340°

30% of game developers feel their salary doesn't cover cost of living

The study polled developers from around the world, asking over 400 developers questions about their salaries and state of employment.

More after the jump.

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examiner.com
Myst5188d ago

Wow that certainly isn't what I was expecting felt like the wave of reality hit extremely hard for this one.

ABizzel15188d ago

Yeah pretty much most lead developers get paid around the 60k mark. Unless you make a huge name for yourself like Jaffe, Cliff, or Kojima you're not going to be bringing in 6 figures.

The jobs that pay the most are the Game Director (the person who leads the entire project), or the Game Producer (the person dishing the money out, who usually has money to begin with).

Game Directors and Big name developers make the most money in the industry.

PR and Marketing guys can make 60k - 80k, but they aren't really part of the development teams.

Christopher5188d ago (Edited 5188d ago )

It's really sad, but if I took the same level of position in a gaming company as I have in our IT contract company, based on the averages I'd make 30k less than I do now and work just as many if not more hours (I do an average of 70 hours a week). There's, on average, a lot more money to be made doing IT contract work outside of the game industry than there is in the game industry, where the people who make the most are the head honchos.

Now, please note that this is an average system, and many of these developers make a lot more because they work on bigger titles which require an overall higher level of skill set but with the same goal, develop a game. There are also people who are developing games that really suck and people who are developing games that are phenomenal and considered masterpieces by the community. Just happens there are more average or worse games out there than there are masterpieces.

So, it's hard to really say if a person is getting paid what they deserve, so all they can say is that they feel they're not based on the cost of living.

EvilBlackCat5188d ago

I HATE to see people commenting that the price of games this days are too much.

Dont blame the developers , Sony , Nintendo, and Microsoft for this!

Blame the fncking corrupt federal reserve bank!

Dark-vash5188d ago

Living with only $18.000 in one of the major city's in Europe (Lisbon)...

Darkstorn5188d ago

@1.4-
I'd actually argue that it's harder to live on $18.00 here in the U.S. than in Europe.
I realize most items are slightly more expensive in Europe, but you guys have many more social services that an individual can buy into to boost their standard of living.
We in the U.S. have food stamps (which are pathetic) and Medicaid doesn't offer realistic cost initiatives. In addition, we have to pay out of pocket for our healthcare, as opposed to every other industrialized nation on the planet (all of which at least have a 'public option.' Most have full single-payer). Even the poorest of the poor can have some upward mobility in Europe. It's not the same across the pond.

Dark-vash5188d ago

I'll tell you, I see people crying about $60 price so here's an example!

Newly released games price!

New Super Mario Bros : 49.90E =~ $68 USD
Heavy Rain : 69.90E =~ $95 USD
COD MW2 (PS3) : 69.90E = $95 USD
Mass Effect 2 (Xbox) 69.90E = $95 USD
Playstation 3 Slim 120GB : 299.00 =~ $408 USD
Xbox 360 Elite 120GB : 249.00 =~ $340 USD

Using Google for currency conversion.

As you see, games and consoles are A LOT more priced then in the US, i'm not even going to show some other things... like house rent or a car price...

FragGen5188d ago

I've heard Bobby Kotick is making some mad bank. But then again he brings a lot of value to the table!

FragGen5188d ago (Edited 5188d ago )

Most of the people who work on games would do it for free. I looked into it at one point as a potential career change and I'd literally make HALF what I do now. And this is because the industry is filled with talented, highly motivated, willing to work 18 hour days, young, energetic, twenty somethings who would eat a live gerbil if they thought it would get them a "game job" and a throng of new ones graduate every month so the queue gets deeper and deeper no matter how much attrition happens for quality of life reasons.

And before anyone b*tches about piracy or saying this situation justifies $60 games @ retail, go do some research and learn some economics: the vast majority of what YOU pay at the cash register goes to middle men, execs, and other non-creators, just like the music industry and the film industry, and only big name "stars" or entrepreneurs like Kojima or John Carmack make mega-bucks. The people who control the purse strings hire the help for whatever the market will bear and pocket the rest as profit. They're a business. That's what businesses do.

The going rate for career game devs is 60K and that's what they'll continue to get paid because there's a mile long line of similarly skilled people waiting to take the job at that rate or less if someone quits. Plain and simple.

SilentNegotiator5188d ago

However, I still plan on pursuing a career in game development because it is my passion and I believe that I have some amazing ideas to bring to the table.

Blaster_Master5188d ago

I wish I was a director. I would make sure that even shovelware was good. Freakin douche bags that put out crap need to just quit doing what they are doing and find something they like to do. That goes for those media bastards too. I hate you all. LOL!

ico925188d ago

i think people may find the title of this article misleading, 400 devs world wide... right? these statistics could be derived from indie,unknown devs, i wouldnt be suprised if lame devs like DDI and High Voltage Software were included in this, besides most indie devs don't rely on game developing as their main income.

MNicholas5187d ago (Edited 5187d ago )

Assuming a single person living in a shared apartment, such a person will have to charge a minimum of $800 to their credit cards in order to pay all the bills.

