Game design industry standard

But with the Video Game Industry, there are no basic steps. Every college agrees that you need to have an understanding of programming and art to start a track into the Game Industry, but what about design? If you ask a hundred mechanics or doctors how they got started in their profession, chances are they will give you a similar starting path and knowledge. However if you talk to just ten different game designers, they will each have a different story of how they got to where they are.

Maybe they started a business with a friend, or got hired because they knew someone or they got hired with no programming or art skills and work based just on their writing and design knowledge alone. There have been several books that are considered good reads for people interested in game design: A Theory of Fun and Fundamentals of Game Design.

This goes back to the issue of having a decentralized industry. While we do have some sites and organizations that are bigger than others like the IGDA , ESA and Gamasutra , they are not recognized as our leaders or important sites to know.

Again, anyone can get into the Game Industry and there is no one that really governs us. Designers like Ken Levine have multiple skill sets, but there is no standard path for becoming a game designer. When I was growing up, I knew that I wanted to design games for a living but I had no idea what the process to get there. A programmer will say learning how to code, but which engine or programming language do you specialize in?

Not to mention that being a programmer means that you also have to keep up with the changes to engines and new programming languages. My skill set is and always has been understanding game mechanics and design with an analytical eye. However how do you do just that and get into the industry? So that we can have agreed upon standards of what goes into a video game and how mechanics should function.

On a recent repost I did on Gamasutra, people were arguing about the definition of the term RPG and how it has changed since the old days. The fields of study are grouped as follows:. Note that less than one quarter of game designers actually went to school for game design. In fact, three of the designers in my survey studied Japanese or East Asian Studies.

This second chart breaks down the type of post-secondary schools that were attended by the 53 designers in this report. Maybe more designers will come from game schools as institutions like DigiPen and Full Sail expand in popularity, but for now it seems that a standard college or university is still a good way to get into the game industry.

The third chart shows the various degrees that the 53 game designers graduated with, if any. What does this mean? One thing it likely shows is that getting a degree from a college or university is an important step toward your career in games.

Enter your zip below to check out the top design schools near you. This book levels the playing field. I hope that I can one day become a Game Designer or Game programmer!! This information was really helpful and inspiring. It makes me want to pursue this career.

Thank you for the info. Thank you for all of this information, it was all very helpful. Im a junior in high school and its been my dream since before I can remember to make and design video games and hopefully own my own company one day so if you have any advice at all please feel free to give me any pointers as to great schools to look into or things I should know and or do to make my dream a reality.

Hi Jordan, thanks for the question. Members must provide a development plan comprised of an overview of the proposed standard, a draft charter, a development timeline, and an agenda for the initial committee meeting.

GSA standards are available to Members and Non-members, licensing fees may apply. Depending on your membership level, you may be able to download standards from the website, and review drafts of standards in the members only area. One of the benefits of membership in IGSA is the ability to work on a standard with other members as a technical committee member. Members share their work and opinions with each other in an open and transparent setting.

You can also find valuable educational information on our YouTube channel. Please see IGSA resources and education.