experience in the field before releasing his hit 2024 game. LocalThunk made games for his friends to play over 10 years as a hobby before he created the hit roguelike card game. Balatro brought the attention of publisher Playstack and proceeded to sell over 3.5 million copies.

Computer science (CS) degrees give a budding game designer practical skills for making a game from its foundations. Knowledge of programming languages is important for developing your own projects and building up your portfolio. Students learn to understand complex systems in the course of a CS degree, which shows critical thinking skills crucial to understanding what makes games work. CS degrees are also essential for those looking to become a game programmer specifically. However, programming skills are only the “what”: the top tier game design schools also deliver the “how”.

What are the best video game developer schools?

The best video game developer schools are ones which give students opportunities to work together on a project. Communicating a vision with a team and working together to execute the components of that vision is what a game designer does. Students learn how to communicate well and what the best practices are by building projects as part of a team, where they can learn from each other and show an ability to cooperate.

8 top-ranked universities with hands-on game design programs are Carnegie Mellon, New York, Utah, DigiPen, Drexel, RIT, Ringling, Michigan State, and USC. See our article about game design degrees for more information about tuition. The table summarizes the basic information, but more detailed information about each school’s unique facilities follows.

Carnegie Mellon is a private research University in Pennsylvania with a top 10 computer science program. Carnegie Mellon hosts the Entertainment Technology Center, which contains a motion capture studio, recording studio, and physical computing lab. The Master in Entertainment Technology gives students the option to take on an academic co-op with a game studio in their second year, in which they get real experience in the field. All semesters but the first in the Master’s program consist of semester-long, collaborative, project-based courses.

NYU is the #2 school on the Princeton Review’s list of the Top 50 game design programs in the US. NYU hosts its own conference PRACTICE, where students show off their work and network with companies in the industry. The NYU Game Center Incubator provides funding and producers for developers who are turning their independent student project into a successful release. NYU’s Career Development center has placed students with Ubisoft, Disney, Arkadium and TreSensa.

The University of Utah – Salt Lake City is #4 on the Princeton Review list. Utah gives students the opportunity to work on projects with the support of advanced labs and facilities, including a motion capture and VR studio. Master’s students spend the last 2 semesters working as part of a team to pitch, prototype and finish a game.

The DigiPen Institute of Technology is #11 in the Princeton Review top game design programs. Students who work on the BA in Game Design complete semester- and year-long collaborative projects over the course of the degree. Alumni work at Microsoft, Epic Games, Sucker Punch Productions, Blizzard Entertainment, and Respawn Entertainment, among 1,750 other companies. The developers of Narbacular Drop showed their work at a 2005 DigiPen career fair, where the students got noticed by Valve. The students were then hired to make the demo into the innovative puzzle game Portal.

Drexel University graduates distinguished alumni who have worked on popular games such as God of War and Valorant. Students with the game design BA complete a capstone where they create a game and bring it to market, working with the college of Computing and Informatics to create promotional materials. Undergrad students are required to complete a six-month, full-time co-op with a company in the field.

The Rochester Institute of Technology is my alma mater and #6 on the Princeton Review’s top 50 list. RIT built the MAGIC center in 2013, which is a game publisher operated by the university. They have workspaces, audio booths, and the Incubator program which provides funding for new startups. The Incubator provides this funding for students as well, for games and professional development at conferences like the GDC.

The Ringling College of Art and Design has a program for artists looking to work as game developers. Students complete a game as their capstone project for the BFA in Game Art. The INDEX center at the College connect students with potential employers. INDEX has placed students at top companies like Blizzard and Naughty Dog.

Michigan State University is #10 out of 50 in the Princeton Review list. The GEL Lab at Michigan State furnishes students with equipment for developing VR, mobile, and arcade games. GEL has been the source of projects appearing at the Independent Games Festival, IndieCade, SXSW, and PAX. Students complete team-based and solo projects over the course of their degree.

The University of Southern California, last but not least, is #1 on Princeton’s list of game design schools. Facilities include a VR/AR lab, motion capture lab, MFA thesis project labs, and two theaters for showcases. The university hosts several conferences and initiatives for helping devs get their career started. The USC games expo shows thesis projects from MFA graduates and the Advanced Games track. The USC Summer Bridge incubator program is also available to teams about to graduate at USC. Accepted teams spend the summer working with the faculty and industry professionals to bring their game to market, getting a view of the whole development process. USC games publishing, the world’s first academic games publisher, is another place where faculty and students have published their projects on PC and PS4.

What is a typical game developer career path?

A typical game developer career path is to start making games as young as they can and working on their portfolio from there. Novice designers need a support system to practice these skills. Practicing as a kid or during college gives room to experiment before worrying about finances. Adults looking to get into game design either need outside financial support to focus their efforts or need to develop these skills outside of their day job. Be prepared to work what is essentially two jobs chasing your passion.

I worked for Blizzard as an associate dev for 6 years before advancing to a game designer role, but there is hardly one typical game dev career path experience. I have mentioned several stories of solo devs with no employment in the field skyrocketing to mainstream success. Others become employees at existing game companies, where there is a set track from junior to dev to senior to lead. Still others are freelancers, brought in for a specific task at other companies. Freelancers have more freedom to take on jobs but less job security.

Is working as a game developer a good career?

