Gamasutra's sister education site Game Career Guide has published
detailed results of the latest Game Developer salary survey, including many specific U.S.-specific graphs for game development wages not previously available online.
The survey
originally debuted back in April in Game Developer magazine, and the version appearing on GameCareerGuide.com appeared in the
special Game Career Guide issue of Game Developer magazine. In the intro to this educational piece, it's explained:
"Seventy-three thousand dollars a year. That's the number that got a little bit of buzz this year. It's the average salary of a game developer. But it's just a number, and it's nowhere near what entry-level candidates should vie for when sealing the deal of their first industry job; nor is it a perfect bar against which to measure game developer salaries regionally, since the cost of living varies drastically between states like California, Texas, and North Carolina.
Here, we take a more tailored look at the statistics in light of what someone new to the game industry would need to know by paring down the results of Game Developer's sixth annual salary survey.
An extended version of this article, including information about developers' average level of education, differences in pay by gender, and more, can be found in the April 2007 issue of Game Developer magazine, available for downloadable purchase for $3.95."
The
full Game Career Guide article on the subject is now available, with specific multi-job graphs across programming, art, design, production, testing, and more. For high-end users and HR directors, the Game Developer Research survey is
also available for purchase.
