We continue to publish the results of our salary survey chapter by chapter, which we conducted from April to May 2023. This publication focuses on the salary levels of the average Russian-speaking gaming specialist living in Kazakhstan.
We remind you that we are currently conducting a new salary survey. Through this survey, we're collecting up-to-date data on the salary situation among Russian-speaking and Russian specialists. You can participate in it here:
The distribution of Russian-speaking specialists in Kazakhstan by field of activity closely mirrors the overall industry. Notable differences include a significantly lower proportion of mid-level managers and the absence of top management.
A characteristic of the Russian-speaking gaming specialist community in Kazakhstan is the predominant number of Middle-level specialists. Their share here is not only greater than the average in Russian-speaking game development but is also larger compared to that in Russia (48.9% versus 41.7%). This leads to the hypothesis that Kazakhstan has become the main relocation hub from Russia for mid-level specialists.
The proportion of gaming specialists aged 25 to 34 in the Russian-speaking game dev community of Kazakhstan reaches record values relative to overall industry indicators (74.4% versus 63.2%). In Russia, it was 57.4% at the time of the survey.
The average monthly expenses of Russian-speaking gaming specialists living in Kazakhstan are among the lowest in the countries to which relocations have occurred. This is very close to the Russian level, amounting to $1108. The median value is even lower at $1000. In Russia, these are $815 and $700, respectively.
Despite relatively low monthly expenses, Russian-speaking gaming specialists living in Kazakhstan have salary expectations that align with industry-wide levels, averaging $3448 with a median of $3000. Across the Russian-speaking gaming industry, the average is $3983 and the median $3125, respectively.
Two primary and notably equal groups are statistically significant when discussing the salaries of Russian-speaking gaming specialists in Kazakhstan: "specialists with a salary from $1500 but less than $2000" and "specialists from $2000 but less than $2500." The peculiarity of Kazakhstan here is that it is the only relocation region among those examined in the study where the first group's proportion matches that of the second in numbers.
Kazakhstan is the only relocation region where more than a quarter of Russian-speaking specialists earn less than $1000. In other countries where relocation occurred, this proportion typically does not exceed 20%. The average salary for Russian-speaking developers in Kazakhstan is $1834 with a median of $1700.
Among Russian-speaking gaming specialists living in Kazakhstan, the level of dissatisfaction with their salary is very high—nearly 60%. This is due to both the low level of salaries (relative to the average in the Russian-speaking gaming industry) and high salary expectations, which in the country align with those of the broader Russian-speaking game dev sector.
Methodology
This study is the result of the third salary survey of Russian-speaking representatives in the gaming industry. The survey was conducted by WN Media Group from April to May 2023. It involved voluntary completion of a freely distributed questionnaire.
A total of 1004 completed questionnaires were received, of which 47 were from specialists located in Kazakhstan.