quote:Original post by netanator
Just wanted to put my two cents worth in here. I have been doing database programming, ecommerce, java/web related stuff since 1998 when I started with computers and actually making money at it. At first it is/was cool and fun because something new was always coming out and I was learning new stuff.

Now it is old and boring. The industry is falling apart and corporate jobs suck because you never know when may be your last day because your job is being offshored to some place like India or China or some other place because the CEO has decided it is not only cool, but can save the company money.

Office politics suck big time and it seems that the e-commerce type jobs tend to attract little, back stabbing, weenie know it alls that have nothing else in life but to memorize technical books.

If you are getting into this field ( computers in general ) for the money. Get out! This isn''t the field anymore. IT was fun while it lasted, but some newbie commanding a salary of 70K just cuz you know HTML will never, ever happen again.

Get into this field because you like computers, solving problems, making computers do things, being creative . . . in other words if you are coming into this field for the money - that''s the wrong reason.

Things may not be that way in the game industry. I don''t know. I am just beginning to learn game programming because of the boring day to day life that is provided by my day job ( database administrator/ programmer ). I imagine that as most game companies are corproate entities, they probably are somewhat similiar.

Sorry for the long rant/post. But like I said, I had to put my two cents in.

JIm

Well, I wasn''t really coming into the field for money... I like to program, it''s learning another language, with which you can communicate with NON-living things... I knew I had to become somehting in the field of Computers but I just wanted to know how much they get...


BattleGuard

Whenever I try to find a better signature than this... Well, I can''t... This is it, Sorry...

All of this is based on USD. It is in the book Get in the Game!:Careers in The Games Industry
Newbie: 40,000-60,000
Mid-Level: 65,000-80,000
Lead: 80,000-110,000


Scott Simontis
Game Programmer in Training
Have a nice day!
Current Project: Learn DirectX

quote:All of this is based on USD. It is in the book Get in the Game!:Careers in The Games Industry
Newbie: 40,000-60,000
Mid-Level: 65,000-80,000
Lead: 80,000-110,000

Your data are pretty old pal. Four years ago i was earning $125 ooo [salary + shares ] but those days are death for the most of us here. With the recession starting in 2001 and death hopes on dot com business , collaps of the many firms earnings fall a lot. Now i earn about 50 000 a year and i''m happy because i still have a job [was unemployed for a few months ].So exept if you don''t really get some real talent don''t expect so much money . I don''t want to be missunderstood i''m not some kind of Michael Jordan of programming but i have a huge experience and am now writing software for oldtimers who could barely read. Crup .
Jason
PS
I''m happy i sold my stocks at ''99 and bought a house now i would be in situation to rent some small cottige .

quote:Original post by BattleGuard
how much does the average game-programmer make??? And is this the kind of programming that pays most, I mean I have a lot of other options I just wanted to know which one is the best!!!

Most game programmers, from what I understand, are not in it for the money.

"Making money for doing what you love to do, isn't that the dream?..."


Rob Loach
Current Project: Go Through Object-Oriented Programming in C++ by Robert Lafore

"Do or do not. There is no try."
- Yoda


[edited by - Rob Loach on June 3, 2003 4:54:31 PM]

games programming is a slave job. At least in the two companies I''ve been working with. You don''t get paid much (really, I can''t afford a new car, not even a Fiat), and they make you work like it''s some kind of joke, see how far they can push you before you brake into tears like a baby. The deadlines are as tight as a nun''s *SENSORED*, and surprise surprise, Alpha and Beta builds always happen at the start and at the end of the summer, so you''re pretty much boned in between. No summer holiday, no sun tan (only the programmer suntan, on the forearms). Besides, your job is on the line if they fail to make decent money and secure several projects for the next year. It''s a daring young man''s job. I can''t see myself doing that after 35. It''s like sports, it drains you. Besides, I am not sure I want to live past 35, after all the pain and suffering they inflicted upon me.

Only joking. Games Programming is great. But it''s tough. Be prepared to get exploited on the grounds that it''s a ''fun'' job. :D

Really, the solution after that is work on some easy, low profile, high pay coding job, wear a tie and a suit for the first time in my life, and program games as a hobby.

According to the University of Texas Career Center, entry-level game designers earn around $25,000. At the other end of the scale, experience can raise your salary up to $40,000. If you are one of the lucky ones who creates a winner, royalties can bring in more than $100,000.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) estimates that computer programmers (including computer game designers) had median earnings of $47,550 a year in 1998. The middle 50 percent of programmers earned between $36,020 and $70,610 a year.


Hope this helps.