SAN FRANCISCO, April 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Editors at Game Developer
magazine, the leading video game industry publication, have released the
results of its seventh annual Game Developer Salary Survey, calculating an
average American game industry salary in 2007 of $73,600, slightly up from
2006's figure of $73,316.
Highlights of specific findings per category for the survey, which is
the only major publicly released analysis of salaries in the worldwide
video game industry, is available in further detail in the newly published
April 2008 issue of Game Developer magazine (http://www.gdmag.com),
include:
Programming: programmers are the highest paid talent next to high-end
businesspeople, with an average annual salary of $83,383. They are also
among the highest educated group; 50% hold bachelor's degrees and about 26%
have some graduate work.
Art & Animation: artists -- averaging a $66,594 salary -- are also a
well trained group, with 66% reporting at least a bachelor's degree. The
percentage of artists with six or more years of experience increased to
40%, up 5% over last year, as industry workers matured.
Game Design: averaging $63,649, design positions sprouted an average
$2,111 over last year, with writers new to the industry up by $6,000 to an
average of $51,731. In addition, Game Developer surveyed community managers
for the first time, with an average salary of $50,294 for the increasingly
important job function.
Production: of all the game development disciplines, production -- with
a salary average overall of $78,716 -- seems to be one of the most
welcoming to women, with 18% of the workforce made up of females. The
discipline as a whole saw an above-average, though somewhat marginal $1,585
bump from last year.
Quality Assurance: testers with less than three years experience make
up the largest percentage of this segment. Quality assurance is the lowest
paid of the game development disciplines, averaging $39,063, and also
receives the least in additional compensation -- although Q/A leads with
more than 6 years of experience average a salary of $70,658.
Audio: sound designers as a group earned more than they did in 2006, up
$3,474 on average over last year to $73,409. Interestingly, 40% of those in
the game audio industry have been working there for 6 years or more -- more
than the 36% for game design, but less than the 51% for production.
Business & Marketing: the business field as a whole remains the highest
compensated group in game development -- with an average salary of $101,848
-- and also receives the highest amount of additional compensation.
However, salaries vary significantly between individual job titles in this
section, with experienced executives making the most of any individual
section in the entire survey -- at $132,305 average for more than 6 years
experience.
"Our Salary Survey continues to provide canonical information on the
state of game pay," Simon Carless, publisher of Game Developer magazine,
said. "We hope the data presented by Game Developer magazine will serve to
both encourage aspiring developers, as well as focus the attention of
increasingly important new industry positions such as community managers."
An extended version of the "Game Developer Salary Survey" includes much
more detailed U.S. regional and growth data for year-over-year results from
2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, plus international information from Canada and
Europe. It will be of particular interest to business and HR professionals
in the game industry, and is now available for purchase through Game
Developer Research -- more information is available at
http://www.gamedevresearch.com.
About Study Methodology
The survey was conducted February-March 2008 with the assistance of
research firm Audience Insights. More than 4,860 responses were gathered
from participants in total. The survey excluded salaries under $10,000 as
well as salary figures from students and educators. The small number of
reported salaries over $202,500 was excluded to prevent their high numbers
from unnaturally skewing the average. The sample represented in the salary
survey can be projected to the overall game developer community with a
margin of error for the U.S. statistics of plus or minus 1.7% at a 95%
confidence level.
About Think Services (http://www.think-services.com/)
Think Services connects specialized communities worldwide using
innovative media, educational events, consulting, training and
certification. Providing comprehensive opportunities for people to learn
from, network with, and inspire each other, Think Services builds strong
brands and works within communities to foster a unique affinity with its
products and services. The division's flagship products include the Game
Developers Conference, the Webby Award-winning Gamasutra.com, Game
Developer magazine, the International Customer Management Institute, HDI
(formerly the Help Desk Institute), and Dr. Dobb's Journal. Think Services
is a subsidiary of United Business Media
(http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com/), a global provider of news
distribution and specialist information services with a market
capitalization of more than $2.5 billion. To learn more, visit
http://www.think-services.com/.
About United Business Media (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com)
United Business Media Plc (UBM.L) is a leading global business media
company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers
together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information
they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional
commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists
to jewelry traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 5,000
staff in more than 30 countries are organized into specialist teams that
serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to
work effectively and efficiently.
SOURCE Think Services
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.think-services.com
http://www.gamedevresearch.com http://www.gdmag.com
CONTACT:
Craig Sinel, craig@fortyseven.com, or Sibel
Sunar, sibel@fortyseven.com, both of fortyseven communications,
+1-323-658-1200, for Think Services
|