Working as a game developer, frankly, isn’t a good career. There are more stable and reliable careers out there. You should reconsider if your aim of getting into game development is financial. Very few people work on hits. There are many people who can make a stable living, but few become wealthy. However, if that doesn’t deflect you, and the idea of long, hard hours pushing to make the game stand out from the herd sounds energizing, rather than exhausting, no amount of discouragement is going to stop you.

I recommend having a core career to keep you going and growing into game development over time, if you aren’t starting early.   Recent economic layoffs have made the game industry less approachable than ever, which is why taking this time to stabilize, grow your skills and prepare for the future is essential.

For those of you wanting to hear whether game dev is a good career from the data, the IGDA Developer Satisfaction survey gives information about demographics, benefits, and salaries. The compensation is better for a dedicated employee of a company, although the risk of cuts and layoffs looms over corporate game dev jobs. 73% of those in the survey who make their living as full-time employees of a game company made over $50,000/yr., which is above the median annual salary in the US. Of freelancers, however, 66% made under $50k, and a full 19% of them made under $15k, well under the poverty line. As for benefits, only 5% of freelancers reported any benefits at all, compared to the vast majority of employees earning at least health insurance.

Game dev is also a stressful career. The majority of game developers in the survey experienced extended hours beyond the ordinary working week, and few earned compensation for that extra time. The risk of unemployment for extended periods is another challenge. Nearly 5% of respondents in the survey were unemployed, and about 50% of those had been unemployed from 3 months to more than a year.

The games market is large but competitive. Experienced game designers who have trouble finding a job aren’t as agile as other game developers in shifting industries. Artists can work for advertisers, and programmers can work for any software companies, but game designers have a skillset specific to the field.

What are the responsibilities of a game developer?

The responsibilities of a game developer are to create art for the game, design its mechanics, and stitch it all together through code. “Game developer” breaks down into hundreds of responsibilities. Here is a brief summary of the responsibilities of a game designer alone.

Game designers work on levels, mechanics, enemies, game economies, free-to-play monetization, and UI to name a few. Larger studios split roles between different designers. A level designer focuses on creating the shape and flow of a level, considering what mechanics the player interacts with and what challenges they will encounter. Balance designers make sure no enemy or weapon is too powerful. In all areas, communication is key. The list below gives the tasks a game designer is responsible for.

• Brainstorming core game ideas, designing fundamental gameplay systems, and defining the rules, player abilities, and interactions.
• Planning and creating the layouts of levels, including objectives, puzzles, challenges, and enemy placement.
• Designing and balancing systems like combat, progression, economy, AI, and ensuring the game’s mechanics, difficulty, and rewards are properly tuned.
• Writing dialogues, creating character backstories, world-building, and designing the overall narrative structure and quests.
• Creating prototypes to test new ideas and organizing playtests to gather feedback and refine gameplay.
• Writing detailed design documents and effectively communicating the game vision to all team members to align on goals and features.
• Working with artists, programmers, sound designers, and other departments to ensure cohesive design and smooth integration across the project.
• Overseeing post-launch updates, handling player feedback, analyzing player data, and maintaining community engagement through events or patches.
• Staying informed about industry trends, ensuring accessibility features, and designing fair and effective monetization strategies (for mobile or free-to-play games).

What are the different game developer roles?

Game designer, game producer, game artist, and game programmers are the four types of developer roles. Each role is filled by a dev with different types of experience. Game producers often have experience in management or a degree in Business Administration, since their role is to manage the project and the budget. Game artists have a strong portfolio or come from fine arts programs with a BFA or MFA in their chosen medium. Programmers come from a computer science background, and more and more schools offer a computer science degree with an emphasis in games.

Knowing what type of role to focus on or what role to target is hard in such a multi-disciplinary industry. AAA is different from an indie studio which is different from solo work. A game designer in the AAA space focuses on one aspect of the game, such as level design, enemy design, or narrative design/writing. A designer in a smaller studio takes on several design roles. Digital artists of all types work on games, from concept artists, texture artists, and illustrators, to 3D modelers, visual effects artists, and animators. Programmers develop tools for designers to use, game engines, audio, and graphics.

Countless unlisted roles support the game development process. Several of these have nothing to do with coding or game design knowledge.

• Chief Operating Officer (COO)
• Business Development Manager
• Legal Counsel / IP Lawyer
• Publisher Relations Manager
• Technical Director
• AR/VR/MR Engineer
• Executive Producer
• Game Producer
• Project Manager
• Localization Producer
• QA Tester
• Test Automation Engineer
• Localization Manager
• Localization QA Tester
• Marketing Director
• Product Marketing Manager
• Community Manager
• Social Media Manager
• Influencer Manager
• PR Manager
• Customer Support Agent
• Data Analyst / Game Analyst
• User Researcher
• Translator / Localizer
• Accessibility Designer

What is the difference between a game developer and a game programmer?

The difference between a game developer and a game programmer is that a game programmer is only one type of game developer. A game developer could be a designer, a 3D artist, an animator, a lead, or even a financier. Game programmers and software engineers are used nearly interchangeably in the industry.

A game programmer focuses on coding. The programmer implements game logic, codes game systems, and implements relevant technology (sound, rendering, physics). Programmers are the hand that supports the team members responsible for every discipline in game design. Game developers in other disciplines manage the creative vision while programmers worry about the details of carrying it out.