Also called: Creative Director (Games), Lead Designer
Holds the creative vision for a whole game and leads the teams that build it.
You play the latest build, decide the second level isn't fun yet, and rally artists, designers, and programmers around a fix. Directors usually have 10+ years of shipping games behind them.
Estimate; varies hugely by studio size.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 12 years after high school. Bachelor's common; mostly earned through many years of shipping games.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Game Design, Computer Science, Film.
Growing about average. Few positions; long path.
Low risk for 10 years. AI can generate content, but holding a game's creative vision and leading hundreds of people stays human.
Classes: Creative writing, Art, AP Computer Science Principles.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-2012.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.