Info on Working as a Video Game Designer in Virginia Beach, Virginia

These days, many employment seekers in Virginia Beach, Virginia are pursuing careers in animation and video game design.  With a population of well over 400,000, the city offers many such employment opportunities.  Companies throughout the state of Virginia hire video game designers.  A fair number of these jobs are situated in Virginia Beach.  

Virginia Beach Schools and Training Programs for Video Game Design

Residents of Virginia Beach have ample access to degree opportunities in animation and video game design.  Some aspiring designers are computer science majors with emphasis on digital graphics.  Others earn programming or math degrees with emphasis on game design or animation. 

Virginia Beach schools offering degrees Interactive Game Design include The Art Institutes of Virginia Beach and DeVry in the nearby city of Chesapeake.  Similar training and degree programs are available online.

Working as a Video Game Designer in Virginia Beach

Resourceful animators and video game designers can accumulate considerable wealth doing something they truly enjoy.  As you might expect, the pay rate for this type of work varies depending on experience, effort, talent, ability, productivity, networking and geographic location, among other factors.  The reported annual salary for an animator or video game designer in the United States ranges from about $35,000 to more than $200,000 per year.  However, this data fails to account for the unreported incomes of countless self-employed U.S. residents. 

Employers in and around Virginia Beach who hire for these positions include software publishers, mobile phone service providers, colleges, graphic design firms and animation studios, as well as local advertising agencies like BCF, Meridian and Nexus Direct.  Some designers work for Virginia Beach movie producers like Focus Digital Media, Tele-Video Productions and Wave Casters. 

Entry level positions in video game design typically require at least an Associate's degree and solid game design experience, although some exceptions are made.  In any case, video game designers don't necessarily have to work for a firm, thanks to a virtual infinity of start-up companies and websites featuring (or wanting to feature) their own video games.  Animators and video game designers often work as freelance consultants, setting their own schedules and telecommuting.  They are independent contractors for companies and private businesses nationwide.  They design and sell their own games independently.  They build game-related websites.

Recommended Skills for Video Game Designers

Primarily, a video game designer invents a game with logical rules and a plausible scoring system, then enhances the player experience with puzzles, booby traps or other clever challenges aimed at keeping players engaged.  The designer also either creates the artwork or hires a professional animator, and attempts to capture the right visual style for the game.  A designer play-tests the finished product to give some idea of the game's potential for commercial success. 

Professional animators and video game designers study math, computer science, graphics, game theory, story lines, character development, marketing, promotion and other topics in an effort to create realistic, action-packed interactive products.  video game designers strive for mass market appeal, with high hopes that their games become best sellers.