Gaming industry salary survey

The game industry is a boom-and-bust business. It can be particularly devastating when a big company like Zynga lays off dozens of artists, because they all go looking for new jobs at the same time. Many companies are willing to hire artists on a contract basis until the boom cycle starts again. This approach can give false positives. This chart shows that demand for game artists has some serious ups and downs, but is steadily increasing over time. Are you passionate about making games?

Then you might just love making art for games. Few artists outside of games get a chance to have their work brought to life by an army of designers and programmers. If you liked this article, please share it with a friend. This book levels the playing field. This is very resourceful information. Any advice on what schools to attend to qualify for this? Hi Felicia. Good luck, and have fun! Hey Felicia, I was reading your comment and I had to reply.

I hope this helped! I think that is great Felicia. Your story sounds familiar to my own. Currently I am an art director at Redgames. From my experience working with and talking to other artists stories I think it is less about getting into the right school, than what you can show in your portfolio.

That always trumps wherever you go to school. I know many successful artists that never even went to college. There are many resources out there. Maybe reach out to some of your favorite artists and ask what they suggest. Great information on this page. However the stories I heard about the employment rates, the hours on the job and the salaries do deter me.

Do you think it would be good to get a degree into animation or would it be better to skip the degree and try to get an internship and get some work experience under my belt? You may have a difficult time getting an internship unless you already have an animation portfolio to prove to potential employers that you have talent.

Hi Joshua! Yes, if you are able to get a part-time job as a tester in the same town where you go to college, then that would be a good way to earn some extra money and learn more about the industry while you go to school. I took art in my senior year, I learn something a little bit in art but I think I still have a lot to learn , so, I have two questions for you : Can anybody be a game artist?

We all know that to be an artist you need to be able to come up with a lot of ideas, I have nothing in my brain, is going to school and get a degree in art will help me develop my ideas?

To be a game artist, you need to have talent and skill in creating game art, and you need to know how to use various art tools. Greetings, I really liked this Article, I am one of those artist who loved drawing since i was born, I continued and graduated from the Art Institute, while my passion and education is high for 3 years since i have graduated i have not been able to find an art job anywhere that would hire me.

I am really focused, do no drugs, have no criminal record but its seems I am treated that way, Maybe you can tell me something I am doing wrong, I have applied for so many jobs.

My best advice is to get some honest feedback from other artists. For the longest time, I worried about not having the technical skills to cut it as a professional artist. Nowadays, its more about the prospect of long hours and little pay..

I was told so often that these types of jobs were out of reach, but I am glad to know differently. You might also like this advice on how to break into the game industry. Best of luck! Say I end up living on my own, would I be making enough to support myself? Side note, are there any particular skills I should practice while I have time? View full details. Compare Your Salary of your peers have contributed their salary information anonymously. In order to access this data, please contribute below.

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This allows for much more accurate averages across the two regions, as salaries vary quite dramatically between these neighboring regions. Unfortunately, the numbers of people living in Eastern Europe were lower than all other areas so we have only done an overview.

If you would like a further breakdown on any of the countries within Eastern Europe please get in touch, we're happy to help answer your questions! Download the full report for Global salary, benefits, and job change data. Download the full report for salary, benefits, and job change data for Programmers in the Games and Interactive Industries. If you have any burning questions or would like to know more about a specific area, piece of data, or sample size please get in touch, we're happy to help answer your questions!

Thank you for reading we look forward to hearing your thoughts on Twitter and LinkedIn. Join the conversation with SkillsearchSurvey Want to compare this year's data with take a look at last year's Games and Interactive Salary and Satisfaction Survey here. Catrin is a jack of all trades at Skillsearch, but she's master of them all too! I have a couple questions:. How does AI programming compare to other positions in the gaming industry?

Is there a difference in the success of employees who attend a general university vs. I hope to eventually become a Project Lead or a Technical Lead, to put things in context.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Hi Drew. So be sure to learn other areas of game programming too. In the short term, if you go to a game university then it may help you get a game industry job faster. But many programmers have long, productive careers without ever leading a team!

I want to have a good salary while doing something that is enjoyable. I am not necessarily a programming fanatic, but it seems like something that is fun to do. I excel in math and science, and for that I can go for an engineer, but I think programming is quite neat.

I have not begun any basic steps as a programmer. What can you advise me to do and to finally get my head straight in what I want to become? Hi Mustafa. If you enjoy programming, then it is a very good career. It pays well, and there is always a high demand for programmers and many job openings.

If you go to school to be a programmer then you can use your skills to get a variety of jobs: game programmer, Web programmer, app programmer, computer software programmer, etc. As long as you study hard and become a good programmer, it will be a great career path.

If you learned some basic programming in your IT courses, then the next step might be to try programming a small game. Hey Jason. Do you think that having an Advanced diploma under my belt with a strong sense of determination would be enough to get me a high paying job? Hello Jason! First of all, I would like to congratulate you for the article.

Next, I would like to ask you a few questions because I am a bit confused in the topic. See, I am in my last year of high school and I am interested in the video game industry. In the case that I am equally interested in both, which one is better? What career should I take? Programming and Design are are very different career paths. Hi, im currently attending a cc and im planning to transfer to a UC and receive a degree in computer science. I also started using codecademy in were u stated it in a previous comment, which has been a real help, and i wanted to say thank u for that.

First,thanks for your blog. Found very useful. I am nearing Interested in game programming. What advice can u give me? Do age is a barrier? Regards Balaji. Hi Balaji — no, age is not a barrier. The best approach to learning game programming, is to take a game programming courses either at a school or online and then make one or two very small games. Best of luck! Hi I enjoyed reading your article and it gave me a lot of information. I am thinking of going back to school to get another degree.

