Game designers are one of the happiest careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, game designers rate their career happiness 4.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 3% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy game designers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Video game creative director | 4.5 | $90k |
| Game level designer | 4.3 | $90k |
| Game designer | 4.2 | $90k |
| Video game producer | 4.1 | $90k |
| Game artist | 3.9 | $90k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are game designers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do game designers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as game designers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are game designer’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are game designers making the best use of their abilities?
Are game designers happy with their salary?
Game designers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.5/5. The majority of game designers are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked game designers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
454 game designers
30% of game designers rated their compensation 5 stars
21% of game designers rated their compensation 4 stars
26% of game designers rated their compensation 3 stars
11% of game designers rated their compensation 2 stars
11% of game designers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do game designers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, game designers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.9/5. Unlike many careers, game designers have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become game designers.
We asked game designers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
472 game designers
44% of game designers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
25% of game designers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
18% of game designers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
6% of game designers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
6% of game designers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as game designers?
Game designers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.3/5. The majority of game designers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked game designers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
557 game designers
51% of game designers rated their career fit 5 stars
32% of game designers rated their career fit 4 stars
13% of game designers rated their career fit 3 stars
3% of game designers rated their career fit 2 stars
1% of game designers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a game designer’s work environment?
As a whole, game designers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.2/5. A solid majority of game designers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a game designer.
We asked game designers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.2 out of 5 stars
550 game designers
46% of game designers rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of game designers rated their work environment 4 stars
14% of game designers rated their work environment 3 stars
4% of game designers rated their work environment 2 stars
2% of game designers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are game designers making the best use of their abilities?
Former game designers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.1/5. Most game designers surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a game designer, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked game designers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
544 game designers
46% of game designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
29% of game designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
15% of game designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
7% of game designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
3% of game designers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars