In this blog, we will highlight the major differences between game design vs game development and also conduct a side-by-side comparison of both career paths.
If you are passionate about gaming and want to convert your passion into a career, then what’s more interesting or beneficial than becoming a game designer or game developer? These professional designations are the best if you are planning to make a difference in the game industry as a whole. They both are recognized in the name of game development, in fact, they both are extremely important to bring forth creative ideas to life.
In bringing the game concept to life, both game design and game development play an important role. They differ primarily in their thinking styles. Designers add creativity to games, while developers write codes and set up the technical foundations.
If you want to know the clear difference between the concepts of game design vs game development, here is the guide for you! Let’s dive in.
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Before we deep dive into the ocean of game designers vs game developers, let’s first understand the basic definition of game design and development:
As part of the creation process of video games, game design can be considered the planning arm. To develop a game, you will have to put together a plan, and video game design is more or less how that plan is put together.
The game design calls for skills in both creativity and technical knowledge to create a cohesive, fleshed-out concept that can be implemented through concrete and usable tasks.
This is just a brief of what game design is. Gaming design software development does not overnight and requires tech expertise and knowledge. However before we unpack a lot more, let’s understand different types of game design.
System design in-game creation is meant to refer to the process of developing rules in the game and calculating them to find out how efficient these rules are.
The level design is meant to refer to the process of setting up locations, placing mobs, creating ways to pass, and taking into account the uniqueness of the game.
World design is a part of the game’s design software which plays an integral role in the gameplay experience of the users. This is basically the most complex type of game design process. Generally speaking, it should be minimal or detailed to give your players the correct context of the game.
Bringing a video game to life is the act of the game development process. A video game’s development involves coding, software programming, sound effects, engineering, rendering, testing, and several other steps. The video game developer turns game designers’ software concepts and ideas into a final product that can be released in the market. Programming and coding skills are the most important requirements of game developers.
Thousands of lines of code are written based on the designers’ sketches, drawings, layouts, and storylines to create a playable game. The video game development process involves a lot of things including programming, API integration, and application of advanced tech stack etc. Game developers take care of the different aspects of the game, such as artificial intelligence, graphics, networking, physics, tools, and user interface programming.
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Game design is basically creating a game structure or blueprint in the most creative manner. In this phase, art directors and designers sit together to discuss some of the major points, including target audience, genre, main plot, maps, levels, user interface, characters, game process, rules and regulations, alternative sources, etc.
Game development refers to the entire process of creating a game, from its conception to its distribution. Game development encompasses everything from conception to distribution. Instead, video games are created by programmers, who create coding engines to power them.
A game’s design is outlined by the Game Designer, while the Game Developer puts it into action. Coding, algorithms and tech stack are the major tools optimized by video game developers to bring forth the concept or gaming design software to life. The best programming languages used in game app development include C, C++, Python and Java.
Game designers and game developers are not the same, just as website design and website development cannot be the same. Here are key differences that make game design & development distinguished from each other-
| Game Design | Game Development |
| It includes graphic designing, animation, UX/UI and visual characters of the game. | It means converting the design and the blueprint of the game concept into reality by utilizing top-notch technologies and tools. |
| The process of game design is very crucial and hence affected by various parameters like genre, target audience, Game plot, game concept and levels. | It includes programming with the latest languages like Python, C++, C#, C, Java, and Javascript. |
| The visual representation depends on the design of the game | Overall performance depends on how well game developers utilized the technical and creative aspects of the game programming. |
| Stages and rules are determined in this phase. | Game features and functionalities are aligned in an accurate manner. |
| Game themes are decided in advance | Testing and playability of the game are of great importance in this phase |
In the above section, we learned the difference between game design and development. In order to understand the concepts in detail, here are the details showing the game designer vs game developer.
A video game designer handles the creative side of things and focuses on what the game’s aesthetic and design should be whereas game developers oversee the technical aspect of games by writing code that helps bring the designer’s vision to life.
The two professions have little in common, but they do complement each other. Designers and programmers must work together from start to finish when making a game. Programmers have the technical know-how to make the game designers’ ideas into action using computer code, and game designers are responsible for the game’s creative vision.
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A game designer is a person who takes care of the core pillars of the game concept, including the visual representations, characters, graphics, animations, central mechanisms, and rules. The responsibility of the game designer is to create a concept or blueprint of the game by deciding on titles and themes. There are different pros and cons of being a game designer as you get to explore different industries and domains with your skills.
The game developer plays a crucial role in mobile game development by converting all the art, concepts and creative aspects into reality. They use the latest technologies like AR, VR, AI, ML and programming languages and tech stacks to bring forth creative game applications for different platforms, including mobile applications, PCs, and Console.
The salary for these professions will be correspondingly high since the designation requires a lot of knowledge, an analytical and creative mindset, and higher education. However, whether you’re just starting out or experienced, you can make good money with game design vs game development.
The income depends on multiple factors, including the reputation of the individual, the specialization, the budget of the project, and the country from which you are operating. In order to give you a rough idea, here we have created a list of some of the average annual salaries of both specialists in different regions-
| Country | Game Developer Salary | Game Designer Salary |
| Germany | $60,000 | $50,000 |
| Canada | $80,000 | $75,000 |
| UK | $46,000 | $40,000 |
| US | $115,000 | $90,000 |
| Ukraine | $34,500 | $30,000 |
There are a number of factors that can influence how much it costs to design and develop a complete game. There are several factors to consider, such as your target market, your game’s features, and so on.
It all depends on what you are looking to achieve – it can be as low as $50,000 or as high as $1 million. On average, the cost of game design ranges from $15k to $20k. While the cost of game development ranges from $25k to $30k. The cost we have defined is not definite and hence it may shoot up depending on a variety of factors, including
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Game designing and game development are essential elements of the development process. They both go hand-in-hand. A game designer brainstorms new concepts and creates new designs that describe the whole concept of the game in detail. The objective of a game developer is to write code and program the game while transforming the designer’s designs into a fully-functioning video game.
When we talk about the difference between game designers and game developers, it is important to note that both professionals are not competitors but integral elements of the development process. They collaborate together to deliver high-quality results. The prospects in both career streams are abundant.
Game development and game design is not overnight task and hence requires a lot of market research, analysis, planning, and expert advice. BR Softech, being an ideal game development company offers different genres of 2D, 3D, and complex video games that includes engaging and immersive features, graphics, and excellent sound effects.
From design to development and deployment; our game designers and game developers work round the clock to deliver excellence and innovation at your convenience. We use ultra-modern technologies like AI, ML, IoT and AR/VR to develop next-generation and latest gaming solutions.
Ans . Game designers are responsible for the aesthetic of the game whereas programmers handle the technical aspects and transform the designer’s vision into a fully functioning game app.
Ans. While game designing is creative and game development is purely technical, often times game designers have programming knowledge and handle both aspects of development at the same time.
Ans. Both programming languages are very popular and have their pros and cons. While Python is easy-to-learn and has a large library, Java is better for game design and excels in creating games and apps for mobile platforms.
