Around the hashtag #GameDevPaidMe, video game professionals share their experiences in the sector.
Through an initiative on twitter around the hashtag #GameDevPaidMe, various professionals in different areas of video game development are sharing what they earn or have earned in their different roles within studios around the world, a privileged window to the different conditions that Video game workers accept (or not) worldwide, both as permanent studio and freelance employees doing contract work.
How much is your work worth?
As expected, there are large divergences between the salaries in the USA and Canada with those in Europe, and also quite a few divergences between the different countries within the old continent, although as pointed out by the Spanish developer @ivan_lesan, based in Germany, it is necessary to take into account the difference in the cost of living on one side and the other of the Atlantic while detailing its progression, with a clear difference in income depending on the country.
Most of what I see in #GameDevPaidMe is based on US / Canada salaries, which can be somehow missleading for eurpean devs. Yeah, they earn a lot, but the living cost there is also huge.
So, in my case, in Germany:
Unity Jr Programmer: € 30k
Mid Programmer: € 40K– IVΛП (@ivan_lesan) June 8, 2020
Carlos G. Gurpegui, writer, author of The Dreamer of Providence (Paper Heroes) and part of Brainwash Gang (NONGÜNZ) explains that he earned € 1,200 for six months in Sindiecate (which closed after a scandal for which he is still owed money ) and that Brainwash Gang have been without salary for a year when they are involved in legal cases for the money and rights owed to them, so they decided to collectivize the income that only recently began to enter. While you have other income and other jobs to support yourself.
#GameDevPaidMe
Okay! Let’s go!
1200e for 6 months in Sindiecate. After that, the company blew up and they ow me money (like … 1k or so).
Some few freelancer works that vary from … 400e to 800e for a few weeks of work (nobody pays for a writer around here).
– Carlos G. Gurpegui ★ (@gur_pegui) June 8, 2020
The contrast with the salaries that come from the United States is spectacular. Katie De Sousa, former artist Riot. He left the company in 2016 earning $ 120,000 a year as a senior concept artist. Connie Griffith, formerly of Blizzard / Carbine / ArenaNet and currently a designer at Sucker Punch, started (like so many others) as a tester for $ 12 an hour, then went on to manage at Blizzard with a salary between 28,000 and 46,000, then a producer with 48,000 annual dollars plus 61,000 bonus and profit sharing; She would go from Blizzard to Carbine to work as a writer on WildStar for $ 65,000 a year and later would come to ArenaNet as a designer for $ 65-82,0000, She is currently a designer at Sucker Punch for $ 92,000 annually. A significant amount, but less than that charged by Katie Chironis, who currently charges $ 164,000 (plus bonus) as a designer at Riot.
#GameDevPaidMe
QA, Blizzard, 2003: $ 12 / hr no benefits
admin, Blizzard: 28k-46k
producer, Blizzard, 48k but 61k w / profit sharing and bonuses
writer, Carbine, 65k
designer, ArenaNet, 65k-82k
designer, Sucker Punch, 92kDMs are open https://t.co/mT8vRZ693R
– Connie “小 太妹” Griffith (@Squiddiez) June 7, 2020
The thread is especially recommended not only out of curiosity to see what developers earn in different countries and circumstances, but also to better guide the costs of contracts for work in the case of links, to assess the situation of the industry by country, evaluate personally the professional future that awaits those who are preparing for tomorrow or the particular circumstances of small teams or independent authors who are developing videogames right now.
