Top 10 Careers in Gaming to set you up for Life

There are many kids and adults who love gaming and have loved it since they were young. Unfortunately for them their parents never supported their passion and career for gaming. To most people, especially parents gaming seems like a dead end. Now, the thing we need to narrow down is how to convert this passion of gaming to earn money and have great careers in gaming. Gaming is one of those passions that can be turned into a business or profession. If you have the passion, talent, and determination to dedicate your time and energy to consistently play games then you will find these top 10 careers in the gaming industry very useful.

Must read: 20 Health Benefits of Gaming

Following are the careers in gaming that you need to know about:

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1) Game Journalist/Critic – (Annual Salary – $49,459 – Flexible):

In the entertainment industry, critics and journalists are very important from a business and marketing standpoint. They provide valuable information and critiques for the players whenever a new game is launched in the market. One cannot judge a book by its cover. In the same way, one cannot judge a game by the logo alone. Hence, the game journalists and critics play an important role in this, producing key feedback and highlights for every game. It is a very lucrative career as it is seen that the gaming industry is rising at a fast pace and this business is expected to grow even more in the near future with the rise of faster internet and esports. The critics understand the dynamics of the game and can explain if the game is to complex or too easy for the targetted audience. Preferably, students from Bachelor’s in Journalism and Mass Communication can opt for this career. Pretty much anyone who loves gaming and writing can consider this as a valid career option.

Requirements to qualify:

  • Good Grasp of English Writing Skills
  • A background in literature or mass communication is recommended (Not Compulsory)
  • Dedication and Hard work to keep writing
  • Years of gaming experience
game journalist career
game journalist

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2) Game Tester – (Annual Salary – $63,676 – Flexible):

Any gamer would love the dream job of playing games all day and getting paid for it. Well funny enough it is actually a job and a high paying one at that. There are Game Testers who play the game, test the game in a very systematic manner, analyze its performance, precisely identify the bugs and suggest necessary changes that have to be made by the programmer to increase the quality and performance of the game before it is launched in the market. This profession involves playing the same game multiple times and reaching 100% completion to find bugs, faults, and glitches. Preferably, a B.Tech/B.E. degree in Computer Science is recommended to launch your career into this. Knowing how to make good reports is a requirement of this profession.

Requirements to qualify:

  • A background in tech or programming is recommended (Not Compulsory)
  • Dedication and Hardwork
  • Years of gaming experience
  • Ability to play the same game again and again
game tester
game tester

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3) Game Developer/ Programmer – (Annual Salary – $101,644):

Programmers in the gaming industry have very high importance because they add the main ingredient to the game. They create technical codes run which makes the game and makes it run smoother. They work with the game producers, sound technicians, game artists, game designers, and so on and so forth to get the exact technical coding for the game and do justice to the creative vision of the team. It is hard work and requires a lot of technical coding skills. They test the codes of the program and fix the glitches and flaws figured out by the game testers. Preferably, students with a Bachelor’s in Game Programming and Game development can launch their career into this industry. Do note: Coding skill is a must.

Requirements to qualify:

  • Tech and coding skills
  • Background is a software or computer engineering 
  • Dedication and Hard work to sit for long durations in coding.
  • Creative and analytical thinking.
game developer career in gaming
game developer

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4) Visual Artist/Game Animator – (Annual Salary – $72,520 – Flexible):

The game animation and the visual artists are very important in-game designing and graphics. The current generation has very powerful graphics cards and can’t help but need high graphics to play games. Game animation and the visual artists give the physical structure to the characters, scenarios, environment, and the objects in the game. Not only that, but they also provide the skin to all the objects and things, the textures which make the game look realistic. The watery gloss on the road and mountains when it rains, the shadow of the buildings, the texture of the waterfall, etc. are made by the game animation and visual artist team. Apart from this, there are various job roles in the art department like 2D and 3D texture artists, concept artists, etc. All these together contribute to game animation and visual presentation of the game.

Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s in Computer Art/Animation/Illustration or Graphics.
  • Creativity and animation skills
  • A background in computer software helps (Not compulsory but recommended)
  • Experience in Gaming
game animation artist
game animation artist

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5) Narrative Designer – (Annual Salary – $68,411 – Flexible):

The narrative designers work very closely with the game designers to add real context to the story. They show how the protagonist becomes the hero and how he has to defeat the villain to get his love and kingdom back. The main tool of a narrative designer is to write dialogues for the characters in the form of game text. And in this way, the narrative designer helps in building the game. Their prime work is to add a perfect narrative story during the whole gaming process and logic behind each and every level. The best example is the Assassin’s Creed games that follow history and inculcate it into their games. minimum qualification required for getting into this field is a Bachelor’s in English Literature or Mass Communication with some expertise in scriptwriting, content writing, and creative writing.

Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s in English Literature or Mass Communication with some expertise in scriptwriting, content writing, and creative writing.
  • Creativity and dedication to write stories and scripts.
  • A background in computer software helps (Not compulsory but recommended)
  • Experience in Gaming

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6) Game Designer – (Annual Salary – $130,000 – Flexible):

Game Designers are the chief architects of the gaming industry. Their prime work includes planning and defining all the elements of the game. For example, rules, story, levels, weapons, vehicles, flow, environment, weapons, and so on and so forth. Game designers are the ones who visualize the concept of the game and then this helps the animators, producers, programmers and the audio engineers to proceed with their work further. The minimum qualification required for this is a Bachelor’s in Game Design or B.  Tech in Computer Engineering/Computer Science.

Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s in Game Design or B.  Tech in Computer Engineering/Computer Science.
  • Creativity and dedication to design and make innovation in gaming
  • Experience in Gaming
gaming girl get more subs and views
game Designer

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7) App Developer – (Annual Salary – $81,000 – Flexible):

App developers are really very important in the current mobile era. Nowadays, apps and mobile games have become one of the leading industries with the rise of games such as Pubg mobile. They have become quite popular after the emergence of high powered smartphones and gaming phones.

The app developers develop games for mobile devices and they are sold on iOS and Android platforms. They get huge revenue from these apps/games as millions of users download the app and use it. For example, Pubg Mobile, Candy Crush Saga, and free fire has the highest-selling consumer games in recent times. The demand for this is now quite high as most of the people prefer playing games on their smartphones and tablets. Hence, this is surely one of the most promising careers one can have in the gaming industry in recent times.

Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s in Game Design or B.  Tech in Computer Engineering/Computer Science.
  • Creativity and dedication to design and make innovation in gaming
  • Experience in Gaming
top android emulators for gaming
app developers

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8) Viral Advertiser – (Annual Salary – $60,000 – Flexible):

In the gaming industry, viral advertising and marketing are the keys to making games successful. Due to the high number of games people don’t come to know about new games unless they are marketed properly. At the time of writing Valorant is one of the most marketed games and has taken the gaming industry by storm. The viral video-game advertisers make amazing content and clips based on gameplay and trailers and make them viral. The advertisers promote and market the games by putting together the trailers, promotional content, and clips for online channels like Vimeo, YouTube, and other gaming platforms. It is because of the viral advertisers that the games get more audience and reach which results in a huge number of people playing the game. This is considered to be one of the most important jobs in the gaming industry as well.

Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s in Marketing, Mass communication or literature
  • Creativity and dedication to learn marketing and make innovation in gaming and viral trends
  • Experience in Gaming and understanding gamer mentality.

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9) Audio Engineer/Sound Designer – (Annual Salary – $53,000 – Flexible):

Do you remember the bullet sounds while playing games? Do you remember the screeching sound of the bike when it skids? Do you listen to the thundering noise of the clouds when it rains? … and much more. These are all created by audio engineers and sound designers. They design sounds that make gaming so much more real. The sounds are one of the real effects in the game which makes the gamer feel as if he is in the real world. These sounds are composed based on the plot and genre of the story of the game. The dynamic sound effects and background music adds life to the gaming world.

Requirements:

  • Bachelor’s in Sound engineering, and Background in music
  • Creativity and dedication
  • Experience in Gaming and love for sounds
audio engineer for games
audio engineer for games

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10) Game Producer – (Annual Salary – $125,000 – Flexible):

If there is no producer, there is no product. The producers of famous games like Assassin Creed, GTA, etc are all millionaire now. It is the job of a producer to produce something. Here the game producer has the main job i.e., budgeting and producing the job. These producers have to take care of the marketing task while taking care of financial matters. They have to produce all the necessary resources, funds, emotional support, freedom, flexibility, perks, bonus, and time for the creation and maintenance of the product. Only when there is enough funding done by the game producers, all the other technicians can work well and give their best for the output of the game. Hence, the game producer is a very important person in the gaming industry whose capability reflects the quality of output of the game.

Requirements:

  • A background in finance and tech.
  • A business background helps a lot
  • Creativity and dedication to keep innovating despite failure.
  • Experience in Gaming and understanding gamer mentality.
Game producer
Game Producer

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Computer game jobs

Bonus Careers in Gaming:

Gaming Content Creator- (Annual Salary: Flexible):

Gaming is the next big thing and there are millions of people looking for content related to gaming on youtube and other platforms. If you have the dedication and hard work to make quality content consistently for years then you can opt for this career. It is one of the toughest and most difficult careers when it comes to gaming. But once done successfully you will be earning quite well and have fun doing it. Playing games and earning was never this easy before.

gaming career content creator
gaming career content creator

Professional Gamer – (Annual Salary – $60,000 – Flexible):

This is the hardest profession to pursue is gaming since it requires you to start very early and be dedicated to it. Professional Gamers have to play and win a lot of completion. You have to perform well consistently and be part of professional teams. There are many popular gaming teams like Team Liquid, Fnatic, Evil Geniuses, Newbee, etc

Winning Esports tournaments can help you win amazing prizes and also earn a lot of money. It’s one of the hardest things to do practically speaking but if you do it then your settled for life.

gaming career esports
gaming career esports

The aforementioned are the top 10 careers in the gaming industry that pay well and have a scope in the current era. All of these careers in gaming require a great deal of passion, hard work, and creativity. Be it technical or business platform, there is a galaxy of opportunities for the candidates to pursue their career in the gaming industry. It all depends on the interest and involvement of the candidate as to which profession to choose in the gaming industry and enjoy the gaming world. It’s not easy but it is definitely worth it. Happy Gaming

See you in-game

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