Wages still up but growth has slowed behind inflation rates, Develop survey shows
The average earnings for a game developer is £32,203 ($50,794) according to new data.
As part of a comprehensive salary survey conducted by Develop and MCV, answers from 298 game developers across the globe were compiled to give the final figure.
The £32,203 wage figure is balanced by a wide range of disciplines in the development sector, from art to coding to audio, production and design. A breakdown by job title can be found below.
The annual salary for developers back in 2010 was put at £31,964, meaning this year’s salary has risen by about £240.
But inflation rate calculations from the Consumer Price Index suggest the 2010 average salary would today be at £32,603.
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The 2010 figure represented a £1,500 gain on 2009, suggesting that wage growth is slowing.
The Develop and MCV salary survey sees hundreds of industry people bare all on the numbers in their wage slips.
Average annual salary figures, broken into roles, is found below:
ART
Lead Artist - £37,000
Artist - £26,806
CODING
Lead Programmer – £39,958
Programmer – £27,416
Junior Programmer - £19,643
AUDIO
Lead Audio Roles - £45,200
Junior Audio Roles - £27,500
PRODUCTION
Lead Producer (Internal) - £41,500
Producer (Internal) - £31,195
Producer (External/publishing) - £42,250*
DESIGN
Lead Designer - £34,000
Designer - £24,375
Junior - £21,785
*External Producer salary can rise to £46,000 depending on publisher size
Another reason I won't be coming back to the UK. Significantly higher salaries than that for Lead Programmers here in Canada - not to mention the lower cost of living and a nicer working environment.
The UK pays so poorly - I was involved in a lot of hiring and interviewing in my last dev job in the industry, we were a big-name UK AAA studio but would be offering probably less than half what you'd get in an equivalent US studio.
It seems the UK is only interested in low grade jobs, people in service sector on phones, or foreign workers for picking strawberries.
And if you try to scrape a living anywhere above this, they tax you to high heaven. Anyhow, there are nicer places and environments to live/work aside from the money issue.
I wonder what management and executives get paid. Programmer pay is... disappointing, particularly for juniors.
I've been trying to move into games for years, and, with great regret, I just turned down my first game dev role because I couldn't afford a 30% pay cut.
And they say there's a skill shortage. Where's the incentive?
Maybe I should try Canada.
Bizarre that Lead Audio is higher than any other senior position.
Seems more likely that the sample size is too small to be accurate. Undermines the credibility of the whole piece.
Some freebie figures for you - Senior Designer £33k + royalty/completion bonuses (typically one 4 figure bonus p.a.)
Relax guys, this is *not* a UK survey
"..answers from 298 game developers *across the globe* were compiled to give the final figure."
Did you not get any good QA results? I took part in this survey, would have been interested to know the standard. Unless it's so bad it couldn't be printed
