The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 15-1255.01 · Job Zone 4

AI exposure: Video Game Designers

Design core features of video games. Specify innovative game and role-play mechanics, story lines, and character biographies. Create and maintain design documentation. Guide and collaborate with production staff to produce games as designed.

Reading this score

computed

Video Game Designers sits in the top 5% of every occupation measured. 60.3% of what this job consists of, weighted by how important each task is to the role, is work current AI systems can produce with little standing in the way. Very few occupations score this high. The ones that do tend to share a trait: the output is a document, a calculation or a message, and nobody has to be in a particular room for it to count.

What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 24 tasks it averages 1.96 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.

The most exposed thing this job does is Create gameplay prototypes for presentation to creative and technical staff and management, at 80.0%. The least is Write or supervise the writing of game text and dialogue, at 33.3%. A gap of 46.7% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.

Within computer and mathematical occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 36 roles in the group is 56.7%, and only 14 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.

What would move this score. Of 24 tasks, 24 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 0 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take systems being given deeper access to the organisation's own records and history, which is already happening. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.

Task by task

24 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Create gameplay prototypes for presentation to creative and technical staff and management.80.0%20.0%0.0%4.00exposed
Prepare two-dimensional concept layouts or three-dimensional mock-ups.80.0%20.0%0.0%3.78exposed
Review or evaluate competitive products, film, music, television, and other art forms to generate new game design ideas.80.0%20.0%0.0%3.60exposed
Prepare and revise initial game sketches using two- and three-dimensional graphical design software.80.0%20.0%0.0%3.50exposed
Document all aspects of formal game design, using mock-up screenshots, sample menu layouts, gameplay flowcharts, and other graphical devices.73.3%26.7%0.0%4.22exposed
Provide feedback to designers and other colleagues regarding game design features.73.3%26.7%0.0%4.20exposed
Provide feedback to production staff regarding technical game qualities or adherence to original design.73.3%26.7%0.0%4.11exposed
Present new game design concepts to management and technical colleagues, including artists, animators, and programmers.73.3%26.7%0.0%3.94exposed
Provide test specifications to quality assurance staff.73.3%26.7%0.0%3.05exposed
Develop and maintain design level documentation, including mechanics, guidelines, and mission outlines.67.1%20.4%12.5%4.35exposed
Keep abreast of game design technology and techniques, industry trends, or audience interests, reactions, and needs by reviewing current literature, talking with colleagues, participating in educational programs, attending meetings or workshops, or participating in professional organizations or conferences.65.0%10.0%25.0%3.65exposed
Balance and adjust gameplay experiences to ensure the critical and commercial success of the product.60.0%15.0%25.0%4.65exposed
Devise missions, challenges, or puzzles to be encountered in game play.60.0%15.0%25.0%4.45exposed
Create core game features, including storylines, role-play mechanics, and character biographies for a new video game or game franchise.60.0%15.0%25.0%4.45exposed
Determine supplementary virtual features, such as currency, item catalog, menu design, and audio direction.60.0%15.0%25.0%3.50exposed
Conduct regular design reviews throughout the game development process.55.0%20.0%25.0%4.40exposed
Oversee gameplay testing to ensure intended gaming experience and game adherence to original vision.55.0%20.0%25.0%3.94exposed
Create and manage documentation, production schedules, prototyping goals, and communication plans in collaboration with production staff.47.5%27.5%25.0%4.20exposed
Create gameplay test plans for internal and external test groups.45.0%30.0%25.0%3.28exposed
Solicit, obtain, and integrate feedback from design and technical staff into original game design.40.0%35.0%25.0%4.40exposed
Guide design discussions between development teams.40.0%35.0%25.0%4.00exposed
Collaborate with artists to achieve appropriate visual style.40.0%35.0%25.0%3.60exposed
Consult with multiple stakeholders to define requirements and implement online features.40.0%35.0%25.0%3.60exposed
Write or supervise the writing of game text and dialogue.33.3%16.7%50.0%3.60exposed

Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.

Where the score comes from

judged

Every task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability3.350-4
Embodiment0.040-3
Presence0.600-3
Accountability0.420-3
Context1.960-3
Verification cost1.230-3

What this means in practice

Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.

Occupations either side of this one

The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.

Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.