The multi-billion dollar gaming industry is continuously on the rise due to the worldwide community of players utilizing games as entertainment, stress relief, education, social interaction and sport. As PC, VR/AR, mobile, tablet, console, wearables and Cloud gaming grow in popularity, so does the need for strong creative and technology minds to build the gameplay content.
Game studios hunting for strong talent to add to their team want a few things in common:
- Talent with gaming background or technology/software/creative background which brings a different perspective
- Diversity & Inclusion and fair work/life balance mindset
- Talent that keep up with Unity and Unreal features and best practices
- Authentic people that vibe with their ethos
- Collaborative mindset yet also a personality that can take initiative and work well independently
- Talent that wants to stick around, stay a while, and be a part of long-term projects and grow their careers
Gaming jobs are in demand more than ever before. These hot roles are not just for West Coast gaming hubs like Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Seattle. There are emerging and growing game community markets like Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, Maryland, Phoenix, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Orlando, New York City among others.
Based upon on our current clients needs to innovate, create and ship games, we’ve narrowed down the 10 Most In-Demand Gaming Jobs of 2020:
1. Unity Developers
Unity Developers are the software developers inside the Unity engine platform producing video games. They design the game and build the program code for the game design and function.
Related Titles: Unity Programmer, Unity Engineer, Unity Architect
2. Gameplay Designers
Gameplay Designers are responsible for how the game is planned and played. This designer sets the tone for the gamers experience which includes outlining how the game is played, styled, assets, mechanics, speed, limitations and modes of playing. This role is often the middleman between technical engineers and artists.
Related Titles: Game Designers, Gameplay Engineers, UX Designer
3. 3D Artists / Animators
3D Artists / Animators are multimedia designers who create, mold, construct and animate assets, creatures, objects and characters for a video game. Their works of art need to interact, move and live within a game using body motion, reactions, timing, action, posing and staging.
Related Titles: Rigger, Modeling, 2D Artist, 2D Animator, Character Animator
4. Unreal Engine Developers
Unreal Engine Developers create a real-time 3D game with the Unreal engine program. Developers are responsible the creation, code and performance of immersive virtual game worlds with realistic action, renderings, environments, settings, lighting and perspective.
Related Titles: Unreal Developer, Unreal Programmer, Unreal Architect
5. Level Designers
Level Designers create the levels, stages, advancements and mission of a video game. They are responsible for the game map and all still features like landscapes, large scale assets, cities, towns, environment, spaces and rooms. They even define features like points, passages, weapons, currency, buttons, paths, mechanisms, doors and aesthetic details like texture, lighting, and all pathfinding.
Related Titles: Environment Designer, World Designer, Game Designer
6. Esports Brand Partnerships
Brand Partnership Manager in Esports is a client facing, road warrior with large knowledge of all things Esports and leagues. This person is responsible for pairing up with the right brands to make it all happen.
Related Titles: Business Development, Sponsorship management, Affiliate Marketing, Brand Manager
7. Producers
Video Game Producers are the thought leaders of a game’s overall production process. Their role is a balance of project management, organizer, creative development, technical development and licensing, set scope, budget and keep deadlines. Their background is typically from game development or game art position as they need to understand the in’s and out’s of game production to avoid costly setbacks.
Related Titles: Product Manager, Licensing Manager
8. Senior QA Lead
Quality Assurance Leads are analysts and testers that lead teams of testers and technical QA managers. Their goal is plan, develop, execute and complete game testing functionality across all platforms and consoles. They oversee the program to identify bugs in a game, identify the root cause, fix, retest and verify a bug fix. Their role is critical in the tuning, functionality and successful player engagement.
Related Titles: QA Director, QA Analyst, QA Tester
9. Technical Artists
Technical Artists help game artists integrate and place their art assets into the game without disruption or technical issues. They take the technical limitation responsibility off the shoulders of the engineers and the artists. Skills for the role include rigging, rendering, optimization, shaders, programming, scripting, blueprints, tool building and knowledge of engine platform capabilities.
Related Titles: VFX Artist, Tools Engineer
10. VFX Artists
Visual Effects Artists plan, design and implement in-game effect actions like lighting, fires, smoke, weather, explosions, dynamic actions, attacks and environmental effects. This role is responsible for 3D art, motion graphics, modeling, lighting and rendering.
Related Titles: FX Animator, Technical Artist
Looking for one of these talented professionals to join your team? Our team would love to help you find them. Or if you’re one of these skilled pros looking to find your next gig, give us a shout!