Slashdot Mirror
Game Designers Earn More In UK Than In US
Mark Graham writes "A number of surveys have recently put out details on the wages games developers earn in various parts of the world. Surveys by Develop in Europe and Game Developer in the US were among these. A report now compares the salary levels of various roles in the US and Europe. Turns out that game designers and producers do better in the UK, while artists and QA/testing wages are relatively the same on both sides of the Atlantic — and QA specifically is the worst paid; the lowest salaries being around £12,000/$25,000 — ouch! Luckily, I'm a programmer, but looks like I need to move country: we have the best paid roles in games development, but programmers are better off in America."
That's cute and all, but what is that in pocket money? When you take out taxes, health care, rent, gas, water, electricity, phone, internet, etc... how much is left? Is there still an advantage in the UK? Does the advantage switch to the US? Are they about the same then?
Now you'll have to go based on average. Things are more expensive in NYC, Seattle, San Francisco, London, etc. than in smaller places like Dallas, Kansas City, Omaha, etc.
Speaking of which, how does the average salary of the place most of these jobs are located in effect this? Are the UK numbers higher because most video game jobs are located in extremely expensive areas?
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
and us ones can work 80+ hour weeks with no overtime pay.
Salaries are higher across all walks of life in the UK.
Taxation and the cost of living is however a significantly larger proportion of ones income.
Someone earning in Britain might not expect to keep very much of their salary after tax and bills, but conversely they will not have to save for healthcare or education out of their $25K/a.
Swings and roundabouts.
"There is nothing nice about Steve Jobs and nothing evil about Bill Gates." - Chuck Peddle
I know a lot of programmers and one artist and I believe all of them make vastly more than indicated on that chart. I think the chart is a bullshit propaganda piece to get people to believe that programmers and other roles make less money than they really do.
I have especially grave doubts in the low and high ends. I wouldn't count intern and 12 year old kids' ("a friend of a CTO's kid who wanted to work here") salaries as low end. And I will never believe than no programmer makes over 70k in game development. Game dev is technically one of the most challenging things you could be doing as a programmer and it must pay a lot more than what's indicated by the article.
The US dollar is very weak right now, to the point where European banks are considering propping it up. Is it really such a surprise that US salaries are comparatively low if you only consider the exchange ratio?
Exchange ratio's don't look at cost of living in each place. An economist would look at what a "basket of goods" would buy in each country to do a comparison. Exchange rates are based on market forces, and don't necessarily have anything to do with buying power in each country.
AccountKiller
Yeah, when I was a teenager I wanted to be a games programmer.. then I actually found out how much competition there was to get into the industry and figured, hell, I could have all the fun of programming games without the stress of being overworked and underpaid by doing it in my own time.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Very true, you win the "basic understanding of economics" prize, which seems to have eluded the submitter.
The worst situation is for those who work in the UK but get paid in dollars (usually Americans.)
If you are looking for money, you don't look at making games.
That market consistently pays lower then equivilent skilled programmers in other areas. You make games for passion, not for money. In that case, whether you make more or less money then another country is really not relevant.
When I have looked at jobs in different countries I have found that jobs in the US are typically better paid, especially compared with living costs.
However, the work hours are also much, much longer. 37.5 hours is a standard UK work week (also in many other European countries) and you typically get paid overtime for working any longer. Even so, more than 45-50 hours per week in one job is very uncommon and is typically only done by people with very high paid jobs. Also, the statutory minimum holiday is 24 days a year. In my current job this year I got 25 days + 5 days special wedding leave and 2 study days.
It depends on what you're after really. If I wanted to go somewhere to build up a nice bit of cash over a short period, no question I'd go to the US. However, I'd rather have a nice comfortable life with an interesting job and plenty of spare time to enjoy myself and so I'd much rather stay in Europe.
In Britain, good quality health care is free. In the US, you can't afford it. The same applies to a lot of other things - what happens if your employer goes bankrupt, or your boss sacks you because he doesn't like your haircut? You need to add a lot - maybe 30-50% - to a US salary to get equivalent UK salary.
I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
See I hate surveys like this, they so give you the wrong info.
Did you know that the price of living in the UK is also higher then here, so guess what that extra 15k a year for developers goes to paying their bills, taxes, mortgages, etc...
In the end, with the Canadian dollar being much higher now then before, we could actually say we are making more money GLOBALLY then they....
For the people to whom this survey would actually matter: Kids just out of college deciding where to start their careers. They should be focusing more on the starting salaries, which were consistently higher in the US.
If you want the perfect trifecta of broke-ness, you can try American Grad-Student at CERN.
Though I suggest you don't.
What I get from this is UK game companies reward good designers more than American game companies do.. and American companies reward good programmers more than UK ones. The net result should be UK games should have better gameplay, and US games should have better graphics.
Sadly, I fall into this category. As an indie game developer living in the UK I get paid in USD... and gnash my teeth a lot as the rates swirl around. Also, housing here costs a LOT more than where I used to live in the US, but it varies an awful lot city to city in the US.
I've gotcher 'Women In Gaming' RIGHT HERE!