A lot of programmer are telling me that game programming isn''t well paid compared with other kind of programming like: (Web Programming, Windows Programming & Microsoft technology (.Net framework)) etc.. is that true ? I wanted to know your opinion -because it could be a factor for me does the difference of salary is that big ? anyone have a couple of website I can see salary study ? Thanks guys

The July 2001 issue of Game Developer magazine had an in-depth suvey about this. I''ll try to post some of the relevant information. Since you''re interested in programming, I''ll just post that, but they had everything else like artists, designers, etc.

Ok, a regular game programmer with 1-2 years experience makes on average (all of these figures will be average salaries) $55.478 thousand a year. with 3-5 years experience, $62.394, and with 6+, $69.128. For lead game programmers, 1-2 years, $56.539. For 3-5 years, $61.775. And for 6+, $88.358.

About 54.3% of regular game programmers have 1-2 years of experience. About 31.9% have 3-5 years, and 13.8% have 6+ years. About 36.7% lead programmers have 1-2 years. 47% have 3-5 years. And 16.3% have 6+ years.

Also, for all programmers, 97% were male, 3% female. Average female salary - $70,013. Average male, $62,488. The highest salary they found was $300,000.

Sorry I don''t have any information on regular (application) programmers. But I''m pretty sure they make on average more than game developers. Hope you found some of this useful.


"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the dreams."
- Willy Wonka

Minimum I''ve recieved for a VB job is $23/hr....I had 1-2 years non-work experience when I started.

Epolevne

You''d think with the level of difficulty and competition there is to get into the game industry the salaries provided would be quite good.

Not sure what you talking about but starting out at nearly 60k/year after just 1-2 years of experiance is REALLY good. I''m actually suprised they are so high, being that everyone talks like regular application programming pays more than game programming. I guess regular application programming pays really really good...