Everything You Need to Know About Game Design for Newbies

When video games are not just a form of entertainment but have become a part of culture, a billion-dollar industry. For those who are passionate about painting, technology and visual storytelling, studying this field not only opens up attractive career opportunities but also brings deep professional and personal values. In this article, SaDesign will answer from AZ for newbies about the game design industry. Let's explore now!

1. What is game design?

After having a certain idea about the game design industry, we will go into an overview. Simply put, the game design industry will include two largest areas: Art and Design. Specifically, the Design part is responsible for creating the core of the story while the Art part will sketch out these ideas before moving to the realization stage with 2D/3D graphics.

People who work in the game design industry are called Game Designers. In general, the work of people working in the game creation industry includes coming up with ideas about the target audience, storyline, genre, characters, the effects of winning and losing, user interface, level design, map design, etc.

You will work with artists to guide the graphic style of the game world from characters, scenery to environments, and will also work in parallel with programmers to turn ideas and drawings into reality and produce games from testing to official versions.

More specifically, the jobs that Game Designers undertake include:

Determine the requirements for a game from the client (investor) or the game designer himself.
Research target audience, come up with content ideas and concepts for the game.
Responsible for logic and technical ideas for model building and game material creation.
Develop the game's plot, characters, rules, and difficulty.
Coordinate work with Game development and Game graphics departments to complete a game.
Monitor your game after it's launched and has users, compare and evaluate results against original goals to calculate improvements or remove features to help attract and engage users more.

2. What is the current state of the game design industry?

2.1. Current game design industry market

Although the Game Designer profession has existed for a long time on the world's Game industry map, in Vietnam, Game Designer is still a relatively new profession and its potential has not been fully exploited. According to the report, Vietnam is currently the largest online game market in the 3 Southeast Asian countries. In 2018, Vietnam had a fairly high growth rate of up to 17%, reaching more than 7,700 billion VND compared to 6,400 billion VND in 2017.

As a promising career, Game Designer will probably become even “hotter” in the coming years. It is expected that the development potential of the domestic game market will only show signs of becoming more vibrant, not cooling down, so if you have a passion or talent for game design, this is an opportunity you cannot miss!

In Vietnam, the game design industry is growing very strongly. This has caused the demand for graphic design and game development personnel to increase significantly, creating a "thirst" for human resources in the labor market. If pursuing this industry, young people will have many opportunities to work and advance with attractive income.

In addition, people working in the game design industry can choose to develop their careers in some large markets such as India, Japan, Korea, etc. However, to be able to find a job abroad, you need to have foreign language skills and understand the game market in that country.

2.2. Game design industry income

The game design industry has many different job positions such as prototype design, programming design, operational design, system design..., with salaries ranging from 15 to 35 million VND/month and possibly higher.

Due to the shortage of talent, many businesses are willing to pay high salaries to recruit Game Designers. Specifically, according to statistics from SalaryExpert, on average, a game designer earns 207,000 VND per hour.

A fresher who meets basic requirements such as knowing how to come up with ideas, designing detailed scripts for each level... can start with a salary of about 27 million VND/month. For Senior, it can be about 44 million VND/month, with management levels it will be even higher.

In addition to your main salary, you can earn extra income by taking on additional projects, because game designers have quite flexible hours. Note that you just need to complete the project on time and ensure the quality of the work.

In addition, to be able to take on a job in the game design industry with the desired salary, people working in the game design industry need to have certain qualities to survive in this industry. Don't worry because the following qualities can be completely trained during your work process.

3. What skills does a game designer need to be successful?

3.1 People working in game design need creativity

First, creativity is an indispensable skill set of a Game Designer. You cannot design a game in a formulaic, boring way because then your game will become unattractive to viewers, so people working in the game design industry need to be able to think of storylines, design environments, and unique gameplay elements.

