Leading game industry website Gamasutra, a UBM Tech property, revealed the results of its annual Game Developer Salary Survey.
Results can be viewed in PDF format, as well as Gamasutra’s dedicated Salary Survey page http://www.gamasutra.com/salarysurvey2014.pdf.
The survey showed that, overall, salaried game developers in the U.S. made $83,060 on average in 2013, down 2% from 2012. Business and management salaries topped all other disciplines once again this year, averaging $101,572, followed by audio professionals ($95,682) and programmers ($93,251). Quality assurance professionals earned the lowest average salary at $54,833.
Conducted in May 2014 for the period between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013, Gamasutra gathered well over 4,000 unique responses worldwide, with help from market research company Audience Insights.
“There were major transitions in 2013 that affected the way game developers make a living,” said Gamasutra editor-in-chief Kris Graft. “Whether talking about the advancements in the democratization of game development, or the release of a new generation of consoles, it was a year in which the disruption and chaos of prior years settled in just enough for game developers to identify and adapt to a new reality. Despite the challenges, there’s still an undercurrent of enthusiasm.”
Key findings from the survey:
– Average annual pay among U.S.-based salaried game developers in 2013 was $83,060 (down 2%)
– Worldwide, solo indies made an average of $11,812 (down 49%)
– Worldwide, members of an indie team averaged $50,833 (up 161%)
– Per discipline, average U.S. salaries were:
Programmers: $93,251
Artists and animators: $74,349
Game designers: $73,864
Producers: $82,286
Audio professionals: $95,682
Quality Assurance: $54,833
Business and management: $101,572
– Canadian developers averaged USD $71,445 (up 9%)
– European developers averaged USD $46,232 (flat)
Download the full Salary Survey results in PDF form here: http://www.gamasutra.com/salarysurvey2014.pdf
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