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Video Game Designer Salary + 2025 Career Guide

Written by 糖心vlog官网观看 Staff 鈥 Updated on

Discover how much video game designers make, gain insight into your 2025 career prospects, and confidently pursue salary goals.

[Featured image] A video game designer wears a VR headset and leans on a desk while reviewing a video game.

Video game designers work in a creative role, typically as part of a larger team that usually includes animators, programmers, and developers. In this competitive position, you'll generate ideas for game stories and characters, requiring a mix of creativity and technical know-how to help bring those ideas to life.

If you鈥檙e in the video game industry or looking to become a video game designer, you may wonder how much you can earn. To provide some context, consider some industry trends. Predictions in Grand View Research's Market Analysis Report indicate that the global video game industry will grow 13.4 percent year over year by 2030. In 2022, the market value was over 220 billion USD and may exceed 583 billion USD in revenue by 2030 [闭.听

These projections could signal higher salaries for video game designers in the future.听

Explore your earning potential and the factors that affect your salary to decide if this career is right for you.听

What is the average salary for a video game designer?聽

Glassdoor鈥檚 February 2025 salary data shows that video game designers make a median annual salary of 拢40,541 in the UK. Additionally, they may earn a higher total salary when you factor in additional forms of compensation, such as cash bonuses, commissions, tips, and profit sharing [闭.听

The table below compares Glassdoor鈥檚 salary averages for game designers at different experience levels. See how your earning potential might increase or change as your career evolves.听

Years of experienceAverage UK salary
0鈥1 years拢26,441
1鈥3 years拢40,541
4鈥6 years拢44,721
7鈥9 years拢47,499
10鈥14 years拢53,716

Video game designer vs. video game developer

A video game designer creates games for computers and game consoles by designing storylines, characters, game objectives, methods of winning and losing, and user interfaces. A video game developer brings a game to life by focusing on coding, software programming, and engineering. They create the game鈥檚 mechanics, player experience, and aesthetics.

Factors that affect game designer salary

Your experience level is only one of the considerations that may impact your salary. Other factors that can affect your earning potential as a video game designer include:

  • Education

  • Skills

  • The company you work for

  • Industry

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Though degrees are only sometimes required to work as a video game designer, you will likely earn more if you hold a formal degree. Game designers with a master鈥檚 degree earn more than those with a bachelor鈥檚 degree, who earn more than those with a certificate or diploma. As of 2024, the breakdown is as follows [闭:听

  • Certificate or diploma: 拢43,100 per year

  • Bachelor鈥檚 degree: 拢60,100 per year

  • Master鈥檚 degree: 拢93.800 per year聽

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The range of skills you possess, including any specialised skills, may impact which job you land and what salary you earn. Some of the top skills聽 for video game designers include:

  • Motion graphics

  • Video content

  • Adobe Photoshop

  • Video production聽

  • Animation

For instance, if you鈥檙e interested in designing VR games for the metaverse, learning a skill such as Unity 3D or similar could help you specialise and unlock related career and salary opportunities.听

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Who you work for is another consideration. Larger companies with bigger budgets typically pay more when compared to smaller companies. Additionally, the type of company you work for matters. Niche, speciality, or non-traditional game studios might pay game designers more. Some of the companies offering the highest salaries, according to Glassdoor鈥檚 February 2025 data, include [闭:听

  • Creative Assembly: 拢55,000 per year聽

  • Client Server: 拢55,000 per year聽

  • Space Ape Games: 拢55,000 per year聽

  • Royal Holloway University of London: 拢48,000 per year

  • Epic Games: 拢48,000 per year

  • Electronic Arts: 拢46,000 per year聽

  • Dark Pyre Interactive: 拢45,000 per year聽

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Where you live and work may factor into your earnings as a video game designer. For example, as of October 2024, Payscale reports that video game designers working in London earn an average of 17.9 percent above the national average. Conversely, the lowest salaries reported are in cities such as Sheffield, England: South Yorkshire, Dundee; Scotland: Dundee; and Nottingham, England: Nottinghamshire [闭.听聽聽聽

Video game designer job outlook

In a report released by TIGA, a games industry trade association, national surveys reveal that job growth for the UK鈥檚 video game development sector increased by 11.4 percent between 2021 and 2023 []. The report also cites increased jobs throughout the video game sector as the industry experiences growth.听 As of 2024, employment for video game development is on the rise as game studios continue to hire at near-record rates.听

Considering gaming industry revenue growth predictions and technological evolution, the industry will continue its trajectory.听

Game designer salary best practices聽

To ensure you earn the best salary for your skills and qualifications, research and build key technical skills in game design. Engage in networking events and groups and learn about new and emerging trends in game design to keep your skills up to date.听

As you continue your job search and develop your career, use these best practices to increase your potential for higher earnings.听聽

1. Refine your research methods.

Stay up-to-date on the skills, experience, education, and other qualifications employers desire in a video game designer. Start by creating accounts on job sites like Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, Paypal, and Indeed. Then, analyse each site鈥檚 data about average salaries, career trajectories, career advice, company reviews, and more.听

Study job descriptions and sign up to receive notifications when positions open up at different companies.听聽

2. Gain job-ready skills and experience in game design.听

Continuing your education can help expedite career advancement. Use insights from your research to prioritise the skills you learn and opportunities to apply them. For example, you may find that the positions you are most interested in require a degree or Professional Certificate in game design. You may satisfy employers鈥 requirements by taking courses on specific topics in game design. Consider taking on freelance projects to diversify your experience and build a portfolio if possible.听

3. Build a game designer network.

Having a strong network of contacts in the gaming industry can position you to learn about job openings and career-building opportunities. To build your network, you can:聽

  • Attend professional conferences and networking events.听

  • Join online communities.听

  • Follow other video game designers on social media and engage with their content.听

4. Monitor gaming industry trends.听

When you monitor industry trends, such as the prevalence of new technologies and year-over-year revenue growth, you can more easily deduce your salary. To monitor these trends, you can:聽

  • Check each year for the latest career data.听

  • Subscribe to sources of gaming industry news, such as or .

  • Read industry surveys and reports like those published by .听

Get started in game design with 糖心vlog官网观看聽

Online courses can be a great way to boost your video game designer job performance, enable more career opportunities, and increase your earning potential. If you鈥檙e a beginner looking to learn more about video game design, consider enrolling in CalArt鈥檚 Introduction to Game Design, available on 糖心vlog官网观看. Are you looking to build up key technical skills in the game design world? Try Game Design: Art and Concepts Specialisation on 糖心vlog官网观看 through CalArt.听聽

Article sources

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Grand View Research. 鈥, https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/video-game-market.鈥 Accessed 31 October 2024.听

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