Game development is a field where the teams are involved in building a game and launching it in the market. Until a few decades, game development was restricted to consoles and PCs. Today, the field has evolved a lot. The credit goes to the high power processors and GPUs, enabling the player to have an immersive experience. You will find organizations that are into game development for mobiles, which is one of the significant revenue sources for the companies. The scale of mobile gaming has many potentials, and industry proved it with games like Call of Duty & PUBG.
The world of gaming is quite fascinating, and many people have a goal to become a game developer. A career in the gaming industry also has bright prospects. Moreover, the growth rates are phenomenal, and at present, there are over 2.5 Billion games in the world. The companies are investing in cloud gaming, and they are launching their platforms as well. Apple Arcade & PS Plus network is one such example of it.
Talking about the Indian gaming market, the gaming market’s worth is nearing $900 Million, and a lot of revenue comes from advertising as well. With the rise of professional gamers, there is an increase in game development roles as well. If you are also willing to be a game developer in India, then go ahead and check out the sections below. We have covered all the possible information about working as a Game Developer.
Key Responsibility Areas for a Game Developer
There are primarily two fields in the industry. One of the fields is game development and the second field is game design. Talking about game development, it involves the process of coding to bring life to the animated characters. The game designers are responsible for designing the concept and characters. The computer code helps the whole setup function as a game, which is where the game developer is required. In simple words, game designer belongs to the creative side who are the main visualizers for the games and story. The graphic design also falls in the game design, and they often define the flow of the game.
As mentioned earlier, the game developer would concentrate on the flow of gaming. They work on the technical side of the game development. They often have an understanding of coding languages like C++, Lua and Perl. There can be other coding languages in which the game are being developed. Before you proceed to learn about game development, you need to understand that you will be involved in the coding side of the game. You will also help in the go-live of the game once it is ready. Apart from this, you would be responsible for bug fixes and patching activities.
Skills required to be a Game Developer
You have understood the difference between the game developer and the game designer. The next thing that you need to understand is the skills you would need to make a career in the gaming industry. Let us check out some of the points below.
- You need to acquire programming skills. You can start at an early age by learning to program. Kids in 8th standard can also go through the programming classes, and they can build up their coding skills. This factor helps develop games as you will have strong technical skills by the time you enter the market.
- Games are complex, and they require hours of development efforts. In such a case, you need to have good time management skills as well. Usually, the development time of a PS or an Xbox game would range in years. In such a case, you need to have time management skills so that you do not give up under harsh deadlines, and you meet them easily.
- The next important skill here is problem-solving. You would come across thousands of bugs during the journey, and you need to have patience and abilities to resolve those bugs. Out of the box, thinking is yet another required skill before you enter the gaming industry.
- It will help if you understand the culture and the psychology of the people. This will help you when you are developing a character, and you will be able to give the right dynamics to the character. Moreover, you will be able to retain the interest of the player in the game.
- The next important thing here is to ensure that you have soft skills. The people in the coding industry often overlook the communication aspect, and this is not the right practice. Having good communication skills can help you in enhancing career growth.
Career Opportunities for Game Developer
The game developers are responsible for making the game’s framework, and it is impossible to get a game running without the developer. They help in layering the movements, light and sound in the artwork created by the designer. It takes lakhs of lines of code to make this virtual world work. There are also a lot of options available to you in the game development career. Check out some of them below.
- AI Programmer – AI Programmer is responsible for computer characters’ behaviour and the behaviour of computer-controlled stuff. This involves the control and reaction of the enemy. All these require giving AI capabilities to the computer characters & elements, and it is the job of the AI Programmer.
- Computer Software Engineer – The software engineer is responsible for laying out the overall framework of the game. He is also responsible for developing the character and the flow. Often, there is an architect who would define the main architecture of the software. Another thing to note here is that the computer software engineer tries to optimize the game so that the game can make the best use of the computer specs.
