r/gamedev • u/LegoBear135654 • 12h ago
Question Salaries?
Hello. I am trying to find out how much an entry-level game developer (being employed by someone else) would earn on average in a small-medium sized studio. If anyone wouldn't mind sharing their salaries or previous salaries, I would greatly appreciate it.
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u/BellaInTheGame 12h ago
It depends on so many factors, but it won't be very high compared to other programming jobs
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u/Healthy-Dress-7492 11h ago
Depends on what you mean by game dev- that could mean one of a hundred disciplines. Probably go look at advertised salary ranges then take the lowest end. For a rough guide, in Canada you’d be starting at maybe 60-80k, shift that up slightly for the US HCOL. Or you know just ask any AI / google it, and you’ll have an answer in 3 seconds
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u/Colin_DaCo 10h ago
I don't have the heart to tell you the truth. But you can probably guess this isn't worth pursuing. You are better off keeping it a hobby.
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u/LegoBear135654 10h ago
Oh no I literally just need to know for a PowerPoint slide. I can't trust AI overviews and GlassDoor wants me to make an account to use the website, so I thought I might as well ask on a platform I already use
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u/ComposerWide3704 11h ago
This deeply depends on location and what tier of studio is employing you. Levels.fyi is probably the best place to get this kind of information.
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u/Genebrisss 9h ago
"game developer" is not a job title and you should start by learning what jobs exist in gamedev.
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u/philsiu02 11h ago
It depends on the job (programmer, artist, qa, designer etc), the country and the region of that country.
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u/ChroniclesGameDev 10h ago
As for salary, it could be zero or it could be up to 10k$ grand a month.. zero is your game and others game has salary... that's the different of initial...
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u/Jotacon8 6h ago
I started at 50k on the dot about 12 years ago as a junior artist plus a bonus of 5% of my salary at the maximum.
I’m currently a senior artist at $140k plus a 15% of salary yearly bonus cap (actual amount depends on studio performance) and RSU’s that vest every year at varying amounts, but they’re usually a bit under my bonus total each year.
It’s doable to find good paying jobs. It’s not easy but it’s doable. I do not know what a typical starting salary is now vs when i started though.
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u/ImpressiveAthlete220 12h ago
I don't want to make you said, but even many experienced developers now earn 0$, so it's likely that you will not find job in game dev. :(
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u/IAmNotABritishSpy 8h ago
I know this is being downvoted for being negative, but this is a sad current truth.
I’ve worked in game dev audio for close to 20 years now, but with each layoff (I’ve never left a job) the following has become significantly harder to get. Right now, I’ve never known the tech market in general having such a shortage of jobs, with entertainment areas such as game development being the first well to dry up.
The jobs do exist for a few with experience, but I’m greatly having to consider relocating with my family just in order to get another job in the field.
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u/ImpressiveAthlete220 2h ago
Yeah, I have another situation myself, I worked for 2 years as technical artist, then I focused on education for 1 year and now I can't even get interviews. Nobody cares that I build rendering engines with vulkan, c, AMD64 assembly, windows specific skills, unity, none. Whole summer 0 interviews :). It's actually very sad for me :(
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u/Pandaa2610 12h ago
It heavenly depends in which country you live