A video game designer for hire… Why do you need this specialist? The first step in hiring a new employee is a clear sense of the need for a new person and a very clear understanding of who you need and why.
This article will help you get a complete understanding of a game design company and why you need to hire a game designer to launch a successful product. Plus, you’ll get practical guidance on how to hire a good designer in no time.
Table of Contents
Why Hire a Game Designer?
Let’s clear up one misunderstanding right away: game designers are not a magic wand in all aspects of game development. Of course, sometimes they have ideas that often turn into turnkey solutions. But most of their job is to work out these ideas down to the smallest detail so that the final product has varying yet challenging levels, clear rules, sheer mechanics, impressive content, and more.
The game designer creates the form and content of the gameplay. At http://kevurugames.com/environment-design, you’ll see samples of backgrounds where actions can take place to capture the attention of players immediately. This is game design determines the player’s interaction with the game world, the conditions for victory and defeat, and the complexity of the project. You may suppose that you have a big picture of the future product. For example, it will be a fighting game with several characters or any other genre. You can hire artists, animators and developers to realize this project idea.
But a game designer is a key member of the team, who tackles many different specialties such as system design, level design, and balance.
So, why do you need a game designer after all?
If we simply formulate the key task of a game designer, it will sound like this:
- This is an expert who decides which product needs to be made in order for it to become as popular as possible and to earn the maximum amount of money.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Game Designer?
To figure out how much money to pay to a designer, you can focus on their average salary. They earn differently in various countries. For example, in the United States, they earn around $90,270 per year. Usually, salaries start from $47,350 and go up to $172,094. On average, they take about $43.40 per hour. Be ready to pay hourly rates for their work. In most studios, you’ll receive a detailed cost estimate for each particular project. Primarily, the final cost will vary depending on the number of hours required to complete the project and other details.
How to Hire a Game Designer – 3 Common Ways
To find the necessary specialist, you can:
- Apply to specialized studios with a team ready to implement your ideas. This can be any company with a focus on game design and development – from small and independent to large publishers.
- Use outsourcing/outstaffing services available around the world. Today, it’s not obligatory to address a local company for specialized gamedev services. It is enough to find a reliable partner in another country with affordable rates and work together on creating a new product. This model offers you several options. You can hire a dedicated team or expand your own capabilities with new global talents.
- Find a freelancer selected on your own requirements. Imagine you have an idea with a little scope of work but you need someone who will help out at some stages. So, you’re welcome to freelancing platforms.
Key Requirements for Game Designers
As a rule, work experience and portfolio are the most important for a game designer. However, it will not be superfluous to have higher education in art and design, or related to it. Also, technical education in the field of programming will not hurt. Usually, the market is in high demand for designers with additional useful skills – drawing, knowledge of programming languages and scripting languages, 3D modeling.
Also, one of the most important qualities of a game designer is the ability to convey to the team their vision of the game, communication skills, the ability to clearly express their thoughts, and often for people who think in completely different ways (such as artists and programmers).
Conclusion
Initially, games were created by one or two specialists. Usually, the programmer was both a gameplay developer and, often, a chief artist. But today demands change, and a user wants to see more visual effects, more challenging levels, etc. So, a good designer will create the ‘right’ emotional experience that the player gets while playing. Don’t neglect their expertise in your new projects.
