💡 Why it matters: Mobile and console gaming is huge around the world, and studios of every size now build games with local stories and characters. Game designers can also find work with studios abroad if they build a strong portfolio.
🌍 Around the world
- United States: Jobs for special effects artists and animators are projected to show little or no change from 2025 to 2035 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics).
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦1.2M – ₦3.5M
- Mid-career
- ₦4M – ₦10M
- Senior
- ₦10M – ₦25M
≈ ₦333k – ₦833k a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇺🇸 United States
Closest US category: Special effects artists and animators. Median pay; low and high are the 10th and 90th percentiles. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 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
- Come up with game ideas, levels and rules
- Test games and fix what is not fun
- Work with artists, programmers and sound designers
- Write design documents that explain the game
- Study player feedback and update the game
⚡ Skills you'll need
- Creativity
- Problem solving
- Teamwork
- Basic coding
- Playing and analysing games
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Learn Unity or Godot and build small games for a portfolio
- Join game jams (short game-making contests) and local studios
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Games tester, then move into design
- Software or digital apprenticeship
- Build small games and enter game jams
🇺🇸 United States
- Game tester, then move into design
- Build small games and enter game jams
🇨🇦 Canada
- Game tester, then move into design
- Build small games and enter game jams
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Play lots of games and think about why they work
- 2Learn simple coding and a free game engine
- 3Make small games and share them online
- 4Join game jams and build a team
- 5Join a studio or publish your own game
⏰ A day in the life
You test a new level with a few friends and notice they all get stuck at the same place. You redesign the puzzle, chat with the programmer about the change, and test again.