Calling all aspiring video game industry employees, Gamedeveloperresearch.com has released its findings for its most recent video game industry salary survey.
The full survey is 110 pages long, and includes detailed information regarding salary packages, benefits and bonuses, and even compares salaries between Europe, USA and Canada.
Although it is a massive report, it contains some very interesting data, especially for those considering a possible career in video game production. Of course the survey only takes into account international trends, although many South Africans are known to be working abroad with AAA developers.
A whopping 4,050 respondents filled out the questionnaires, although some did not provide enough info to be included in the final survey results. Salaries below $10,000 were also excluded from the findings.
The average salary in the US for people working in the video game industry is $75,573 (R552,000) per year. This does not mean that you should expect to earn that much, as the average takes various positions and levels of experience into account. Also, although I have included the direct Rand conversion, it is important not to compare this figure to local salaries, as salaries, as well as living expenses are substantially higher in the US.
Average annual salaries for different positions
Executives: $ 129,167 (R950,00)
Marketing and PR: $83,804 (R611,500)
Programming: $80,320 (R586,000)
Production: $75,082 (R548, 000)
Art & Animation: $71,071 (R519,000)
Game Design (includes writers): $69,266 (R505, 500)
Writers alone: $61,786 (R451, 000)
Quality Assurance: $37,905 (R276, 500) although this average is brought down by inexperienced testers. For QA professionals who stick around for more than 6 years this figure more than doubles.
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