Design your future: 5 careers you can unlock with our BA (Hons) Games Design and Development degree

Wondering what you can do with our BA (Hons) Games Design and Development degree? Studying at MetStudios opens doors to a wide range of career paths, from crafting gameplay systems to building immersive interactive worlds. Every role in the industry involves close collaboration with artists, programmers, writers and other creatives. Our Games Design and Development degree equips you with the skills needed to thrive in these collaborative environments.

In this blog, we are highlighting five exciting careers that this degree can prepare you for:

Combat designer

A combat designer has the challenging task of ensuring that the battles in games feel dynamic, rewarding and enjoyable. They design the systems behind attacks, abilities, weapons and enemy behaviour, making sure every encounter is engaging and responsive.

Their work involves creating core combat mechanics, scripting enemy AI, designing boss encounters and shaping the difficulty and pacing of combat moments. Prototyping and playtesting are central to the role, as designers must constantly refine how combat feels and functions in order to maintain a balanced and polished experience.

Our Games Design and Development degree teaches you gameplay design and prototyping, giving you the practical skills needed to develop and refine combat systems from early ideas through to playable builds.

UI designer

User Interface (UI) design covers all the visual and interactive elements a player sees on screen, including menus, buttons, health bars and scoreboards. It’s the layer that connects the player to the game world, guiding them, supporting them and helping them understand what is happening at any given moment.

UI design has a major impact on accessibility and usability, and as games become more complex, the demand for skilled UI designers continues to grow across the industry. To find inspiration, you can explore UI examples from a wide variety of games and genres here.

Throughout your studies at MetStudios, you can choose optional modules such as ‘User Interfaces for Games’, allowing you to develop skills in interface layout and interactive design.

UX designer

User Experience (UX) design focuses on the overall player journey and how intuitive and enjoyable the game feels. While UI is concerned with what players see, UX is concerned with how players think, behave and move through the game.

UX designers carry out user research and playtesting, analyse player needs and frustrations, produce flow maps and wireframes, and work closely with UI and gameplay teams to refine the overall experience. Their aim is always to make the game feel natural, smooth and satisfying to interact with. Because UX insight influences UI decisions, the two roles remain closely connected throughout development.

Our Games Design and Development course encourages player-centred design, regular testing and iterative development, helping you understand player behaviour and apply your knowledge to create more intuitive gameplay experiences.

Narrative designer

Narrative designers shape a game’s story, characters, dialogue and overall tone. They decide how the story is told, how it fits alongside gameplay and how players emotionally connect with the world.

A strong narrative can elevate the entire experience, giving players a reason to explore, to care about the characters and to stay engaged with the unfolding events. Narrative designers often collaborate with writers, level designers, artists and audio teams to ensure that storytelling feels integrated rather than separate from the gameplay. This role is ideal for students who enjoy creative writing, world-building and collaborative storytelling.

At MetStudios, you will explore storytelling, world-building and interactive narrative, giving you hands-on experience in crafting stories that work seamlessly with gameplay and preparing you for narrative-focused roles in modern game development.

Economy designer

An economy designer focuses on how players earn, spend and interact with in-game resources. They are responsible for designing progression systems, balancing currencies, fine-tuning reward structures and ensuring that players feel consistently rewarded and motivated.

A well-designed economy keeps players engaged over time, shapes the pacing of progression and supports the overall depth of the game. Economy designers also monitor player data, respond to balancing issues and adjust systems to maintain a stable and enjoyable experience. This role blends creativity with analytical thinking and requires a detailed understanding of how systems interact with player psychology.

Our Games Design and Development degree teaches you how to design and balance complex game systems, giving you both the technical foundations and analytical mindset needed to create fair, engaging and enjoyable in-game economies.

Take the next step

If you are passionate about creating interactive worlds, designing imaginative systems and shaping unforgettable player experiences, our Games Design and Development degree at MetStudios is the perfect next step. The course is designed to help you specialise, experiment and build a professional portfolio that showcases your abilities, giving you the foundation you need to move confidently towards a wide range of creative and technical roles within the games industry

Interested in becoming a game designer, artist, or developer at MetStudios?

Sign up for one of our Open Days or apply via UCAS.

Craft the Digital Worlds of Tomorrow.

MetStudios is for people who imagine new worlds and want to bring them to life. Small classes, one-to-one mentorship, and practical, hands-on projects sit at the heart of everything we do. We put wellbeing and diversity first, so you have the space and confidence to explore your creativity and create work that feels truly your own.

Learn more about us here.

We’re a part of BIMM University, one of the largest providers of creative arts courses in Europe. The university is made up of MetStudios, BIMM Music Institute, Performers College and MetFilm School. Together we provide an extensive range of courses in modern music, performing arts, filmmaking, animation, games and VFX to over 10,000 students in the UK, Ireland and Germany.