The video game developer career is a career in The Sims Life Stories and The Sims 3: University Life. It is similar to the Gamer career from The Sims 2: Seasons.
The Sims Life Stories
The game development career track is one of the basic career tracks for The Sims Life Stories that is not found in The Sims 2, although the gamer track added in the Seasons expansion pack is quite similar. The career reward is The Maxis™ Doppelganger Extra Gloss Game Simulator. This career track has four skill requirements, just like college careers. There is no teen version of this career track.
 Game Development Career Levels
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| 1) Game Tester | |||||
| You no longer have time to sit around and play video games all day, because now you'll be sitting around playing video games all day and getting paid for it. The money isn't great but the job is low-impact and low stress, at least most of the time. |  0
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| S M T W T F S | Wage: §386/day | ||||
09:00 - 18:00
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| Bonus: None | |||||
| 2) Lead Tester | |||||
| You know how to find serious bugs and get the attention needed from the programmers to get them dealt with. Since you've demonstrated such leadership and communication skills, you're going to be writing a lot of reports for the testing manager, which is going to take some time away from testing games. | 1
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| S M T W T F S | Wage: §448/day | ||||
09:00 - 17:00
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| Bonus: §896 | |||||
| 3) Testing Manager | |||||
| Broken game builds, overworked testers and the drink machine refusing to refrigerate during mass overtime—you've seen, and gotten through, it all. As the head of the testing department, you don't have much time to actually test games now since you spend most your days managing the lead testers and reading reports. | 1
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| S M T W T F S | Wage: §578/day | ||||
08:00 - 17:00
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| Bonus: §1,156 | |||||
| 4) Associate Designer | |||||
| You're ready to become the envy of your friends in the test department because now you get to create original content for the games they'll be testing. Of course, chaining yourself to your desk and writing hundreds of object descriptions qualifies as original content creation, but you can let them dream. | 3
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| S M T W T F S | Wage: §616/day | ||||
09:00 - 16:00
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| Bonus: §1,232 | |||||
| 5) Designer | |||||
| Although you won't see your name in the title above the box art any time soon, you have more of a say in what the final game will look and play like. You are also free to assign those hundreds of object descriptions to that new associate designer. | 4
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| S M T W T F S | Wage: §696/day | ||||
10:00 - 15:00
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| Bonus: §1,392 | |||||
| 6) Lead Designer | |||||
| Your name is above the title on the box art, and gaming journalists clamor to find out what kind of socks you wear. Major gaming fan sites post comic strips poking fun at every intimate detail of your personal life—fortunately, they don't know many of them. | 6
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| S M T W T F S | Wage: §897/day | ||||
09:00 - 15:00
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| Bonus: §1,794 | |||||
| 7) Producer | |||||
| After the unbridled creativity that design had to offer, you've traded your jeans for slacks and moved over to the business side of game development. Instead of wrangling character designs, now you wrangle the wranglers of character designs in an effort to bring the projects in on time and under budget. | 7
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| S M T W T F S | Wage: §926/day | ||||
10:00 - 17:00
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| Bonus: §1,852 | |||||
| 8) Director | |||||
| As a director, you are responsible for overseeing multiple teams with multiple projects and multiple deadlines, which often leaves you with multiple headaches. Make more friends for much-needed emotional support as you thrill them with tales of clashing egos and deadline chaos. | 8
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| S M T W T F S | Wage: §1,345/day | ||||
11:00 - 18:00
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| Bonus: §2,690 | |||||
| 9) Executive Vice President | |||||
| You have been made executive vice president, and get to overhear the president of the company play video games all day in your cushy new office. There are a lot of responsibilities to the company at the highest levels of finance and management, but you also find time to join the president for gaming research sessions now and then. | 9
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| S M T W T F S | Wage: §2,000/day | ||||
08:00 - 16:00
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| Bonus: §4,000 | |||||
| 10) President | |||||
| When you walked into the company offices on your first day as a tester and muttered something about the company being yours one day, you were obviously right. Some may think that all you do is play video games; but your job is to understand how to pay people to make games, and hopefully cause some entertainment and happiness for your efforts. | 10
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| S M T W T F S | Wage: §2,500/day | ||||
10:00 - 16:00
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| Bonus: §5,000 | |||||
The Sims 3: University Life
The Video Game Developer career is a career in The Sims 3: University Life which is connected to the nerds social group. Sims can choose this career only when they reach level 10 in the nerd influence hidden skill. It is split into two branches: Engineer and Game Artist.
Work place: Office Building
How to apply: Directly at work place, reaching at level 10 in nerd influence hidden skill.
