Did you know that a career in special effects and animation is growing at a rate of 8% a year? These roles are in high demand at game art studios, in movies, and television, and boast a median salary of $99,060. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, you’ll typically need a Bachelor’s degree in art or a related field to enter the workforce. With over 2.4 billion users playing video games worldwide, it’s clear that the demand for skilled game artists is not slowing down anytime soon.
Now that you have a better understanding of the numbers, let’s dive into the tools, software, roles, and technical skills you’ll need to learn and land a job as a game artist.
The Fundamentals of Game Art
How do game artists craft immersive and entertaining worlds? Well, there are many different tools used to get the job done and a variety of art styles to choose from.
Types of Game Art
Whether you’re at an independent studio or a AAA powerhouse (mid to large-sized studios), the style of game you create has a dramatic effect on the look and feel of your story. Here’s a few video game art styles that you might encounter:
- Pixel Art (Stardew Valley, Terraria, Celeste)
- Photorealism (The Last of Us Part II, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End)
- Low Poly (Superhot, Outer Wilds)
- Cartoon (Cuphead, Overcooked, Borderlands 3)
- Handpainted (Ori and The Blind Forest, Gris, Hollow Knight)
- Vector (Asteroids, Tempest, Battlezone)
- Monochromatic (Limbo, Return of the Obra Dinn)
It’s advisable to understand your target audience, budget, and team skill level before deciding on an art style for your game.
Essential Tools and Software
After deciding on an art style, you must evaluate which software is best for your project. Keep in mind that at the end of the day, software is just a tool and the real success is the art you can create from it.
- Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine, or simply Unreal, took the video game industry by storm with its release in 1998. Using detail texturing for higher quality textures and 16-bit color, there simply wasn’t anything else like it on the market for designers.
- ZBrush
Free for students at RMCAD, ZBrush is a digital sculpting tool that allows you to create 3D models and game assets with an intuitive user interface. ZBrush has been used in a variety of video games from The Last of US to Assassins Creed.
- Autodesk Maya
Another popular program in the video game industry, Maya is a professional-caliber software that is used to create 3D models, textures, character animation, and video game graphics.
- Unity
Known for its friendly user interface (UI) and support for a variety of different platforms, Unity is popular among independent developers and students. Its game art tools are world class and you can’t go wrong with choosing Unity as your primary software.
Pro Tip: Looking for an in-depth guide into these softwares and more? Check out Animation Software: Industry Favorites Reviewed.
Character Design and Development
Most games rely on relatable characters to encourage engagement, progression, and replayability. Because of this, character design is an essential part of the development process that shouldn’t be overlooked. Let’s take a look at how to create a memorable character and how studios transform it from a sketch to an animated model.
Creating Memorable Characters
According to game development company Room 8 Studio, good game characters rely heavily on their personality, backstory, flaws and weaknesses, and appearance. “Crafting a game character is just like making a real human being: you need to give them personality, special traits, food preferences even,” the studio writes. Students in Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design’s Character Design (IL 3655) class learn these basics and more to add professional-quality work to their portfolio.
From Sketches to Animated Models
A variety of roles will work in the character development phase including: sketch artists, writers, animators, texture artists, and character designers. With the teamwork of each of these artists, characters efficiently go from concept to finished product.
Environment Art: Building Game Worlds
Transporting players into a fresh, new world takes a lot of skill and vision. There are a variety of environments to choose from and valuable techniques used to bring them to life. Let’s take a look at some examples of different video game aesthetics:
Types of Game Environments
Open world games allow a character to travel almost anywhere they can see. Common open world game environments include Minecraft and Red Dead Redemption 2.
Enclosed environment games typically take place in a single building or space. Common closed world game environments include The Sims and Rollercoaster Tycoon.
Not all game environments are a representation of real life. Abstract environment games often rely on looks that players struggle to make sense of.
Conceptualizing Game Environments
Whether a studio is creating a 2D platformer or an open world adventure, conceptualizing game landscapes requires a lot of creativity, planning, and collaboration.
Similar to designing a character, a game designer will outline their vision for the look and feel of the world and a concept artist will bring it to life. There is much more to a game environment than just looks, however. Studio artists need to understand the mechanics, rules, and limitations of the world they are creating to set expectations with players.
The Impact of UI/UX Design in Gaming
If a game is difficult to understand or players are constantly confused, it might suffer from bad user interface (UI) or user experience (UX) design. Let’s take a look at the difference between the two:
User Interface in Games
Simply put, UI represents the visual elements of a game. This can be anything from a minimap of the world to a character’s health bar and item inventory on-screen.
User Experience in Games
User experience is all about how players feel while interacting with the world and its mechanics. This differs from UI, as oftentimes UX is not something to visually explore. Game studios aim to give the best possible experience free of confusion and frustration.
Collaborative Roles and Project Lifecycle
Earning your BFA in game art, animation, or a related field can set you up for success if your goal is to work at a game development studio. Luckily, game studios often hire for many different types of roles, giving you a great opportunity to show off your skills. Let’s explore which roles are most common along with breaking down how long it takes to develop a game.
Game Art Studio Roles
Game studios can offer a variety of roles including but not limited to: game designers, developers, producers, game artists, writers, animators, sound engineers, QA testers, UI/UX designers, and level designers.
Some roles even fall outside of the game art scope to better the gameplay. Deck Nine Games visited RMCAD to explain to our Game Art + Animation students the complexity of creating a game. “For one of our games, we hired a mixed martial arts expert so that we could capture realistic fighting movements and animations in our game,” Tommy Spampinato, Lead Environment Artist at Deck Nine Games, explains.
The Project Lifecycle in Game Development
How long does it take for your favorite games to get made? Well, depending on several factors such as scale, budget, and style, the answer can vary. According to Kevuru Games, simple 2D platformers can take two to four months to complete, whereas complex RPGs and MMOs can take up to five years.
Trends and Future Directions in Game Art
While we can’t perfectly predict what the future will hold for the industry, here are some trends that have entered the game art spotlight:
- Virtual Reality
Virtual reality (VR) involves using a headset to interact with and explore a 3D environment. From the Meta Quest to the Valve Index, two of the most popular virtual reality headsets on the market, companies have been looking to perfect VR for quite some time. Although not quite mainstream yet, these organizations continue to put plenty of research and development into the medium.
- Augmented Reality
A step below virtual reality, augmented reality (AR) projects 3D objects into a real-life space. Whether you’re shopping online and want to see how a couch will fit in your living room or playing a game that puts characters in your environment, AR continues to improve its users’ everyday lives.
- Esports
Funding for esports continues to grow as games like League of Legends, Rocket League, Fortnite, and Dota 2 continue to dominate the scene. In fact, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted unanimously in July of 2024 to add the Olympic Esports Games to its roster with its first event to be held in 2025.
The future of game graphics can sneak up on you if you aren’t careful. We asked Tommy Spampinato, Lead Environment Artist at Deck Nine Games, his advice for students looking to become game art professionals during his recent visit to RMCAD. “Network with industry professionals and keep learning new technologies to keep up with the fast-paced world of video game development,” Spampinato explains.
Ready to Level Up Your Game Art Skills?
At Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD), our portfolio-based BFA in Game Art teaches you the software and technical skills you need to know to confidently enter the game development art industry. Learn more about our Game Art degree program offered on-campus or online today.
