Game Design: A Growing Workforce
Game Design: A Growing Workforce
May 14, 2025
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Summary
Game design is a fast-growing field that blends creativity, storytelling, and technology. It opens doors to careers in game development, 3D animation, and interactive media. As the industry grows, Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs are helping students build the skills they need through hands-on learning and real tools like Unreal Engine.
This blog looks at the basics of game design, the rise of interactive 3D, and how courses like Gameplan’s Game Design Fundamentals prepare students with practical skills and clear pathways into creative tech careers.
Game Design: Careers and Creativity Combined
Game design is a rapidly growing sector, with the video game industry revenue expected to reach 691 billion U.S. dollars by 2029. This means that new video games will keep coming, and the need for skilled employees within the sector is growing.
Video game designers create various features of video games depending on their tasks, including characters, objectives, obstacles, levels, settings, and narratives. They work hand in hand with other teams.
Video game design is a cross-disciplinary field that includes many areas, such as graphic design, user experience, creative writing, programming, 3D creation, storytelling, and more. Plus, the industry also offers positions in marketing, event planning, and other fields.
Integrating Game Design into CTE: A Path to Workforce Readiness
There are many paths to take within Career and Technical Education (CTE), and students can easily find a path that aligns with their passion while preparing them for the workforce due to the versatility of CTE pathways.
Game design overlaps with the Arts, Entertainment, & Design Career Cluster as it combines creative roles in visual and performing arts, film, journalism, fashion, interior design, and creative technologies. This cluster focuses on creating, producing, and sharing artistic and design work across multiple platforms, aiming to entertain, inform, beautify, and inspire.
CTE’s reputation is strong among employers. This helps students get into the workforce easier.
According to the employer research report by Advance CTE:
83% of employers agree hiring employees with CTE experience improves their business.
96% of employers hold a favorable opinion of CTE programs.
77% of employers reported hiring an employee because of their CTE experience.
CTE learners have more options for college success and completion.
Mastering Interactive 3D with Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine is the world’s leading interactive 3D creation tool, used in various industries from AAA gaming and film to architecture, aerospace, and simulation. Mastering Unreal Engine equips individuals with skills essential for today’s most innovative digital experiences and future careers.
Unreal Engine has been used in high-profile video game productions like Valorant and Fortnite. It has also played a major role in TV shows and Movies, including The Mandalorian, Westworld, Fallout, and The Lion King. Beyond entertainment, Unreal Engine is used in practical applications, too. It serves as a virtual reality tool for exploring pharmaceutical drug molecules.
Unreal Engine has also won the Technology & Engineering Emmy award. It also holds the Guinness World Record for the most successful video game engine.
With such a wide range of uses, it’s no surprise that today’s students want to move from being consumers of 3D content to creators.
Unreal Engine Jobs
As the demand for interactive 3D technology grows, industries related to Unreal Engine are becoming more prevalent:
Game Development
3D Artist
Animation & Media Arts
Architectural Design
Simulation
Aerospace
AV/VR Engineering
Interactive Media
Creative Tech & 3D Careers
Interactive 3D and 3D Animation Jobs
Interactive 3D technology creates dynamic digital environments that users can explore in real time, like they would in the physical world. This technology powers immersive experiences in video games, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). Whether it’s navigating a video game world or using an AR app to visualize products in real life, interactive 3D makes digital experiences feel more life-like and realistic.
The most common use of interactive 3D is gaming, but 3D goes far beyond entertainment. It’s used in medical training, automotive design, education, simulation and many other fields.
What is interactive 3D? An introduction to real-time technology
The impact of interactive 3D technology on the global economy is significant and only set to increase. According to market projections:
The global 3D technology market size is expected to reach $703.4 billion by 2030 from $171.4 billion in 2020
The global 3D animation market value will continue to grow, surpassing 27 billion by 2026.
This growth means that there is a rising demand for professionals who can create with interactive 3D systems.
Teach Game Design with Gameplan
The course Game Design Fundamentals on Gameplan overlaps with Arts, Entertainment, & Design CTE programs, ensuring students gain future-ready skills in high-need careers. It creates a direct path to the workforce by providing hands-on learning and real-world experience.
The course is taught with Unreal Engine, with beginner-friendly projects that boost students' cognitive, creative, and problem-solving abilities.