- 2D & 3D Game Developer – The next field here is 2D or 3D game development. In the market, you will find both types of games. 2D games are relatively simple to make, and they cost less money as well as efforts. 3D games are huge, and they require a considerable amount of resources as well. In such a case, you need to decide which field you would like to enter.
- Lead Programmer – Once you enter the industry and get experience, you can also become a lead programmer. The lead programmer is something similar to the development lead, and it is his responsibility to manage the team and the work.
Courses for Game Developer – Fee & Curriculum
The next important thing is the course that you can do to become a game developer. There are multiple courses, and this involves a certification course as well as a degree course. The duration would depend on the course as the certification would usually have a duration of 6 months, and the bachelor course would have a duration of 3 to 4 years. We will not get into the admission process and other such details of such courses, but we will discuss the courses you can pursue. Check out the details below.
- Advance Diploma in Game Design & Development Application
- Advance Diploma in Game Programming
- B.Sc. in Game Design & Development
- B.Tech in Animation Game Design & Development
- B.Tech in Computer Science & Game Development
- B.Sc. in Game Design & Development
- B.Sc. in Multimedia & Animation
You can choose a college that offers these courses, and you can enrol for them. However, there are some factors that you need to consider while you are learning the trade. In the points below, we have listed some of those factors.
- You must check the location of the institute along with the eligibility criteria and admission process.
- You must check the institute’s recognition, and you can also check the institute’s placement services.
- You must check the course duration and the fee of the institute. This would help you in ensuring that the course is within the budget.
If you are trying to find out about the subjects you will study while pursuing these courses; you can check out the list below. These subjects remain more or less the same. The knowledge depth and topic would undoubtedly vary. It is more important to understand that software development to enter the field of game development. Once you enter the field, you can learn and progress your career. Below are the subjects that you might learn.
- 3D Animation
- Algebra
- Artificial Intelligence
- Audio Foundation & Mixology
- Calculus
- Computer Graphics & GPU
- Computer Interface & Controllers
- Computer Networks & Communications
- Drawing & Animation
- Game Hardware & Architecture
- Game Integration
- Game Physics & Movement
- Game Production
- Game Theory
- Geometry
- Modeling & Sculpture
- Operating Systems
- Programming Languages
- Software Engineering
- Trigonometry
- Writing Skills
Salary & Future Prospects of Game Developers
The gaming industry is one of the top-earning sectors in the entertainment industry. Some games have crossed the earnings of over $1 billion in just a few days of the launch. One such game is Grand Theft Auto V. This gives you an idea of how large the gaming industry is. Talking about the sales, the sales of the game continue to increase at a very rapid pace. As a game developer, you have an opportunity to work in an industry that has limitless growth potential. Another factor that has helped boost the industry is the fact that professional gaming and game streaming have evolved into a full-time profession.
Talking about the salary, it depends on a lot of factors. These factors include your work location, organization, domain, experience, skillset and capabilities. The average pay would be around Rs 5 Lakh per year, which can grow into a seven-digit salary. The appraisals would give you a considerable hike as well. You can even work as a freelancer, which will provide you with a significant jump in salary.
Final Verdict
This was all the possible information about becoming a game developer in India. You can start working on it in the early stage. In addition to this, there are some more things that you need to take care of. First, you must be capable of receiving criticism as it will help you with the retrospective. You must also be able to keep up with technology, and you must learn about the new technology as and when it is required. For example, the upcoming fields are Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality. Learning about these two fields would help you in stepping into the future of gaming. You should also stay focused on industry trends. For example, no one would have thought this a decade ago that console gaming falls behind mobile gaming. In such a case, many organizations diversified and stepped into mobile gaming as well. All these things will help you a great deal when you are planning to become a game developer in India.
Rahul Kumar is a passionate educator, writer, and subject matter expert in the field of education and professional development. As an author on CoursesXpert, Rahul Kumar’s articles cover a wide range of topics, from various courses, educational and career guidance.
