Topic: Game Devs: Is Game Design a lucrative career?

Recently, I’ve been trying to decide what to possibly major in college as I prepare to go to college (I’m going to begin applying in the fall). I’m really into art and enjoy it, so I thought game design might be cool to go into. As I’ve researched it a little, I’ve seen some aspects that I’ve liked and some I don’t. Character design and illustration/some animation appeals to me, but I’m not exactly sure about 3D modeling and stuff. I thought I’d ask you Game Devs/Others if you guys think game design would be a good career choice? Do you guys like it or know people who have enjoyed it or hated it? I have the slight fear in the back of my mind that things like AI could replace an artist (though I doubt it), but with the growing popularity of video games I’m hoping it might become a more popular career.

yes and no, if you want to get into Game Dev work I'd recommend you start it more as a hobby, maybe participate in some GameJams to get a good feel for it.

As for working for a videogame company as a dev... Run, run as fast as you can!!!

Can't speak for the creative side of the industry and while I'm a developer I'm in enterprise software not gaming so there are likely differences. But my general advice for people wanting to get into the tech industry would be don't do it for the money

I mean sure, you can and many people do make bank. But in order to get there you have to be super talented/experienced and prepared to move for it or luck out in an in-demand niche. There's no shortage of people with middling levels of talent and low levels of experience trying to get their foot in the door. It's pretty brutal

But if it's your thing, and if it is you'll know full well it is, then you'll end up in a career that you love. If that's you then you won't be going into it for the high salary anyway so whether it comes or not won't matter. If that's not you then.... expect a grind....

Hey there, I’m an Indie developer who is starting work on my first commercial game (screenshot: https://ibb.co/GQ09K7z ) so I think I could be qualified to answer this but my answer is probably a little messy and all over the place lol

If you wanna work indie, I think it’s best to skip the degree and just buy an online course to learn (like Learn to Code from Zero by GDQuest, for example) for indie development, keep game dev away from your main career for now if you do this, as it will not be sustainable for a while, so keeping it as a side-hustle where you chip away at work on your game day-after-day is the approach I’d recommended until you take off.
But if you’re wanting to join a company like Nintendo or PlayStation, I think getting a degree in Computer Science/Animation/others-related could be worth it, but you’d need to build a good portfolio of your game animations/art too first to get a higher chance at being hired iirc, so getting experience by joining teams in Itch game jams could be good.

If you want indie dev but with a team, you can also find teams for you to join and make animations/art in, in something like the game dev discord server (this is how Tristyn Alric got the role of the composer of the music for Bug Fables)

Game Dev is a rewarding career (seriously, finishing a game of any size is an unbelievably satisfying accomplishment), and it’s fun at times too and it allows for creative expression, though it can be tedious at times too. if you’re willing to endure the occasional hours you spend trying to figure out something like why your jump animation won’t play and instead the idle animation only works, then go for this career!

Also, regarding AI, it definitely won’t replace us.

@Okami1 @skywake @DiamondCore

Thank you all so much for your responses! It’s given me a lot of different angles on Game Development I never otherwise would have thought of.

Making an indie gam or working with indies would be really cool. I have mainly been leaning towards going with a major gaming company like Nintendo, but I’ve seen a lot of workplace issues with some and it might be kinda hard to get in as a newbie.