If your favorite hobby is playing video games, a career in game development may be the perfect job for you. As the gaming industry continues to expand, studios are looking for even more talented individuals to fulfill their visions. There’s never been a better time to pursue jobs in game development.

Let’s take a closer look at video game development as a potential career path and what you need to become a game developer.

What Makes a Good Game Developer?

Generally, game developers are tech-savvy and good at problem-solving, two traits they usually share with gamers. Video game development is a great role for someone who’s passionate about video games and curious about technology.

Game developers should also be solution-oriented and willing to learn new technologies, a skill that’s becoming even more important as innovative technologies continue to change the way we play games, including:

• Artificial intelligence
• Virtual reality
• Augmented reality

What Do Video Game Developers Do?

Game developers often cover multiple aspects of game development, including programming the logic of the gameplay, adding artificial intelligence to non-playable characters, and tying together various assets and concepts to fulfill the game designer’s ultimate vision. They rely on a strong background in technology and software engineering to accomplish these tasks.

What a video game developer does on a daily basis will depend on the company the game developer works for and whether the developer specializes in any particular niche. However, their responsibilities may typically include the following:

• Use programming and software engineering to translate visions and ideas into reality
• Create a prototype of gameplay for PC, consoles, and mobile devices
• Check for bugs and ensure stability
• Make recommendations for improving code
• Finalize the prototype into a video game to bring it to market

Game developers also communicate and work with producers, quality assurance engineers, designers, audio engineers, and video game artists.

Some video game developers work as generalists while others may specialize in a particular area. Some developers, for example, will only work with certain coding languages or game engines. While you might think this limits their career options, they typically become highly sought-after professionals due to their expertise in a specific area. Other developers specialize in certain genres and become experts for a specific style.

Types of Game Developers

There are four primary types of game developers:

• First-party game developers
• Second-party game developers
• Third-party game developers
• Indie game developers

What kind of game developer you want to be will determine the companies you work for, your workflow, and your compensation.

First-Party Game Developers

First-party video game developers work at the main company that manufactures the game console. For example, developers with experience in software engineering can work as first-party game developers at companies like Nintendo, Sony, Electronic Arts (EA), and Microsoft.

These major companies have studios that employ developers who work solely for them. With first-party game developers, companies have more control over the design and distribution of their video games.

Second-Party Game Developers

Second-party game developers work with companies as a subsidiary in their own studios. They either have a contract with a video game company, or they act as partial subsidiaries. Generally, second-party game developers will have more freedom.

In some cases, companies can provide more financial incentives to second-party game developers for certain projects. You may even make a higher salary in this particular category. Remedy Entertainment, Game Freak, and Grezzo are a few examples of companies that employ/work as second-party game developers.

Third-Party Game Developers

Third-party game developers are independent studios that carefully choose which titles and partnerships to work with. These are often smaller game development studios that can’t risk failed projects.

Third-party game developers seek to create strong relationships, which can help ensure more successful projects. If you want greater freedom in choosing who to work with, you may enjoy working for a third-party game development studio.

Indie Game Developers

Indie game developers either work alone/for themselves or with a very small development team. They typically don’t have the financial backing that larger companies do when creating video games. These creatives have the most freedom to take risks and create new games without focusing on industry standards. However, they also face more challenges since they often have to assemble a team themselves or learn all the required skills to create a finished product.

Game Developer Salary

Now that you know the daily responsibilities of a game developer, you may wonder, How much do game developers make?” This can depend on several factors