Game Design: Careers and Creativity Combined
Game design is a rapidly growing sector, with the video game industry revenue expected to reach 691 billion U.S. dollars by 2029. This means that new video games will keep coming, and the need for skilled employees within the sector is growing.
Video game designers create various features of video games depending on their tasks, including characters, objectives, obstacles, levels, settings, and narratives. They work hand in hand with other teams.
Video game design is a cross-disciplinary field that includes many areas, such as graphic design, user experience, creative writing, programming, 3D creation, storytelling, and more. Plus, the industry also offers positions in marketing, event planning, and other fields.
Integrating Game Design into CTE: A Path to Workforce Readiness
There are many paths to take within Career and Technical Education (CTE), and students can easily find a path that aligns with their passion while preparing them for the workforce due to the versatility of CTE pathways.
Game design overlaps with the Arts, Entertainment, & Design Career Cluster as it combines creative roles in visual and performing arts, film, journalism, fashion, interior design, and creative technologies. This cluster focuses on creating, producing, and sharing artistic and design work across multiple platforms, aiming to entertain, inform, beautify, and inspire.
CTE’s reputation is strong among employers. This helps students get into the workforce easier.
According to the employer research report by Advance CTE:
83% of employers agree hiring employees with CTE experience improves their business.
96% of employers hold a favorable opinion of CTE programs.
77% of employers reported hiring an employee because of their CTE experience.
CTE learners have more options for college success and completion.
Mastering Interactive 3D with Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine is the world’s leading interactive 3D creation tool, used in various industries from AAA gaming and film to architecture, aerospace, and simulation. Mastering Unreal Engine equips individuals with skills essential for today’s most innovative digital experiences and future careers.
Unreal Engine has been used in high-profile video game productions like Valorant and Fortnite. It has also played a major role in TV shows and Movies, including The Mandalorian, Westworld, Fallout, and The Lion King. Beyond entertainment, Unreal Engine is used in practical applications, too. It serves as a virtual reality tool for exploring pharmaceutical drug molecules.
Unreal Engine has also won the Technology & Engineering Emmy award. It also holds the Guinness World Record for the most successful video game engine.
With such a wide range of uses, it’s no surprise that today’s students want to move from being consumers of 3D content to creators.
Unreal Engine Jobs
As the demand for interactive 3D technology grows, industries related to Unreal Engine are becoming more prevalent:
Game Development
3D Artist
Animation & Media Arts
Architectural Design
Simulation
Aerospace
AV/VR Engineering
Interactive Media
Creative Tech & 3D Careers
Interactive 3D and 3D Animation Jobs
Interactive 3D technology creates dynamic digital environments that users can explore in real time, like they would in the physical world. This technology powers immersive experiences in video games, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). Whether it’s navigating a video game world or using an AR app to visualize products in real life, interactive 3D makes digital experiences feel more life-like and realistic.
The most common use of interactive 3D is gaming, but 3D goes far beyond entertainment. It’s used in medical training, automotive design, education, simulation and many other fields.
What is interactive 3D? An introduction to real-time technology
The impact of interactive 3D technology on the global economy is significant and only set to increase. According to market projections:
The global 3D technology market size is expected to reach $703.4 billion by 2030 from $171.4 billion in 2020
The global 3D animation market value will continue to grow, surpassing 27 billion by 2026.
This growth means that there is a rising demand for professionals who can create with interactive 3D systems.
Teach Game Design with Gameplan
The course Game Design Fundamentals on Gameplan overlaps with Arts, Entertainment, & Design CTE programs, ensuring students gain future-ready skills in high-need careers. It creates a direct path to the workforce by providing hands-on learning and real-world experience.
The course is taught with Unreal Engine, with beginner-friendly projects that boost students' cognitive, creative, and problem-solving abilities.
Written by
Jonathan Bäckström
Jonathan Bäckström is the Chief Product Officer at Gameplan, with a background as a high school math and technology teacher and an engineering degree in programming. Passionate about modern technology and education, Jonathan co-founded Zifro to streamline programming education and helped establish Hello World!, Stockholm’s largest summer camp for digital skills like game design and web development. At Gameplan, Jonathan works closely with educators and administrators to address key educational challenges through innovative technology solutions.
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