What You Need to Know to Be a Video Game Designer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

More and more professionals seeking high-tech jobs in Baton Rouge, Louisiana are finding high paying work as animators and video game designers.  With a resident population of well over 200,000, Baton Rouge is an ideal home base for those pursuing careers in this field.  Numerous companies throughout Louisiana hire animators and video game designers.  A great many of these jobs are in Baton Rouge. 

Baton Rouge Schools and Training Programs for Video Game Design

Aspiring professional animators and video game designers might major in computer science with special focus on digital media.  Others might earn programming degrees with emphasis on animation.  Still, others might major in math with a minor in game theory.  Some designers even custom-design their own curricula.  No particular rules apply to the acquisition of these skills.

Baton Rouge residents seeking degrees related to interactive game design typically attend Delta College or the Baton Rouge School of Computers.  Similar training and professional degree programs are available online.  Among the largest colleges offering online degrees in video game design are University of Phoenix, ITT Tech, The Art Institute and DeVry.

Working as a Video Game Designer in Baton Rouge

The pay scale for video game design work varies with factors like experience, effort, performance, productivity, networking, timing and geographic location, to name a few.  According to a 2010 employment statistic, the average 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 many million self-employed professionals.  Nevertheless, serious video game designers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana can potentially earn high livings doing jobs they like.

Companies in Baton Rouge, Louisiana hiring for these positions may include software publishers, mobile phone service providers, colleges, graphic design firms, animation studios and more.  Some Baton Rouge designers work for top local advertising agencies like Automotive Marketing Group, Peter A. Mayer, Moran Group and Rockit Science.  Other designers work for Baton Rouge movie producers like Depo-Vue, Louisiana Media Productions, Shout Out USA and Third Coast Digital Films. 

The typical prerequisite for entry level positions in animation or video game design is a degree and related experience.  However, employers do occasionally hire self-taught professionals and highly motivated beginners.  Even so, self starters don't have to work for a firm, thanks to the teeming masses of well funded internet start-ups featuring (or wanting to feature) their own interactive animation.  Many animators and video game designers are freelance professionals, setting their own speed and telecommuting from anywhere.  Some of them are independent contractors for corporations.  Others design and sell games independently.  Some build interactive websites.

Recommended Skills for Video Game Designers
A video game designer gets an idea for a video game.  The designer then sets rules and a scoring system, and enhances the game with puzzles, mazes, maps, tricks, booby traps and other unexpected obstacles.  The game is usually programmed with increasing difficulty levels and a time limit.  Then the designer either does the artwork or consults with professional animators to capture the best visual style for the game.  The designer also has the game play-tested to help determine its potential for commercial success. 

Video game designers study math, computer science, fine arts, digital graphics, communications, engineering, game theory, story lines, character development, commercial trends and more.  Armed with this knowledge, they hope to create exceedingly popular, action-packed interactive products that shimmer with mass market appeal.