Rent + Utilities: $700
TV + Internet: $100
Cellphone: $75
Games: $125
Groceries: $300
Eating out: $400
Laundry: $50
Dry Cleaning: $100
Car payment: $500
Gasoline: $300
Misc: $250
Booze: $100
"Massages": $800

Total Expense: $3800
After-tax Income: $3000
Deficit: $800

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 5187d ago
prodg525188d ago

the Epic games guys driving around town in farrais

Bnet3435188d ago

Notice how it says 30%? Pretty sure you can't throw Cliffy B into that statistic lol.

dabri55188d ago

The guys I know from epic don't drive overly nice cars like that. They are all pretty average. Same with Redstorm....... Cliffy doesn't even live in an overly nice place. He has an apartment cause he travels a lot.

cyguration5188d ago

like any other job market. Only the top devs are making top dollar while a bunch of other people are slaving away hoping their game garners enough returns in sales to keep their studio alive.

Oh, and all those ads about "You could be a game designer...", well unless you join any of the top-tier studios like Lionhead, BioWare, Epic, Bungie, Naughty Dog or Turn 10 then you'll just join the statistical 30% the article talks about.

kaveti66165188d ago

You can probably even put Activision employees into this statistic. They're losing a lot of money for some reason. Although it was explained, I find it hard to believe that the failures of Tony Hawk Ride and DJ Hero would be enough to damage the company's income.

Xi5188d ago

Also think that play testing means your a developer...

BeaArthur5188d ago

haha, I would call it time to find a new career. If you think you're underpaid go find something else like the rest of the world.

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90°

Former Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider pours scorn on EA's AI dreams.

"They want you to believe the devs under them are super stoked to work generative AI into their processes," continued Gaider, "but I assure you what they took as excitement was really a veiled wail of despair not unlike the time that team was informed of their new 'really cool' live service mandate.".

LordoftheCritics22h ago

Publishers see gaming as another stock market.

isarai21h ago

I think anyone with some common sense knew this, im glad i don't support their games anymore, what a sh!t company.

Psychonaut856h ago

Friends don’t let friends buy EA or Ubisoft.

Chocoburger5h ago

I said this yesterday. AI isn't what we want when it comes to crafting artistry. Alas, these soulless corporate morons don't care about their work, only about cutting corners as much as possible.

120°

Phil Spencer and the Battle for Xbox’s Soul

Has the rapid growth of Xbox made the ship too heavy? Following the closures of Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, and Roundhouse, we explore what the future of Xbox could look like.

LG_Fox_Brazil1d 3h ago

This ship was never meant to sail, this ship was made from the get go to sink as fast as possible. It almost feels that they want to lower the standards of quality in the industry so that they can fit in

rlow18h ago

I disagree, Xbox from the get go innovated and changed the industry. They did a lot of firsts and standardized a lot of others. It wasn’t till the beginning of the Xbox1 era that things started to go south.

Stevonidas4h ago

Yep, although I’d argue it started going to shit when they tried to hock Kinect on their audience instead of continuing to invest in their studios and IPs. 2001-2010 Xbox was peak gaming, though.

rlow13h ago

@Stevonidas
I agree they never should have focused on it after the 360 era. But you do have to remember they were faked out by the huge volumes of Kinects sold. To quote info on Wikipedia, “Project Natal, It was first released on November 4, 2010, and would go on to sell eight million units in its first 60 days of availability.” So if your Xbox and see these huge sales on a peripheral where are you going to put some money? Criticism in hindsight is worthless…..if only we could all see our future. In other wards they had no way of knowing. Plus they had engagement numbers and a lot of signs pointed to people wanting it.

Their biggest mistake wasn’t the Kinect, but unlike Sony after the PS3 debacle. They didn’t double on down on exclusive good games. The other huge mistake was letting Call of Duty go to Sony.

Hedstrom11h ago

Phil wants Xbox to be as soulless as him!

Tacoboto11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

Xbox has no soul and Phil has no confidence, and it's impossible to say either do when they killed Tango and Arkane Austin.

Everything they've said since has only made them look worse to a point that they're actually less competent than Embracer.

Markdn11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

Whe you release something like the series S and expect it not to hurt your business model, and developers have to have parity with games. Then you know Microsoft don't care. Series s is the final nail that broke developers,

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70°

A Matter Of Trust: What The Game Industry Should Do To Win Gamers Back

Skewed and Reviewed have written an Opinion Piece covering issues in the gaming industry, how current issues were issues years ago, and what can be done to help restore consumer trust.

anast21h ago

Nothing. It's up to the gamers to stop consuming content from companies that they don't agree with.

Garethvk7h ago

How do you know if you agree with it or not unless you play it? Which without conventions forces gamers to rely on trailers. Perhaps Demos should be made more frequently. But companies need to do better as well.

anast7h ago

Wait until release. Watch Gameplay. Exercise patience.

Garethvk7h ago

But is that not what they have now? Tons of gameplay or are you talking about watching actual gamers play it versus the trailers and streams? The big issue is that some companies pay streamers and influencers and they create content but for me; that is hardly a fair, unbiased, and factual look at a game.

1nsomniac11h ago

Get rid of the suits in the industry and job done!!

Garethvk7h ago

They usually are attached to the money sadly. It would be nice to have gamers in charge but you have so much money invested that business people are needed. Hence the issue; you need people who know business but are also gamers who know have an eye to the community. It sounds simple in theory that if you give gamers quality games that they want to play; money will be made. But that is not always so.