You will not be qualified to work at a big gaming company until you understand why your questions are kind of silly.
I have friends who hire for big name studios and they seem to look for a bachelors in computer science or equal with 5-7 years programming experience in the field.
I do know of some places where the degree was optional so long as you fit the other criteria. It is usually pretty specific criteria and there is generally a long list of requirements.
The one thing they ALL had in common? In the field experience. They almost always require at least 5 years in the field. Reason being is that working with a team and the knowledge you will gain in 5 years professionally is significant when compared to school alone. I've learned programming is a lot of throwing you into the fire covered in gasoline and calling it your first day on the job. You break or you succeed.
Obviously, big gaming companies will be difficult to break into unless you have exemplary grades to show with experience, an impressive portfolio, and from a top ranking school. If not, you would have to earn years of experience elsewhere first, like a smaller company, and learn to network to get to where you wanted to work. Do note that pressure is greater in larger companies as you would be expected to deliver the goods to compensate for the higher pay.
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What positions would i hold? What would I be doing? Whats the salary like? Could I work for say, Riot Games? Would a PhD in CS be worth it? As you can see i'm pretty unfamiliar with all of this.
