Game Developer

Game Developer Career

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The title of Game Developer is a broad category that applies to many different people who create video games. For example Video Game Programmers, Game Designers, and Game Artists are a few specific positions that fall under the label of Game Developers. Collectively these developers make up the development team, and they work together to create games in a development studio.

When working as a Game Developer, you must choose whether you want to produce your game independently or by contract. By far the most common (and profitable) path is the contract route, meaning you produce your game for a Video Game Publisher. On this path you can either work at an in-house studio (owned by the publisher), or your own development studio where you contract with a publisher. The differences between these two arrangements are primarily in the trade off between the financial stability offered by the publishing house, versus the greater exclusivity held by the self-managed studios.

A rising industry is that of independent developers, or developers who self-publish their games. Without access to the huge budgets and resources of publishers you create much smaller productions, and market them predominately through the Internet. So while you will not garner anywhere near the profit of contracted developers, you also have much greater creative and experimental freedom than publishers would allow.

How do I become a Game Developer?

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Software development positions are quite different, so Video Game Programmers will need different qualifications than Level Designers. Check out specific fields for details. On the whole, though, you are looking at a technical degree if you want to break into this field.