How much salary do you get after graduating from game design school?

According to video game market research firm Newzoo, the world currently has about 3 billion gamers, expected to increase to 4.5 billion by 2030. The market is expected to reach a revenue of 218.7 billion USD this year.

In Vietnam, the Ministry of Information and Communications aims to have about 100-150 game publishing enterprises in the next 5 years, a market size of one billion USD, and about 400 more startup projects.

Some industry experts say that if this scale is achieved, the need for human resources will be up to 25,000 people, including full-time, part-time and freelance jobs.

Dr. Cao Minh Thang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology (PTIT), said that according to a survey, there are currently about 800 recruitment posts for game personnel on recruitment sites, from 45 domestic enterprises. Of these, 50% are recruiting development experts, 30% are for design. The enterprises surveyed by the school also sent back quite similar results.

This is the reason why for the past two years, PTIT has been researching the game design and development program, in the field of multimedia technology, with the support of agencies and businesses. The program started recruiting 200 students this school year.

Previously, two international universities, RMIT and British University Vietnam (BUV), had programs on game design. Therefore, PTIT is considered the first Vietnamese university to train in this field.

Curriculum

PTIT's program is built based on a survey of recruitment requirements of businesses, referring to the programs of many universities with gaming majors in the world such as New York University, Southern California or Digipen Institute of Technology in the US.

Students are taught basic knowledge of political theory, the Vietnamese legal system, general knowledge of natural sciences and social sciences like other majors.

In the major, students will learn an overview of the game industry, design principles, and interdisciplinary knowledge of psychology, economics, law, and marketing. In addition, students will have access to specialized knowledge and skills to build game scenarios, retain players, generate revenue, and provide services on platforms.

Learners are also equipped with knowledge and skills in computer science, multimedia technology, and information security. This is the foundational knowledge to develop complete games according to scenarios as well as test, evaluate, deploy, provide, and protect game services safely and legally.

The curriculum includes real-life projects at businesses from the second year, as well as opportunities to study and work in countries with developed game industries such as Japan and Korea.

Training time and tuition

The game design and development program is part of the multimedia technology industry, lasting 8 semesters with 135 credits.

Tuition for the 2024-2025 school year at the Academy of Posts and Telecommunications Technology is about 27-34 million VND for general programs, including game design and development.

Career opportunities

The main job position of students after graduation is game designer or game developer at domestic and foreign game design, development and distribution companies and studios such as VTC Game, VNG, Game Loft...

However, students still have full knowledge and skills to take on the following positions:

- Game tester.

- Specialist in deploying, operating and maintaining game systems (game technical operator).

- Software developer, software tester.

- State management specialist on radio and television, electronic information, information technology at ministries, branches and localities.

In addition, students can also start a business, become researchers, lecturers in game design and development at institutes, centers and training facilities.

Income

The Academy of Posts and Telecommunications Technology surveyed the labor market and income of multimedia technology students currently working in the game industry.

The results show that the salary of students after 1-2 years of graduation (junior) is about 10-20 million VND per month. Many people receive 2-3 times more after a few years.

For candidates with creative and entrepreneurial abilities, earnings can be much higher.