Today’s gaming industry is divided into multiple sectors including video gaming, online casino gaming, gaming for business and education, AR and VR gaming, social media gaming and competitive gaming (esports).
The one thing that all these sectors have in common is that they are all growing. According to projections, the gaming industry, which today is valued at US$197.00 billion, will be worth $470 billion by 2030.
That means that, if you’re talented, a go-getter, self-motivated and interested in success, that’s the industry that you should explore for future employment.
There are many different types of jobs in the gaming industry ranging from animators to game designers to esports coaches to platform operators. A gaming studio has the need for people in various types of roles including creative roles, technical roles and business roles. Check out some of the industry’s most desirable jobs for the coming decade.
Creative Roles
People in creative roles in the gaming industry are those who have the vision for the games and bring the games to life through their creative abilities. These include
- Game Artists – game artists are responsible for creating the visual elements of the game including the characters, the objects which are manipulated by the characters and the settings. The game artists are involved in all stages of the game’s development from pre-production to production. The technical aspects of the game evolve from the art. There are several different types of artists who work on video games – character designers, art directors, UI artists, environment artists, texture artists and animators. Preparation to be a game artist involves a background from an art school or an art program.
- Game writers – the writers handle the game’s storyline. They create tests and scripts for the games, an important element in all games but especially in games that are reliant on dialogue and role-playing games.
Technical Roles
Video games are highly technical so it’s important to have the right technicians on hand to take the artistic elements of the game and make them function in a gameplay situation. The technicians are active in the production and postproduction stages of game design. They include
- Programmers – There are a number of different types of programmers – AI programmers, lead programmers, network programmers, UI programmers, graphics programmers and physics programmers. The programmers create the actual code that allows the game to run properly.
- Engineers – engineers develop the technology, infrastructure and pipeline to support the games. These include artists' tool pipelines and payment systems for mobile games. Some of these engineering jobs include infrastructure engineers, gameplay engineers, rendering engineers, animation systems engineers and tools engineers.
Preparation to work as an engineer in the gaming industry involves a bachelor’s degree and certifications for various needed programs and computer languages.
Business Roles
All the artistic creativity and all the technical know-how aren’t worth much if the game doesn’t get out to the marketplace. That’s where the business aspect of the industry comes in. The businesspeople keep the business running smoothly, facilitate the kind of teamwork that brings the various elements of game production together, keep the finances on track, make sure that the game gets out to the public and more.
Some of the people who work on the business side of game production include:
- Video game producer – the producer is responsible for getting the project started, moving it from one stage to the next and getting it finished. Game producers are project managers. They schedule meetings, keep the project on budget, maintain the project schedule, stay in contact with all team members and coordinate work between all parties, from programmers and artists to executives. Preparation for work as a video game producer involves a bachelor's degree in business management and some type of experience in all of the fields which the producer will be overseeing.
- Product Manager – the product manager identifies profit-earning opportunities within the games. S/he communicates with shareholders, executives and other parties concerned about the game’s profitability to show how the game can make the company and its shareholders money. Profit-earning opportunities within the games may include NFTs and loot boxes. Product managers generally have Master of Business degrees.
Additional Gaming Industry Jobs
Some additional jobs that are vital to the gaming industry – but not exclusive to gaming – include:
- Game tester – a game tester, also known as the person who is in charge of quality assurance, tests the games before they are sent to the market. The tester is responsible for ensuring that there are no glitches in the game and that everything moves smoothly. They analyze the instructions to make sure that they’re clear and user-friendly, the storyline to make sure that A follows B in a coherent manner, the flow of the game, and more.
- Customer Support – customer support professionals must be knowledgeable about the game(s) so that they can give support to users who may contact them by email, by phone or by chat. Some customer support staff serve general roles while others help customers with a particular game or technical issues.
