Video Game Designer Salary
What is the video game designer salary? If you’re considering a career in the booming video game design industry, and you want to know, “How much does a video game designer make?”, you’re probably curious about the different types of jobs available and exactly how much the pay…although industry standards vary widely depending on the talent and technical skill of video game designers, there are some ways to calculate a common video game design salary range.
Salary by Job Description
These figures in USD show the payscale for different personnel in video game design jobs. The first column lists different game designer positions. Figures in the second column are the median salary for less than three years of experience. Figures in the third column are for three to six years of experience. Figures in the fourth column are for over six years of experience in a video game designer job.
* Programmer/Engineer $52,989 $73,618 $90,658
* Lead Programmer $76,848 $81,591 $100,528
* Technical Director N/A $107,738 $121,071
* Artist/Animator $45,675 $61, 065 $69,457
* Lead Artist/Animator N/A $68,112 $82,750
* Art Director N/A $65,313 $98,696
* Video Game Designer $43,486 $54,777 $69,813
* Writer $51,944 $61,000 N/A
* Creative Director N/A $72,125 $88,734
* Tester $24,797 $29,722 N/A
Artists
For example, you may be interested in becoming a video game artist for characters or backgrounds (or both); if this is the type of job you want, you can expect to earn a video game design salary of about 65K. Of course, brand-new video game artists won’t make as much as seasoned pros that have proven themselves through the years. If you’re willing to put in the time and produce the kind of art work that video developers really want, you have an excellent chance of earning a competitive salary for your efforts. Some companies will offer full benefits, such as medical and dental benefits, while others will hire video game artists on a part-time or contract basis (which frees them up to avoid paying expensive benefits!). Choosing the right video game development company is important.
Animators
If you like, you can also branch out as a freelance animator or video game artist who works from a home studio; sometimes, these freelancers earn even more than typical video game design salary amounts for video game artists (simply because they can work as much as they like and still get paid for every drawing that they produce). There are plenty of options for the best artists, but you need to be extremely talented to reach the highest levels in this competitive and demanding field…
Programmers
Programmers (also known as coders) in the video game industry typically earn a video game design salary from 75k to 150k – yes, it is a lucrative job! However, you need education, certifications, and significant personal dedication to excellence to make it as a highly-paid, successful video game programmer…there is no doubt that it is a great job if you have what it takes.
When considering the video game designer salary, you should always consider which country the designer is working in – certain countries that are not as developed may not offer the competitive wages found in the USA, Canada, or Japan; therefore, “How much does a video game designer make?” is often quite a subjective question.
One excellent way to learn more about how much a video game designer make is by visiting job boards for video game programmers – you’ll usually see a video game design salary range for each posted position.
Video game development project managers (also known as producers) who are also investors in new video game projects can actually get very rich, since they frequently earn a small percentage of every sale. A typical salary for a top-tier developer can be very high, and it’s not uncommon for such developers to earn a video game designer salary range of 85k to 250k per year (not counting bonuses and royalties from any back-end deal-making).
As you can see, the question, “How much does a video game designer make?” has many answers, depending on which area of this booming industry is your specialty. Getting a great education in video game design or video game production is the best way to ensure the highest salary for any position. Now that you know a typical video game designer salary range, you have the knowledge you need to make a smart decision about your future; the next step should be choosing the right video game design schools for degree programs and technical certifications.
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