According to the Entertainment Software Association, the trade association for the video game industry, computer and video game sales in the United States have almost tripled in the past ten years. In 2006 alone, sales increased 6% to $7.4 billion. Figures like this prove that video games aren't just a fad, but a viable segment of our economy that is continuing to grow at an unparalleled pace.
However, the video game industry is a very competitive industry and nobody can guarantee you a job. But with hard work and an education, you will find there are ample career oppourtunities both here in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and abroad.
The Dallas area has been a hotbed for computer game development since the late 1980s. It was the birthplace of the first person shooter genre - Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake were all created by Mesquite-based id software. id software is just one of 80 game development companies in the state of Texas, an industry that provides over 2,000 full-time jobs, according to the Texas Film Commission. For those interested in all the games that have been made in Texas, the Texas Film Commission has created a "gameography" which lists all games developed from 1980 to today.
Just a few of the companies in the Dallas area include:
And for those of you who can't wait to get as far from Texas as possible, exciting careers can be found all over the world.Gamasutra has job listings from all over the world in all aspects of game development, not to mention a lot of valuable information for anyone interested in breaking into this lucrative industry. You can also visit gamedevmap for an interactive world map showing the locations of game development companies.
Now that you know that there are jobs out there, you're probably wondering what kind of jobs are out there, and how much they pay. According to the April 2006 issue of Game Developer magazine, the average salaries of different jobs within the gaming industry are:
| Programming: | |
| Programmer/Engineer | $52,989 |
| Lead Programmer | $76,848 |
| Art and Animation: | |
| Artist/Animator | $45,675 |
| Game Design: | |
| Game Designer | $43,486 |
| Writer | $51,944 |
| Quality Assurance: | |
| Tester | $29,722 |
| Quality Assurance Lead | $43,125 |
| Programming: | |
| Programmer/Engineer | $73,618 |
| Lead Programmer | $81,591 |
| Technical Director | $107,738 |
| Art and Animation: | |
| Artist/Animator | $61,065 |
| Lead Artist/Animator | $68,112 |
| Art Director | $65,313 |
| Game Design: | |
| Game Designer | $54,777 |
| Writer | $61,000 |
| Creative Director/Lead Designer | $72,125 |
| Quality Assurance: | |
| Tester | $29,722 |
| Quality Assurance Lead | $43,125 |
| Programming: | |
| Programmer/Engineer | $90,658 |
| Lead Programmer | $100,528 |
| Technical Director | $121,071 |
| Art and Animation: | |
| Artist/Animator | $69,457 |
| Lead Artist/Animator | $82,750 |
| Art Director | $98,696 |
| Game Design: | |
| Game Designer | $69,813 |
| Creative Director/Lead Designer | $88,734 |
| Quality Assurance: | |
| Tester | $29,722 |
| Quality Assurance Lead | $61,310 |
