💡 Why it matters: Imagine a movie where you choose what happens next, and the story reacts to you. Designing these living stories is expected to become a real job as technology improves.
🌍 Around the world
- United States: Jobs for writers and authors are projected to show little or no change from 2025 to 2035 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
A job of the future expected 2030s
With AI able to react to players and viewers in real time, stories in games, films and apps are expected to adapt to each person. Writers who can design these branching stories will be needed.
This is an informed prediction, not a promise. The skills below are useful whichever way the future goes.
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦1M – ₦3M
- Mid-career
- ₦3.5M – ₦10M
- Senior
- ₦10M – ₦25M
≈ ₦292k – ₦833k a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Closest UK profile: Computer games developer. Typical starter to experienced salary. National Careers Service, 2026
🇺🇸 United States
US category: Writers and authors (closest). Median annual wage; 10th and 90th percentile wages as low and high.. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025
🇨🇦 Canada
Closest Job Bank occupation: Game designer. Hourly wage low/median/high x 2,080 hours. Job Bank (Government of Canada), 2023-2024
Yearly pay before tax. UK, US and Canada figures come from the official sources named on each card. Nigeria has no official salary survey, so those are our indicative estimates. Real pay depends on the employer, the place, your skills and experience.
🛠️ What you actually do
- Plan story worlds with many possible paths
- Write characters that respond to choices
- Work with programmers and AI tools to test the story
- Make sure every path feels fair and fun
- Study how audiences react and improve the story
⚡ Skills you'll need
- Storytelling
- Logical thinking
- Creativity
- Teamwork
- Basic coding or scripting
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Build interactive stories with free tools like Twine and share them online
- Start as a writer or game designer and specialise in branching stories
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Games industry apprenticeships and junior roles
- Make and share interactive stories to build a portfolio
🇺🇸 United States
- Build interactive stories with free tools like Twine
- Internships at game studios or media companies
🇨🇦 Canada
- Build interactive stories with free tools like Twine
- Junior roles at game studios (Canada has a large games industry)
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Read and write stories, and play story-heavy games
- 2Try making branching stories with free tools
- 3Learn basic scripting or game engine skills
- 4Build a small interactive story and get feedback
- 5Join a game studio, media company or app team
⏰ A day in the life
You map out a story where a student decides whether to tell the truth or hide a secret. Then you write both endings, test the paths with friends, and fix a branch that felt confusing.