130°

2009 Game Developer Salary Reveals Average Income of $75,573

Game Developer Research, the analysis arm of leading videogame industry publications Game Developer magazine and Gamasutra, has released the results of its ninth annual Game Developer Salary Survey, calculating an average American mainstream videogame industry salary in 2009 of $75,573, a decline of more than 4% from 2008's figure of $79,000.

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gamesonsmash.com
ClownBelt5126d ago

That's in the middle salary range. It's not actually bad.

blitz06235126d ago

Actually, most are under that range. From what I know the most common or average salary would be around 30-40k so that's pretty impressive.

ClownBelt5126d ago

Yeah I would think so too. I guess the devs who are in the spotlight get this kind of salary.

silvacrest5126d ago

not bad tbh, i would be happy with that

-MD-5126d ago (Edited 5126d ago )

I wonder how much Jaffe makes, he's said previously he's not rich at all but he lives in a nice neighborhood and has a nice house.

Cliffy B probably makes 5 times this if he's driving around in a lambo.

iFLOWLIKEWATER5126d ago

If I decided to get into game developing, it personally wouldn't be for the money, but for the love of gaming and defining it as an art form...

Cysquatch5126d ago

For what developers go through, 75k is peanuts. And if you live in the bay area, 75K is tough to live on especially if you're married. Now if you're solo and live in a studio, its "okay". Yea, yea its for the "love of the industry". That's easy to say from you're mom's basement. Struggling with a family, not so much.

iFLOWLIKEWATER5126d ago (Edited 5126d ago )

I guess that was a jab at my statement. I still find it hard to believe people are making a living creating video games, and even more crazier, people making a living playing video games. The industry has definitely exploded...

FragGen5126d ago (Edited 5126d ago )

So much for the archetype of the poor, underpaid, developer everyone cries about when talking about game prices, piracy, etc.

It's time people realize most of the rising fees and costs they're paying for stuff are being applied to Bobby Kotick's yacht payments rather than to finally raising some poor dev's salary above slave wages.

ABizzel15126d ago

The average is more like 30 - 40k like blitz (1.1) said. This is more of an average salary for lead developers.

Enate5126d ago

The Lambo belongs to the owner of epic not Cliffy he just let him drive it. Though after the gears serious has taken off like it has he could probably have one of his own no sweat.

The Lazy One5126d ago

The 75k average is not for leads. The average is weighted more towards the bottom end as there are more developers at the bottom end. If anyone cares to read they break it down by position too.

30-40k is just not livable in half the cities where most video game companies are located. When you consider most companies are located in cities that have the highest cost of living in the country, it's not as high as it looks.

Fanb0y5126d ago

This is really not high...

especially considering the high cost of living where most game studios are.

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 5126d ago
CharlesDCI5126d ago

I know. Its actually damn good lol

Milky5126d ago

woah thats a nice salary right there.

neogeo5126d ago

too many hours for 75k not worth it for 100hrs per week

BannedForNineYears5126d ago

Not if you're doing what you love. :|

FragGen5126d ago

That's ironic, I wouldn't be a car salesman for a million dollars a year. But that's why I went to college, I guess.

Cysquatch5126d ago

If you all "love the industry" so much, get into sales or marketing. That make just as much if not more. You "lovers" blinded by a salary more than $12/hr are exactly who Bobby Kotick is looking for.

iFLOWLIKEWATER5126d ago

If life is that rough for you, you should have thought about your income before having kids...just a thought.

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iceman29295126d ago (Edited 5126d ago )

It makes sense, if the average person works 40 odd hours a week and earns 35k then these guys should be making ~70k + as they work anywhere between 80-100 hours per week.

Furthermore, if I was gonna spend this much time working, i'd rather be an investment banker and then eventually put my dollars into producing new games :P That way I could eventually be involved in the game making process and get a better $/hr rate.

Anon19745126d ago

I worked for just about a decade in the brokerage industry and I hated it but kept saying "The money's good. I've got a baby on the way and the money's good. I can do this."

When I was laid off from my firm last year it was the best thing that happened to me. I had the opportunity to go back to school and now I'm just finishing my first year of game design. It's so cool to me that even half way through I'm already able to design and code old school 2d type platformers like what I grew up. I couldn't be happier.

My research also found averages of about 70-75k with programmers making a bit higher (that's where I'm focusing my efforts).

From experience, I'd rather make less money and love what I do then make more money and have to drag my ass into work everyday. I'm more use to my family with less money but happy than I am rich and miserable.

PshycoNinja5126d ago

What school do you go to? I am also going to school to become a game programmer because I love programing (and like you I heard that programers make more money :p)

Anon19745126d ago (Edited 5126d ago )

They had a Computer System Tech course that, at the start of this year because Digital Media and Tech. It's a two year course but you can now specialize within the course everything from Application programmer to Game developer or Programmer. Right now we've just finished doing 2D platformers using C# and the XNA studio, we've got an entire course on manipulating the Unreal Engine, Game Fundamentals which is a theory course, Database using SQL, 3D using Maya, and then I'm picking up some business courses to round things out. Next semester, more XNA, more 3d and unreal, a course on programming physics, character design and story boarding.

Apparently Bioware has been bugging NAIT for years to develop some talent locally so they sat down and said, "Well, what do you want us to teach them?" It's hard to get programmers and design people to move up to Edmonton because the cost of living is so much less, they don't pay as much which can certainly turn people off when considering the move. Of course, this is just what I've heard through the grapevine.

When I'm finished I'll apply for Bioware or look at moving the family out to Vancouver. By that time the worst of the recession should be over and I could probably go back to the brokerage industry if I needed to in the meantime, but I'm a geek. It's always wanted to go into game development but never really had a chance. My only concern is my age breaking into this industry. Still, I'll be a strong enough programmer after all this that I shouldn't need to every go back to the brokerage industry. I don't even like walking into the bank anymore. :)

commodore645125d ago

@ darkride66

I am sorry you lost your job in the economic downturn and I applaud your decision to pursue your programming passion.
I had not realised that you were made redundant.

Hope it works out for you.

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270°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

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theverge.com
darthv721d ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle11h ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18819h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio8h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning774h ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga11h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

shinoff218310h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga9h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan5h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

romulus234h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv724h ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

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purple10114h ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos13h ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-3h ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac13h ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad12h ago(Edited 12h ago)

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple10112h ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic10h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead3h ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

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140°

Why Monopolies In Gaming Must Not Be Allowed

As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.

thorstein23h ago

Shouldn't be allowed in any field.

Inverno19h ago

And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.

jwillj2k418h ago

Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.

MrCrimson17h ago

tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.

Zenzuu18h ago

Monopolies shouldn't be allowed regardless. Not just for gaming.

MrCrimson17h ago

They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -

70°

The INDIE Live Expo 2024 event is to feature over 100 game titles

INDIE Live Expo, Japan’s premiere online digital showcase series , will debut never-before-seen games & content updates across more than 100 titles on May 25th.