Game Developer Salaries
How much do the folks who make your games make?
by Daemon Hatfield
April 2, 2007 - The latest issue of Game Developer magazine includes the results of its 2006 Salary Survey, which details the average salaries of game industry professionals. Game Developer's sister publication Gamasutra has summarized the results of the survey. Overall, the people making the games you play enjoyed an average salary of $73,316 in 2006 -- slightly down from $75,039 in 2005.
The lowest average compensation was given to Q/A personnel, who received about $37,861 for bug testing games. This figure is actually a decrease from the previous year. Next up are game designers, who were paid about $61,538. Designers' salaries have raised an average of $5,000 over the last three years.
The 2006 average for artists was $65,107, basically flat from 2005. The average audio employee was paid $69,935. Production personnel in America had an average salary of $77,131, and programmers were paid $80,886.
If you want to make bank in the game industry, though, you should consider a career on the business and legal side of things. These professionals raked in an average $95,596 last year.
The survey also reveals that U.S. employees working in the game industry are paid on average 33 percent more than their European counterparts. GamesIndustry has revealed details of the survey's comparisons between the two markets.
"Europeans in the games industry are earning significantly less than their American counterparts," the report reads. "The only discipline that comes close is QA, which is separated by only seven percent in 2006. Game designers in Europe are making 25 percent less, business and legal staff are making 26 percent less, and programmers are making 33 percent less."
5,600 readers of Game Developer magazine and Gamasutra were polled for the results. More details can be found in Developer's latest issue.
http://wii.ign.com/articles/777/777657p1.html?RSSwhen2007-04-02_122000&RSSid=777657