However, before getting into the creative process, people working in the game industry need to have a thorough knowledge of different types of games, including video games, board games, and tabletop games. They need to understand the structure, rules, and mechanics of the game before adding more creative steps to it.

3.2. Game designers need to learn how to connect with others.

Game designers often have to work with developers, artists, sound designers, and other team members. The ability to communicate, listen, and work as a team is important to ensure effective collaboration.

Effective communication: Game designers need to be able to communicate ideas and opinions clearly and effectively. Explaining game design ideas and requirements to other team members is important to ensure a common understanding and consistency throughout the development process.

Know how to listen: Listening is an important part of communication skills. Game designers need to listen to opinions and feedback from other team members, including programmers, artists, and sound designers. This helps them understand the limitations and possibilities of the project and create better games.

Negotiation and compromise skills: During game development, there may be conflicts of opinion or design decisions that need to be made. Negotiation and compromise skills are important for people in the game industry to resolve these conflicts constructively and ensure the satisfaction of all parties involved.

4. If you want to enter the game design industry, where should you start learning?

Current game design related majors:

4.1. Graphic Design Industry

To learn Game Design, you must have a foundation in graphic design. Game characters and backgrounds are initially 2D and 3D graphics. Therefore, it can be said that graphic design plays an important role in creating the foundation for the process of learning Game Design later.

4.2. Multimedia Technology Industry

This major focuses on learning how to create and produce multimedia content, including images, audio, video, and animation. Students in this major may learn about creating multimedia content for games, including graphics, audio, and video.

4.3. Computer Science

Computer science is a specialized field of programming and databases that plays an important role in game development. Students in this field can focus on game programming, building game engines, and developing tools for game designers.

4.4. Computer Engineering

Computer engineering focuses on the design and development of computer hardware, as well as computer networks and systems. In this field, students can learn about optimizing game performance and interacting with computer hardware.

4.5. Software Engineering

This major focuses on software and application development. Students in this major can learn about software development processes, testing, and project management – ​​all of which are important in game development.

4.6. Digital Arts Industry

Digital arts involves the creation of multimedia content, including graphics, animation, audio, and video. Students in this field might learn about game graphic design, creating sound effects, or creating animated content for games.

All of these industries are related to game design, choose one that suits your interests and career goals in game design or game development to achieve your long-term goals.

5. Famous companies in the game design industry often recruit Interns

In addition, you need to try to practice as soon as possible to gain practical experience. You can apply to be an intern at reputable companies in the game design industry to learn in the most systematic and methodical way. Below are some game companies that often recruit interns:

5.1. VNG (VNG Corporation)

VNG is one of the leading entertainment and game development companies in Vietnam. VNG has been successful in developing many online games, mobile applications and other entertainment projects.

VNG's famous products include Audition game, Lien Quan Mobile, and many other mobile applications.

VNG has expanded its operations to many international markets and become one of the leading technology enterprises in Southeast Asia.

5.2. Amanotes

Amanotes is a company specializing in developing music applications and music games on mobile platforms.

Amanotes has created many popular music games such as Magic Tiles 3 and Dancing Road.

Amanotes is famous for its combination of music and interesting gameplay, attracting a large number of players worldwide.

5.3. Gear Inc

Gear Inc is a game development company based in Vietnam. The company focuses on developing mobile and online games.

The company has been involved in many famous and successful game development projects, including the first mobile game and the craze at that time, Flappy Bird, followed by Swing Copters.

Gear Inc continues to develop new games and collaborate with international partners.

5.4. Gameloft

Gameloft has developed many popular games including Asphalt, Modern Combat and many more exciting titles.

The company has offices all over the world and its products have made a huge impact in the game design industry.

Game graphic design is not just a job, it is a passion to turn ideas into vivid virtual worlds, connecting the global gaming community. This path certainly requires perseverance, creativity and a constant desire to learn. But in return, you will see your work touch the hearts of gamers, conquer the competitive market and open up countless bright career opportunities.