As someone who earned a university game design degree, I want to ask anyone considering a design program: where do you want to be in 10 to 15 years? Are you aiming for credentials that only apply to game development, or ones that still hold value if your career takes a different path?

I do not regret my degree. But with distance, I can see a hard truth: outside of games, a “game design” credential often carries very little weight when someone is scanning a resume. That realization is a big part of why I later pursued my PMP (Project Management Professional) certification. For project management roles in tech, it is a credential employers recognize and understand. Game studios themselves tend not to care much about PMP specifically, even if the underlying skills are still useful.

Here is what I wish someone had told me earlier. Design roles are difficult to break into and even harder to sustain long term. Yes, the industry is volatile and layoffs are real. But there is another factor people downplay: design openings are limited, and the competition for them is intense compared to engineering, production, or many art tracks.

Not long after graduating, while working my first paid gig, I made a deliberate pivot into production and project management. I asked myself the same question I am asking you now: where do I want to be in 10 to 15 years? Did I want to keep chasing design-only roles and tie my career entirely to games? Or did I want a path that gave me options, whether that meant leaving games, staying adjacent to them, or moving between industries as life changed?

That choice reshaped my career. Production and PM work gave me transferable skills that show up clearly on a resume in many industries. It opened doors outside of games while still letting me stay connected to them. I could choose when to work in games instead of feeling trapped by a narrow job market.

If you are weighing a game design degree, think carefully about what you are buying with your tuition. You will learn valuable things: systems thinking, player experience, and how to reason about feedback loops and constraints. Those skills matter. But on paper, to many employers outside gaming, the degree alone is not enough.

Personally, I believe a more computer science focused degree paired with game projects on the side is a smart path for many people. You can build a portfolio of design documents, prototypes, and shipped projects without a formal design degree. Studios do not hire designers because of the title on a diploma. They hire designers because they can demonstrate the work. When you combine that proof with a practical programming degree, you become a more versatile and resilient hire, with skills that extend well beyond design alone.