What Can I Do With This Major?

1. Every "game design" area contains strategies for becoming more immersed in that area. Some of the strategies are directly related to High Point University and may not be relevant to students from other programs.
2. Every game design role is hyperlinked to a LinkedIn entry-level job search. You must have a LinkedIn account and be logged in for those hyperlinks to work properly.
3. Every game design role is also hyperlinked to a LinkedIn internship search.

Games Industry            Games Adjacent Positions

Areas:

Design

Technical

Writing / Narrative

Art

Production

Quality Assurance

Programming / Engineering

Media / Marketing / Sales

Area

Design

• Game Design (Entry-Level Jobs LinkedIn Indeed Hitmarker) (Internships LinkedIn Indeed Hitmarker)
  

• Level Design (Entry-Level Jobs LinkedIn Hitmarker) (Internships LinkedIn Hitmarker)
  

• Gameplay Designer (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

• Audio Design (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• User-Interface (UI) Design (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

• User-Experience (UX) Design (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

• Systems Design (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

• Mission Design (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

• Economy Design (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

• Narrative Design (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

• Interactive Media Design (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

Strategies

• Double major in an area that you're interested in that will support your game design interests:

• If you are interested in programming and engineering, consider double majoring in Computer Science

• If you are interested in level design

  , consider double majoring

  in Interior Design

• If you are interested in economy design

  , consider double majoring in

  Finance

• If you are interested in narrative design

  , consider double majoring

  in English (Writing)

• Become an active participant HPU's GAMbassador program

• Learn to use many different game engines such as Unreal Engine, Unity, Stencyl, GameMaker, Construct, etc.

• Develop a strong understanding of the cycle of prototyping, play testing, and iteration
  

• Learn basic game programming skills using visual scripting methods (such as Blueprints)

• Take programming classes to increase your understanding and proficiency in game logic and programming languages

• Participate in game jams and game design competitions
  

• Develop a broad skill set but specialize in one area of game design/development

• Develop an online game design portfolio using Behance, Wix, or any other online portfolio site
  

• Join University student clubs relevant to your major (Video Game Development Club, Video Game Club, etc)
  

• Join International Game Developers Association (IGDA) or other relevant professional organization(s)

• Attend Game Dev, Game Engine, or VR Meetups

• Make, finish, and publish games

Area

Technical

Technical Artist (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

Unreal Engine Generalist (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

Strategies

• Learn programming language of your choice (C#, C++, Java, Python, Maxscript, MEL, etc) and begin making tools with it

• Study, learn, and build Special effects in game engines

• Study, learn, and develop your own shaders in game engines

• Fall in love with developing tools in game engines using scripts and visual scripting (blueprints).

Area

Writing / Narrative

• Game Writing (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• Narrative Design (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• Technical Writing

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

• Game Journalism

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)

Strategies

• Double major in areas such as Popular Culture & Media Production (POP), Journalism (JOU), English, or other related major

• Enroll in GAM 3342 - Narrative & Interactive Fiction

• Enroll in complementary courses such as POP 2231 - Writing for Media Production, or Journalism courses.
  

• Design and develop digital prototypes ranging from text-based engines such as Twine, to AAA engines like Unreal Engine

• Develop and maintain a writing portfolio with that shows an understanding of game-narrative development, cinematic screenplay writing, dialog writing, and world building

• Game Writer Challenge: make a list of 100 different ways to say, "I'm not going to buy that axe today."

• Rework your favorite novels or movies into branching narrative games

• Keep and maintain a journal and use on a daily basis

• Learn to write in as many different styles and for as many different genres and audiences as you can

• Learn to code: as a writer or narrative designer in games, you will be expected to use game engines proficiently
  

Area

Art

• 3D Art

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• Environment Art

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• Character Art

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• Concept Art

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• Illustration

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• Graphic Design

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• Animation

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• Story boarding

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• VFX Art

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

• Lighting Art

  (Entry-Level Jobs) (Internships)
  

Strategies

• Double major in areas such as Graphic Design, Studio Art, Interior Design, or Visual Merchandising Design

• Enroll in GAM 4432 - 3D Modeling for Games, GDS/MPE 3361 Motion Graphics, or other animation, drawing, illustration, and color theory course

  s here at HPU

• Learn how to develop physically based rendered (PBR) shaders using game engines such as Unreal Engine or Unity

• Expand your proficiency in modeling and lighting in game engines for both 2D and 3D applications

• Advance your understanding of Photoshop, Illustrator, and other digital painting and vector software

• Explore digital sculpting applications such as Mudbox or Zbrush

• Keep and consistently maintain sketch books to investigate and sketch silhouette studies, environments, figures, motions, design ideas, etc.
  

• Develop a portfolio of your best work

• Join professional organizations relevant to your field

Area

Game Production

• Game Production (Entry-level jobs) (Internships) 

• Production Coorinator (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Game Production Assistance (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Associate Game Production (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Project Management (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Outsource Management (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Developer - Production Relations (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Service Delivery Coordinator (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)
  

Strategies

• Learn various methods of game development such as waterfall, agile, scrum, kanban, etc.
  

• Use and learn project management software such as Microsoft Project or Jira

• Participate in game jams, engaging in every role to ensure you understand every role of game development

• Practice time management skills, and learn to cut features and make deadlines

Area

Quality Assurance (QA)

• QA Tester (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• QA Lead (Entry-level jobs)

• QA Engineer (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Localization QA (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

Strategies

• Become a better written communicator

• Learn bug tracking software such as Jira

Area

Programming / Engineering

• Software Engineer (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Tools Programmer (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Graphics Engineer (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Engine Programmer (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Android / iOs Developer (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Pipeline Developer (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Localization Engineer (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Online Network Engineer (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Gameplay programmer (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

Strategies

• Double major in Computer Science
  

• Learn C++, python, and other languages relevant to game design and development

• Learn to use multiple game engines such as Unreal Engine, Unity, Stencyl, GameMaker, Construct, etc.

Area

Media / Marketing / Sales

• Social Media Specialist (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Brand Manager (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Marketing Manager (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Marketing Specialist for Live Services (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Digital Account Manager (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Business Analyst (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Ambassador / Evangelist (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Learning Specialist (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

• Web Content Manager (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)
  

• Public Relations (Entry-level jobs) (Internships)

Strategies

• Double major in Social Media, Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, or Sales

• Enter pitch and business plan competitions

• Build a social media and/or marketing campaign for a student-made video game

Game Design Conferences

• Game Developers Conference (GDC)

• East Coast Games Conference (ECGC)

• Pax (multiple)
  

• E3

• ChiPlay
• DreamHack
  

Game Design Professional Organizations

• International Game Developers Association (IGDA)

• ACM SIGGRAPH