We continue to publish the results of the salary survey, conducted from April to May 2023, chapter by chapter. This publication focuses on the income levels of Russian-speaking game artists.
We remind you that we are currently conducting a new salary survey. Through this, we aim to collect up-to-date data on salary situations among Russian-speaking and Russian professionals. You can participate by following this link:
The average salary for an artist in the Russian-speaking gaming industry is $1,820, with a median of $1,200.
The largest salary group among artists earns between $1,000 and less than $1,500 per month. Unlike programmers, very few artists earn more than $3,500.
The pie chart clearly shows that Russian-speaking game artists generally expect salaries between $700 and less than $2,500.
The distribution of Russian-speaking game artists by country slightly differs from the overall situation. Turkey and Montenegro are among the top relocation destinations. The situation with Turkey requires special mention. In the relocation survey conducted in April 2022, most respondents who had left the country (25.4%) reported moving to Turkey. However, due to widespread denials in obtaining the local residence permit required for legal stay, most game professionals had left Turkey by spring 2023.
There are two main specializations among artists in the gaming industry — 2D Artist and 3D Artist. Together, they comprise 48.3% of the professionals in this field.
The base professions (2D Artist and 3D Artist) have the lowest salaries within the field. Both UI/UX artists and concept artists earn significantly more. As for maximum rates, leaders traditionally can expect the highest pay. The median salary for an art manager reaches $3,700.
The average starting salary for a novice is $887. Similar to programmers, there is not a significant difference in salary between Senior and Lead roles. However, the difference is substantial between Lead and Head positions.
Methodology
This research is the result of the third salary survey conducted among Russian-speaking representatives of the gaming industry. The survey was carried out by WN Media Group from April to May 2023 through voluntary questionnaires (participants independently filled out a freely distributed questionnaire).
A total of 1,004 completed questionnaires were received, with 201 of them from artists.