Also called: Console Port Programmer, Platform Engineer (Games)
Rebuilds finished games so they run on other machines, like squeezing a big PC game onto a Nintendo Switch or a phone.
A hit PC game needs to run on a handheld console with far less memory, so you shrink textures and rewrite slow code. You test the same level on a development kit again and again until it holds a steady 30 frames per second. Then you work through the console maker's long certification checklist.
Estimated from game programmer pay at porting studios.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in computer science or game programming.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Computer Science, Game Programming, Computer Engineering.
Growing about average. Steady as games launch on more devices.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI helps convert code and find slow spots, but tuning games for each console's hardware stays expert work.
Classes: AP Computer Science, Physics, Math.
Official data: O*NET occupation 15-1252.
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.