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On The Table Read, “the best entertainment magazine in the UK“, discover the skills and passions needed to be a game designer.
Successful game designers need extensive skills to bring a game concept to life. Every day is different in the role, as one day a designer may need to build a prototype and create characters, and the next they will be developing a narrative or the game’s mechanics. For this reason, the career requires much passion, commitment, and patience. If you would love to learn more about the sector and the brains behind your favourite games, here is all you need to know about game designers.
The Challenges Game Designers Face
As varied and exciting as a game designer career can be, it isn’t without its challenges. After all, they must find a perfect balance of narrative and game design elements. Also, they will need to adhere to time and financial constraints, overcome rigidity during the design process, update documentation, and leave plenty of time for testing. For these reasons, game designers must have exceptional organisational, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills to complement their creativity and technical expertise.
The Most Inspiring Casino Games Designers
When you think of game design, you may recall many titles you have on the likes of Xbox X/S, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. Yet, many talented game designers are responsible for developing fun and exciting casino games. You may never have heard of NetENT, but the chances are you have played one of the Swedish team’s games online. For example, you might have spent your spare time playing Starburst, Twin Spin, Divine Fortune, and Narcos on more than 250 online casinos, such as Casumo. Due to the sheer number of gaming platforms available on smartphones, PCs, tablets, and consoles, budding game designers could walk into a rewarding role at an exciting company.
The World’s Most Famous Game Designers
Anyone interested in entering the world of game design would be wise to learn from the most talented people in the field. Despite taking a back seat to their games, many of the world’s finest game designers have earned a name for themselves due to the calibre of their designs, characters, and gameplay. Like any industry, if you want to learn about gaming, you would be wise to start at the beginning. Ralph Baer, a German American video game developer, is regarded by many as The Father of Video Games, as he created the first video game console and is known as the video game inventor.
Of course, anyone who has ever played Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, or games from the Wii series will undoubtedly be inspired by the brains behind these best-selling franchises, Shigeru Miyamoto. Also, he is well-regarded for creating the earliest examples of games for 3D gaming platforms.
One game designer inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto is Hideo Kojima, as Super Mario Bros inspired him to enter a game designer career. Yet, he has earned a reputation in his own right for his innovative gameplay. Some of Kojima’s most popular games include Metal Gear, Lords of Shadow, Snatcher, and Zone of Enders.
UK Demand for Talented Game Designers
The UK is home to some of the world’s most successful game design companies, such as Rockstar North, Sony Studios, and Criterion Games. As mentioned, there is much demand for game designers due to the sheer number of titles available on smartphones, tablets, consoles, and desktop computers. Also, TIGA, a games industry trade association, has reported the sector grew by nearly a quarter between April 2020 and the end of 2021. In the UK, experienced game designers can earn up to £70,000 per annum. Also, many progression paths could improve a game designer’s income potential, skills, and job satisfaction, as they can become a senior developer, game producer, or a technical director, to name a few career options.
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