Performance tones:
- Business as Usual
- Crunch Time
- Browse Web at Work
- Office Party
- Office Meetings
- Suck Up To Boss
- Work Research
Career levels
| Video Game Developer Career Levels
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|---|---|---|
| 1) Game Button Tester | ||
| Everyone has to start somewhere, and there's no better way to get in on the ground floor than as a Game Button Tester! |
Wage: §26/hour | Bonus: N/A |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §30 | |
| Suburb 10:00 - 16:00
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Bridgeport 10:00 - 16:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
 Mood
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 Nerd Influence
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| Playing Games | ||
| 2) Assistant Concept Artist | ||
| <Sim name> paid <his/her> dues and earned a promotion: Assistant Concept Artist! The long hours require energy sustaining drinks, so a discount has been earned at barista bars! Perk: Discount in barista bars |
Wage: §32/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §60 | |
| Suburb 13:00 - 20:00 
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Bridgeport 13:00 - 20:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Playing Games | ||
| 3) Quality Assurance Manager | ||
| You can only draw so many downloadable coffee tables before snapping. <Sim name> craves a shot at leadership, and earned a promotion to Quality Assurance Manager. |
Wage: §39/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §80 | |
| Suburb 07:00 - 15:00 
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Bridgeport 07:00 - 15:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Playing Games | ||
| Video Game Developer Career Levels - Engineer Branch
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|---|---|---|
| 4) Code Monkey | ||
| <Sim name> has been poring through the programming books, and <he/she>'s finally mastered lf-Then statements. Keep building that Logic skill, Code Monkey, and <he/she>'ll go far! |
Wage: §48/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §100 | |
| Suburb 09:00 - 17:00
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Bridgeport 09:00 - 17:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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 Logic 0-4
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Playing Games | |
| 5) Game Programmer | ||
| Now that While loops are a cinch, <Sim name> is ready to be a Game Programmer! Working from home is now an option on the computer and work has given <him/her> a laptop. Perk: Laptop, work from home |
Wage: §65/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §110 | |
| Suburb 08:00 - 15:00 
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Bridgeport 08:00 - 15:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Logic 1-5
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Playing Games | |
| 6) Senior Engineer | ||
| After programming enough core systems in a video game, nobody else really knows how they work. <Sim name> made <himself/herself> indispensable - congratulations, Senior Engineer! |
Wage: §101/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §150 | |
| Suburb 08:00 - 14:00 
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Bridgeport 08:00 - 14:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Logic 2-5
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Playing Games | |
| 7) Technical Director | ||
| Software engineers earn respect the hard way, which earned <Sim name> a promotion to Technical Director! As a bonus, <he/she>'ll receive discounts when purchasing electronics. Perk: Discounts in buy mode electronic category |
Wage: §144/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §180 | |
| Suburb 09:00 - 14:00 
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Bridgeport 09:00 - 14:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Logic 3-6
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Playing Games | |
| 8) Lead Designer | ||
| <Sim name> paid <his/her> dues, rising through the ranks to Lead Designer. Without a hands-on role, <Sim name> needs <his/her> writing and social skills more than ever. |
Wage: §220/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §210 | |
| Suburb 10:00 - 15:00
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Bridgeport 10:00 - 15:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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 Writing 0-4
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Playing Games | |
| 9) Executive Producer | ||
| <Sim name> is an Executive Producer: a role where <he/she> can simply tell underlings, "I want it this way." Any problems that arise are THEIR problems. |
Wage: §393/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §300 | |
| Suburb 11:00 - 15:00 
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Bridgeport 11:00 - 15:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Writing 2-5
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Playing Games | |
| 10) Game Studio Head | ||
| A string of excellent Ubercritic scores have elevated <Sim name> to a Game Studio Head! Remember to keep in touch with the fans by holding video game conventions at the local theater. Perk: Video game conventions in theater |
Wage: §987/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §430 | |
| Suburb 12:00 - 15:00 
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Bridgeport 12:00 - 15:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Writing 3-6
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Playing Games | |
| Video Game Developer Career Levels - Game Artist Branch
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|---|---|---|
| 4) Pixel Pusher | ||
| Management has its perks, but in Quality Assurance you're not managing people so much as sentient beasts. It's time to pick up a digital pen and paintbrush, Pixel Pusher! |
Wage: §48/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §100 | |
| Suburb 09:00 - 17:00
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Bridgeport 09:00 - 17:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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 Painting 0-4
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Playing Games | |
| 5) Character Modeler | ||
| Awesome painting skills has lead <Sim name> to a promotion to Character Modeler! Work has issued <Sim name> a laptop, and now computers can be used to work from home! Perk: Laptop, work from home |
Wage: §65/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §110 | |
| Suburb 10:00 - 17:00
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Bridgeport 10:00 - 17:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Painting 1-5
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Playing Games | |
| 6) Senior Animator | ||
| "The hands are too big!" "The feet are too small!" All that iteration has finally paid off and <Sim name> is now a Senior Animator, where <he/she>'ll have more control. |
Wage: §101/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §150 | |
| Suburb 11:00 - 17:00 
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Bridgeport 11:00 - 17:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Painting 2-5
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Playing Games | |
| 7) Art Director | ||
| A promotion to Art Director means a lot of control and responsibility, so crack that whip! It's important to keep up with technology, so discounts will be applied to electronics when purchased. Perk: Discounts in buy mode electronic category |
Wage: §144/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §180 | |
| Suburb 12:00 - 17:00 
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Bridgeport 12:00 - 17:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Painting 3-6
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Playing Games | |
| 8) Lead Designer | ||
| <Sim name> paid <his/her> dues, rising through the ranks to Lead Designer. Without a hands-on role, <Sim name> needs <his/her> writing and social skills more than ever. |
Wage: §220/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §210 | |
| Suburb 10:00 - 15:00
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Bridgeport 10:00 - 15:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Writing 0-4
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Playing Games | |
| 9) Executive Producer | ||
| <Sim name> is an Executive Producer: a role where <he/she> can simply tell underlings, "I want it this way." Any problems that arise are THEIR problems. |
Wage: §393/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §300 | |
| Suburb 11:00 - 15:00
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Bridgeport 11:00 - 15:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Writing 2-5
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Playing Games | |
| 10) Game Studio Head | ||
| A string of excellent Ubercritic scores have elevated <Sim name> to a Game Studio Head! Remember to keep in touch with the fans by holding video game conventions at the local theater. Perk: Video game conventions in theater |
Wage: §987/hour | Bonus: §??? |
| Days: S M T W T F S | Pension: §430 | |
| Suburb 12:00 - 15:00
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Bridgeport 12:00 - 15:00
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| Performance Factors | ||
| Mood
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Nerd Influence
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| Writing 3-6
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Playing Games | |