Firstly, “game design” is a new and complex concept. If we want to make a comparison with cinema, a game designer today, is like a film director in the 1920s; but he/she has many more possibilities, given the power of the globalised world.

The game designer today develops the layout and concept of a video game, the heart of the game and its narrative development according to interactivity. He/she is also related to the study and analysis of interactive design, i.e. defining what makes a videogame a unique format because of its gameplay. Thanks to his/her work, the project is then developed in various interest areas depending on the type of videogame. From this, the graphic and programming teams will plan their work in a coordinated way.

The game designer directs and supervises the whole production of a videogame. Depending on their skills there are generally one or two principal designers and many junior designers who specify subsets or subsystems of the game. In larger companies, each aspect of the game (control, level design or vehicles) may have a separate producer, lead designer and several general designers.
Videogame software houses are the most common employers of game designers. They employ more than one game designer at the time for bigger projects.

However, a game designer can also work on various projects for companies dealing with the development of videogame software for mobile phones or the Internet.
Game designers can also work in television productions related to digital television and interactive productions of new television formats.

Education
The education of this type of professional is not well defined, but it can be both scientific and humanistic. However, it is vital to have good organization and analysis skills of interactive formats.