Design core features of video games. Specify innovative game and role-play mechanics, story lines, and character biographies. Create and maintain design documentation. Guide and collaborate with production staff to produce games as designed.
24 of 24 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Provide feedback to designers and other colleagues regarding game design features.
AI: Fully automatable - AI models can generate specific, actionable feedback on design features from assets, prototypes, and playtest data at scale and consistency suitable for direct use by designers and colleagues.
Create core game features including storylines, role-play mechanics, and character biographies for a new video game or game franchise.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can create coherent storylines, role-play mechanics, and detailed character biographies rapidly, producing usable core features that designers can iterate on.
Devise missions, challenges, or puzzles to be encountered in game play.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can design missions, challenges, and puzzles algorithmically and generate variants, difficulty curves, and implementation-ready descriptions for designers and level builders.
Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can author, update, and maintain comprehensive design and level documentation, keep guidelines consistent, and generate mission outlines with traceable changes.
Solicit, obtain, and integrate feedback from design and technical staff into original game design.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can solicit and aggregate feedback via surveys and logs, synthesize conflicting inputs, and propose integrated changes to design artifacts that can be directly applied or reviewed by teams.
Document all aspects of formal game design, using mock-up screenshots, sample menu layouts, gameplay flowcharts, and other graphical devices.
AI: Fully automatable - Generative text and image tools in 2025 can produce comprehensive design documents, mock-up screenshots, menu layouts, and gameplay flowcharts from prompts and templates.
Prepare two-dimensional concept layouts or three-dimensional mock-ups.
AI: Fully automatable - AI-driven image and emerging 3D generation tools can produce two-dimensional concept layouts and usable three-dimensional mock-ups for concept and iterative design.
Keep abreast of game design technology and techniques, industry trends, or audience interests, reactions, and needs by reviewing current literature, talking with colleagues, participating in educational programs, attending meetings or workshops, or participating in professional organizations or conferences.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can continuously ingest literature, social signals, conference outputs, and educational content and synthesize trends, techniques, and audience interests effectively.
Write or supervise the writing of game text and dialogue.
AI: Fully automatable - Large language models and narrative tools can author, edit, and manage game text and dialogue at scale and support supervisory workflows for writing.
Prepare and revise initial game sketches using two- and three-dimensional graphical design software.
AI: Fully automatable - Generative 2D/3D tools and integrations with design software can prepare and iteratively revise initial game sketches without human-only intervention.
Provide test specifications to quality assurance staff.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can produce detailed, standards-based test specifications from design documents and templates, making this task automatable.
Create gameplay test plans for internal and external test groups.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can generate comprehensive gameplay test plans, participant instructions, and reporting templates for internal and external testing based on design requirements.
Balance and adjust gameplay experiences to ensure the critical and commercial success of the product.
AI: Partial - AI can simulate and tune parameters and analyze playtest metrics to improve balance, but predicting market reception and final iterative judgment for commercial/critical success still requires human leadership and playtesting.
Guide design discussions between development teams.
AI: Partial - AI can prepare agendas, synthesize viewpoints, and summarize discussions to facilitate cross-team dialogue but cannot fully replace human facilitation, conflict resolution, and leadership in design discussions.
Create and manage documentation, production schedules, prototyping goals, and communication plans in collaboration with production staff.
AI: Partial - AI can generate documentation, propose schedules and prototyping goals, and coordinate communication plans, but end-to-end management, stakeholder negotiation, and accountability remain human responsibilities.
Present new game design concepts to management and technical colleagues, including artists, animators, and programmers.
AI: Partial - AI can create polished presentation materials and talking points and can even deliver scripted presentations, but handling live, nuanced technical or managerial pushback and persuasion typically requires human presenters.
Conduct regular design reviews throughout the game development process.
AI: Partial - AI can run automated reviews, surface issues, and track design changes continuously, yet nuanced decision-making and prioritization during reviews still need human judgment.
Provide feedback to production staff regarding technical game qualities or adherence to original design.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze builds against specs and flag technical deviations but lacks the contextual judgement, domain authority, and interpersonal nuance to fully replace human feedback to production staff.
Consult with multiple stakeholders to define requirements and implement online features.
AI: Partial - AI can synthesize inputs from multiple stakeholders and propose requirements and implementation plans but cannot fully replicate human negotiation, consensus-building, and political navigation in consultations.
Oversee gameplay testing to ensure intended gaming experience and game adherence to original vision.
AI: Partial - Automated playtesting agents and telemetry analysis can detect issues and measure adherence to goals, but overseeing tests and judging the subjective intended experience still requires human oversight.
Create gameplay prototypes for presentation to creative and technical staff and management.
AI: Partial - AI can produce basic playable prototypes and code snippets rapidly, but crafting polished, integrated gameplay prototypes for presentation typically requires human iteration and integration work.
Collaborate with artists to achieve appropriate visual style.
AI: Partial - AI can generate style references, moodboards, and iterative visual options, but effective collaboration with artists to refine and converge on an appropriate visual style remains a human-centric, interpersonal process.
Determine supplementary virtual features, such as currency, item catalog, menu design, and audio direction.
AI: Partial - AI can design and simulate supplementary virtual features like currencies, item catalogs, menus, and audio direction and propose trade-offs, but final economic tuning and product decisions need human judgment and oversight.
Review or evaluate competitive products, film, music, television, and other art forms to generate new game design ideas.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze competitive media and generate many game design ideas, but lacks the nuanced creative judgment and contextual understanding to fully replace human evaluation.