This document provides descriptions of various roles in the video game industry, including game designers, level editors, lead artists, technical artists, animators, audio engineers, programmers, producers, quality assurance testers, and roles in business development like public relations, product management, and marketing. It outlines the responsibilities and goals of each role.

1. Creative Development

2. Game designer
• A game designer is someone who is responsible for
the overall design and creation of a game. These
can range from concept artists to 3D modellers.
• Keith Schuler, a game designer for Borderlands 2,
is the lead designer for many of Gearbox’s games,
including Borderlands, Borderlands 2, and
Borderlands: the Pre-sequel as well as others that
include Max Payne Series, Shadow Warrior, and
others from the 90’s era. He is also a skilled
concept artist, and has been, once, a lead artist for
a discontinued project.

3. Level Editor
• “A level editor (Also known as a Scenario, Campaign or Map editor)
is a software tool used to design levels, maps, campaigns, etcetera,
and virtual worlds for a video game. An individual involved with the
creation and editing of a game and levels is a level designer or
mapper.”
-Wikipedia-

4. • A Lead (Development) Artist is responsible for the overall look of
the game, and its graphics and image. They are also responsible for
devising the game’s visual style and directing the production of all
visual material throughout the game’s development. Lastly, they are
in charge of the managing of the art and animation teams.
• Lead concept artist for the video game Dragon Age: Inquisition,
Matt Rhodes, has created numerous concept arts and designs for
various video games as both lead artist and concept artist alike.
• This is some of his work for Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Lead Artist

5. Technical Artist
• These specific artists act as a bridge of sorts between the artist world and
technical programming side of video games.
• They ensure art assets can easily be integrated within a game without
sacrificing either artistic views and visions, or exceeding of the platform’s
technical limits.
• They investigate new techniques, implementing them into the training of
their team.
Casey Hudson, the now executive producer of Bioware’s Mass Effect series,
was once the Technical Artist for their video game, Neverwinter Nights; he
was then bumped up to something different in a different game of which then
began to create. He has now left Bioware, but is moving on to a ‘new stage’ of
his career.

6. Artist
• A video game artist is responsible for
the creation of the game, such as
characters, scenery, objects, surface
textures, clothing, etcetera.
• For creating concept art and
storyboards that help communicate
the proposed visual elements.
• Kevin Cloud is a video game
animator and artist, creating some
concept art for various games and
helping with the smaller animation
issues. He is now the co-writer and
lead artist of a magazine called
‘Commodore 64 disk magazine:
Loadstar’.

7. Animator
• They are responsible for the portrayal of movement and behaviour within
a game, making best use of the game engine’s technology, within the
platform limitations.
• Clove Roy, a video game animator for Bioware’s video game Dragon Age:
Origins, created many different animations for both the characters and
other moving components, both in-game and those that were scrapped.

8. Audio Engineer
• Mainly in charge of creating the soundtrack of a game, including music,
character voices, sound effects, spoken instruction and ambient effects.
• Audio Engineers also work for specialist outsourcing companies and
localisation services that re-version games for different territories.
• The Audio Engineer will sometimes also audition and record any actors
that are needed - in other languages if the game is being re-versioned -
and this might invo5lve lip syncing to animation.

9. Technical Development

10. Game
Programmer • Designing and writing the
computer code that runs and
controls a game.
• David Falkner is the video
game programmer for the
Bioware video game Mass
Effect. He has been their
programmer throughout the
game franchise, and is
invaluable.

11. Lead Game Programmer
• Leading the programming team responsible for creating all
the computer code which runs and controls a game.
• Producing the technical specification of the game and
managing the overall code development process.

12. Project
Manager/producer
• They ensure the successful
delivery of a game, on time
and within budget.
• They oversee all aspects of a
game’s development and
delivery.
• They control the financial and
other resources needed for a
project and co-ordinate the
work of the production team,
making sure that the quality
and vision of the game is
maintained, whatever
problems may arise.

13. Assistant Producer
• They work with a game’s production team, and ensure the
timely delivery of the highest quality product possible.
• Assistant Producers are employed by publishers as well as
development studios. Working within a development studio
often involves managing communications between different
teams such as design, art and programming.
• In a publisher environment, Assistant Producers will focus on
liaising between sales and marketing departments and the
developer, and supporting the work of the publisher's
External Producer.

14. External Producer
• They ensure successful delivery of a game, while working
externally from the game development team.
• They make sure the publisher has all the relevant information
required to make the game as commercially successful as
possible.
• External Producers are almost always employed by a game
publisher. Working out of the publisher's head office, they
liaise between the publisher's sales and marketing
departments and the game developer, which may be located
hundreds of miles away.

15. Creative Director
• They are responsible for the overall look and feel of a video
game.
• They oversee any high-level decisions that affect how the
game plays, looks or sounds.
• Ensuring the quality and style of the gameplay, artwork, music
and audio assets.
• Where the position is used, each game development team has
its own Creative Director. Some highly experienced and
talented Creative Directors oversee multiple projects.

16. Quality Assurance

17. QA Tester
• They test, tune and debug a game and suggest refinements
that ensure its quality and playability.
• They assure quality in a game and find its flaws before it goes
public.
• They test for bugs in the software, from complete crashes to
minor glitches in the programme. They also act as the game’s
first audience, reporting on its playability and identifying any
aspects which could be improved.

18. Business Development

19. Public relations
• Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing the spread
of information between an individual or an organization
(such as a business, government agency, or a non-profit
organization) and the public.[1] Public relations may include
an organization or individual gaining exposure to their
audiences using topics of public interest and news items
that do not require direct payment.
• Public relations are those internal and external to the
company that handle the media and reviews, as well as the
release.
• They oversee the media and their reviews on games, and
relay the info directly back to the developers before the
info becomes public.

20. Product manager
• They help create and implement marketing campaigns to
maximise sales of games.
• The Product Manager's role is to help create and implement
marketing campaigns to maximise the sales of the games they
are working on.
• Working in the marketing team, they support the senior
marketing managers who organise international or global
campaigns.

21. Marketing Executive
• They Work with internal leads to develop marketing around
their products.
• Develop a strong partnership with internal game teams.
• Manage digital agency relationships.