Gamasutra’s “Game Developer Salary Survey” of 2014 is Out
Gamasutra Conducted a Survey of Game Developers to Determine How Much Loot They Collect Yearly
Gamasutra published the recently annualized “Game Developer Salary Survey” for 2014, and the numbers are looking good. While 2013/2014 saw larger layoffs in the AAA development sector, indie game teams are seeing large increases while solo indies are seeing massive decreases.
With over 4,000 game developers answering the call for monetary transparency, Gamasutra’s developer survey is the largest of its kind, covering both AAA and indie, North America and Europe. Before you go rushing off to learn some programming and level design, there are always some minor discrepancies and Gamasutra has a few methodology notes:
The sample represented in our salary survey can be projected to the overall game developer community with a margin of error, for the U.S., of plus or minus 2.6 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. The margin of error increases for specific subgroups reported within this community. Gamasutra
Also, those who made over $200,000 USD or less than $10,000 USD were not included in their developer survey.
Let’s cut right to chase and answer the age old question: “How much money can I make working with video games”.
On average, Game Developers in 2013 averaged around $83,060 which is down slightly compared to $84,337 from the year before.
In depth coverage into salaries based on work specific areas are as follows.
- Quality Assurance Testers: $54,833 (average salary)
- Game Designers: $73,864
- Artists and Animators: $74,349
- Producers: $82,286
- Programmers and Engineers: $93,251
- Audio Professionals: $95,682
- Business and Management: $101,572
Of course, these numbers are affected by a few things: Salaries are changed by region (e.g., South, Midwest, West, East), as well as the amount of time spent in a specific field. The thinking goes the more time you have programmed the more money you are likely to make as a programmer. Seems simple enough.
Another factor for how much money you could make in the game industry probably depends on your gender.
“On average, women made 86 cents on every dollar that men made in the U.S. game industry” though the national disparity between men and women is greater at “women make 77 cents on every dollar that men make” according to the Gamasutra findings.
INDIE REPORT:
The Indie game findings are interesting though more prone to volatility in the market. There is a large discrepancy between indie solo development and indie team development, sometimes straddling the difference between “success” and “starving artist.” Gamasutra stated “non-salaried solo independent game developers made an average of $11,812 (down 49 percent year-on-year) last year, while individual members of an indie team made an average of $50,833 (up 161 percent).”
Well, there it is for everyone to see. Money could be a large determiner in who wants to make the next generation of video games, especially when such a financially promising life can be attained in game development. Still, developing and producing video games is extremely difficult and time-consuming, leaving the developers with little time to enjoy their hard-earned cash during the development process.
Check out the full report from Gamasutra for a more in depth look at the world of gaming salaries.
Source: Gamustra Report Gamatura.com
