As you can imagine, many people around the world are interested in a career in video game design, and so competition for entry-level positions in top video game companies can be phenomenally intense. Still, there are sensible measures you can take to maintain a competitive edge among all the game designers out there.
First, you might choose an area to specialize in create original music early on. That way, all of the internships and much of your coursework can revolve around this area of specialization, which will really improve your chances of getting a job in that area. For instance, you might decide to specialize in video game sound design. Sound is a crucial element of games as it helps to set the mood, establish the story, provide narration, add humor (including amusing squeaks and yelps from characters) and direct gamers to places in the game they need to go. If this is an area that interests you, you could take as many sound design courses in college and sound-related part-time jobs as you can, until you have an impressive resume that will appeal to any company looking to hire a new sound designer. Or, you might choose to become a game writer. This is a great career for someone who loves video games, but isn’t necessarily artistic or all that good with computer programming. Some games rely heavily on dialogue, narration and other forms of verbal storytelling, and these games need someone adept at stringing together words and plotlines.
You’ll also want to get formal training to become a video game designer. There was a time when you could skip formal training and learn on the job, but unless you’re a certified prodigy, it would be very difficult to make a living in this field today without a degree of some kind. You could find a college or university that offers a major in game design, but that’s not necessary. Instead, you could simply be a computer science major, and also load up on art and design courses. It’s not a bad idea to take some courses in mythology or literature, either. When you study the classic stories of humanity, you begin to absorb powerful archetypes and patterns that might really influence the direction of your work. Video games aren’t just bytes and RAM, after all, they’re vehicles for telling stories and getting people to explore their deepest fantasies through lifelike avatars.