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Introduction
The occupation under study in this essay is that of a game designer. For reference on exploring this career, literature was reviewed and an interview with a professional game designer was conducted. The field of game design is new and expanding, but there are some labor issues tied to the whole game industry. ... There is a myriad of issues, both personal and occupational, which are associated with maintaining a career in game design. However, the field of game design is broad, and the overall nature of the gaming industry is being redefined again and again. The future of occupations in the field is yet unseen, but there are numerous predictions on the final analysis of game design.
Game Industry Jobs
The game industry (video game), as it is it referred to ever increasingly, has brought interactive entertainment into the forefront of consumer culture. ... Jobs in the game industry vary as much as the games themselves. From producers, designers, artists, programmers, sound engineers, animators, modelers, writers, managers, sales associates, public relations representatives, game testers, not to mention several others, the varied occupations in gaming are virtually endless.
The ever-rising demand for video games has brought game companies into the forefront, with their creative and innovative business strategies and organizational methods. Get in the Game News (GIGnews, 2003) reported that $6 billion was made in software game sales in 2002, according to NPD Interactive Entertainment Service. ... GIGnews also reports (GIGnews 2003) that, "according to a Coopers and Lybrand study for the Interactive Software Developers Association, the average development company grew by 18 percent between 1997 and 1998, with about 50,000 people working in video game development in 1998. ... The Get in the Game News (GIGnews, 2003) website states:
"Games are the Wild West of the computer industry," says Christopher Ulm, a designer at Oddworld Inhabitants in San Luis Obispo, California. ... "
In fact, game development companies do have in common the core elements of game production jobs, id est, design, art, programming, and testing (GIGnews, 2003). However, since the BLS information does not include specific information on game industry occupations, the Game Developers Conference 2nd Annual Salary Survey will be substituted. The survey was conducted by Audience Insights and comprised information provided by the 2002 Game Developers Conference attendees and Game Developer magazine subscribers. Data collected from 5,256 responses were whittled down to 2,525 responses after elimination of respondents who reported no specific compensation, demographic, or classification data, and those who reported compensation less than $10,000 or more than $300,000 per year (Game Developer 2002). Game Developer reports that the sample can be estimated to within an error margin of 1.93 percent at the 95 percent confidence level (Game Developer 2002).
Game Designer Respondent
The professional game designer who was interviewed was named Zack. ... The rest of the information gathered from the interview with Zack was primarily about his employment as a game designer, and is compared with national averages and general accepted ideas in the game design field in the following sections.
Game Design Background
The occupation loosely labeled game design encapsulates several different disciplines. Among jobs in the field, most are classified as general game designers, level designers, lead designers, creative directors, or writers. Zack (the respondent of the interview) stated that the title of his position was that of lead game designer (Zack 2003). ... Game design is primarily about creating the idea for a game. It does not stop there however, as the game designer is the principle member of a game development team, they are responsible for seeing that their game idea comes to fruition and fulfills their design. ... The game designer usually begins with a design document, in which every feature of the game idea from gameplay, style, purpose, needs, proposed budget, and a great many other attributes are detailed.
Approximate Word count = 3048
Approximate Pages = 12.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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