The average annual salary of an American game developer at the end of 2012 was $84 thousand, Game Developer reports in the April issue based on the results of its own survey. This is almost $3 thousand more than in 2011.
Salaries have grown for most developers: 64% received more money than a year earlier, 29% did not see an increase, the remaining 7% lost in income. When asked if they consider the gaming industry a wonderful place to work, 24% of the surveyed developers fully agreed with this, 45% agreed, 21% reacted neutrally, 7% (apparently, those whose salaries have become less) disagreed, another 3% completely disagreed with the statement.
Only 2% of respondents do not see the potential for their own growth. 22% of developers are completely satisfied with their position and prospects, another 41% are simply satisfied, and 27% of respondents replied that they are only partially satisfied.
On the pages of Game Developer, they also write that most developers are worried about the decline of AAA development (and console development, in general), taking place against the background of the rapid growth of the mobile segment. Developers are wary of the latter. Firstly, the mobile games market is already jaded, and creating a noticeable application is a problem. Secondly, the free-to-play scheme still raises questions for those who are used to treating the game as an end product, not a service. There is a third point: now there is another flourishing of independent development, when nothing restricts the imagination of a game developer (sit and create), but independence is often not only creative freedom, but also low wages and high risks.
If we talk in more detail about salaries, then the picture, “on average for a hospital” in the United States looks like this:
- Programming: $92,151
- Art and Animation: $75,009
- Game Design: $75,065
- Production: $84,127
- Audio: $81,543
- Testing: $48,611
- Entrepreneurial activity: $102,934