Game design degrees are typically four-year bachelor of science or bachelor of arts degrees and primarily come from schools with strong computer science or art programs. There are also schools that specialize in software and game design. Because it is a relatively new and evolving field, the names of these degrees will vary, while being similar.
ITT Technical Institute's program is called "Digital Entertainment and Game Design"; the Art Institute has two programs, "Game Art and Design" and "Game Programming"; Full Sail University offers a bachelor of Game Development and a bachelor of Game Art; and the Columbia College Chicago offers a B.A. in Game Design and concentrations in Game Art, Game Development, Programming or Sound Design.
According to Video Game Times, a typical development team consists of a producer who manages budgets and schedules, 10 or more artists and animators, programmers, a multimedia specialist and a sound engineer under the leadership of a designer who may also be the producer, art director or lead programmer. Salaries for all of these positions are generally strong, with quality assurance testers earning an average of $39,571 and the rest of the team earning $67,000 to $102,000 annually, as of 2008, according to AllArtSchools.com.