I already have a degree in Scriptwriting and that is a hard field to get into. I was thinking of going back for a video game developer and also video game storytelling. I love video games and have played them since I was 7 years old.

I also am really good with computers and math and am quite confident that I will pick this skill up pretty easily.

I am not sure if the job market for that is any better than being a scriptwriter. My whole purpose of going back to school is to find something that I will be able to get a job in after graduation. Being a single mom it is very important for me to put money aside for rainy days and I want one job that pays enough so I can take care of me and my daughter and still have money left over to save up for my other passion which is writing and shooting my own short films.

Also what exactly do video game programmers do and are there other video game jobs that are in the video game industry that are just as good when it comes to the salary? Hi Tynecia, good questions. It pays very well — usually the highest of any job on a game development team. If you already have a degree, then one strategy you could try is to take a 1- or 2-year certificate course in game programming.

That should be enough to get you up-to-speed, and help you build a small portfolio to show employers. You might be able to find an entry-level game programming job at that point. LinkedIn might help with that research. Also, you should check to see if your local community college offers any game programming courses, since many of them do offer game-related certificates. Great article first of all. My question is though what do you really think is the best bachelors degree course to get for getting a job as a game programer?

Computer Science or Game programming? Do you think getting a bachelor degree in game programming online from one of these types of university would be a good decision? I think that any program could be helpful, as long as it teaches you game programming and helps you build a portfolio of game work to show employers after you graduate.

Can you give any idea of the salary that I might get after graduation? Thank you. A little more googling should get you a better answer. Nice article. I work as a game programmer,and Now I have better insights of industry I am working in.

Looking back in the past from future, this is the only decision that I am not going to regret about. As a game programmer, simulating the environment,and come up with the logic is really fun. I totally agree, Jeet — game programming is super fun. I have good memories of the problems I solved as a game programmer, and of all the games that my team shipped.

I hope you continue to enjoy your career making games for many years! Jason, I have a question what college should go to, to study video game programming this is like a dream of mine and I dont want to drop it and what would need to study to get in a big developing team, what are the requirements?

Many game programmers get a degree in Computer Science at a standard university, or a comp sci degree with emphasis in video games at a specialized game degree at a video game university. Hi, I am a high school senior interested in becoming a video game programmer. It will set you up well for a job as a game programmer. Hello Jason. I am a 13 year old teenager and well i was like looking for what job should i get.

Then I looked at video game jobs and it looked really interesting. So I really liked the job of a video game programmer. But how many years do I have to study and what should I study? What are some good colleges? And like what is the percentage that I would have a video game programmer job? And like if they were to accept me How much money would I make a year? And what do u work in? The last thing would i be able to make my own vide game?

Thanks for the answer! And sorry for the bother in all these questions… Hope you answer soon! Then once you get a job and spend a few years learning how to make games, you could probably build a small game on your own with some friends, if you wanted to.

After 12th class what should I do to become a programmer and do games like Crysis 3. And watch dogs. It may take a few years of on-the-job experience before you can work on big AAA games like Crysis 3. You might need to start out at a smaller and less glamorous studio until your programming skills really start to shine.

Hi everyone i just wanted to ask that…I have a passion for video games and all but my maths is a little weak so what do i have to do.. Either i improve it or i can let it be weak. But you must understand and work with the basics of trigonometry and 3D math like matrix math. Anybody can learn math — you just have to keep working at it.

Hey jason!!! Superb article Just a few questions…. I m in high school in india nd want to b a game programmer. I hav decided to get a degree of comp. Does the institute frm which u get the degree concerns?? Nd the last question can u roughly tell the salary of a game programmer in india??

Hi Prafull, the institute of your degree may matter somewhat, it depends on the company. The quality of IT education in India varies considerably, so do your research and go to a school that has a good reputation. After you get your degree, you may not have to work as a tester — you can probably get a job directly as a junior game programmer.

Hi Jason this is Gabe first off I think you did a very good job with this article. I am a softmore in high school and will be graduating soon. I LOVE technology in general and have spent quite a bit of time learning how it works on my own personal time. I think its kinda funny you mentioned codeaccadamy. So far I have studied html csl and python programming languages and I think they are kinda fun I would like to presue a career in gaming software development when I am older.

As of now however I am at a loss. Any advice would be great thanks. Thanks for the kind words, Gabe. When you graduate, you could research which colleges or universities might have game development programs, or at least Computer Science with an emphasis on games.

You might also find some helpful info in my e-book on how to prepare for a career in games. Hi Jason, you wrote an awesome article that answered many of my questions!!

However I still have some questions…. I am from Bangladesh, currently enrolled in BSc program in computer science. My primary choice is to work as graphics programmer which is I am currently learning. Also I have worked in Unity game engine over a year. Do I need job experience in this field before applying on overseas job? If I have portfolio of my work, is it sufficient enough to get a job in US? As I mentioned earlier, I have some experiences in Unity game engine. Will it help me to get a job in US?

Hi Farhan, thank you for the questions. Here are my thoughts for you: 1. If you have experience in the field, then yes it should be easier to get a job overseas.

There are many game studios in the US that use the Unity 3D game engine, so your experience would help when applying to those companies. I believe it would help for all other companies as well, as many game engines have similar types of tools. A great article really delited to read. I want to ask that are programming jobs in the industry easy to find in a good company for eg. Gta or EA. Thanks, Jayant. Most developers start working at smaller studios until they build their skills.

Is there a place you reccomend for learning code? I am already a little experienced, but i would like to know more. Your website was very helpful for my career research paper! I am going to start college in December for Electronic game programming and was wondering how much the salary would be and this article answered my question perfectly. I would like to ask though what games you have worked on? Just a bit curious since I enjoy playing games a lot.

Most not all of my game credits are listed on my profile on Mobygames. Hi just read this article now. Could you help me out?