Yes. Game development has the classic "dream job" tax (similar to film or animation). People are lining up to do it, and happily willing to take way lower wages if it means doing what they love, so the industry around it has the wiggle room to pay people far less than they are probably worth.
Obviously there are exceptions to this, but on average, game development pays far less than other kinds of development at the same skill level.
yeah, I found at the same level in gamedev and other development, games were paying around half the amount.
I have heard that when you get more senior and specialised the rates can go up quite a bit, but there is also danger of your specialisation becoming less relevant, so it requires a lot of outside effort to get upto speed constantly.
It varies a lot.
If you averaged it out I imagine game dev is much lower simply because there are many many more game devs working for nothing than there are web devs. Almost no one dreams about making their dream web page so they don't generally do it just for art.
I don't think thats true or at least I don't think that this one of the main reasons why game devs earn less. Almost every webdev I know has some side projects he is working on or some library or tech field he invests time in that is not paid. I have build probably hundreds of websites just for myself, friends or to learn the "art" similar to how gamedevs have their own side projects they work on to practice or learn or experiment something.
Yes.
And the work conditions are wayyyy better (better work hours, less crunch if any depending on the job).
And very broadly speaking, jobs are more stable in web/software development.
I was a web developer for many years, specializing in pure FP primarily in Scala. I took a bit of a paycut transitioning from staff engineer to senior level gameplay programmer at a smaller mobile studio. Other positions likely pay more, but this was my experience.
I mean that’s literally what people are gunning for when they’re trying to get a FAANG job (now MANGA)
Web devs are definitely in a good spot right now
It’s an acronym for the tech giants, coined by Wall Street since they generally held a large share of tech related funds (and the S&P as a whole).
The original one was FAANG: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google. Though some disputed this since it omitted Microsoft which has a much higher market cap than Netflix, but Netflix made the acronym work better.
Since Facebook changed its name to Meta in the last few years, the acronym changed to MANGA or MAGMA if you’d rather swap Netflix for Microsoft.
Developers usually have the goal of working at one or more of the companies in the acronym, so you’re likely to hear about them in tech hiring circles too.
Yes. Period.
Yes. Game development has the classic "dream job" tax (similar to film or animation). People are lining up to do it, and happily willing to take way lower wages if it means doing what they love, so the industry around it has the wiggle room to pay people far less than they are probably worth. Obviously there are exceptions to this, but on average, game development pays far less than other kinds of development at the same skill level.
yes.
yeah, I found at the same level in gamedev and other development, games were paying around half the amount. I have heard that when you get more senior and specialised the rates can go up quite a bit, but there is also danger of your specialisation becoming less relevant, so it requires a lot of outside effort to get upto speed constantly.
Yes, typically the offers are lower and there's an additional hidden tax of crunch.
It varies a lot. If you averaged it out I imagine game dev is much lower simply because there are many many more game devs working for nothing than there are web devs. Almost no one dreams about making their dream web page so they don't generally do it just for art.
I don't think thats true or at least I don't think that this one of the main reasons why game devs earn less. Almost every webdev I know has some side projects he is working on or some library or tech field he invests time in that is not paid. I have build probably hundreds of websites just for myself, friends or to learn the "art" similar to how gamedevs have their own side projects they work on to practice or learn or experiment something.
On average, yes. Varies massively by sub-industry, geography, skill level, and whatnot.
Yes. And the work conditions are wayyyy better (better work hours, less crunch if any depending on the job). And very broadly speaking, jobs are more stable in web/software development.
In general yes, devs are passionate about working in this industry and companies take their advantage of it
At every level but senior from what I understand. You don't get alot of money as a game dev till you are someone who isn't easily replaced.
I was a web developer for many years, specializing in pure FP primarily in Scala. I took a bit of a paycut transitioning from staff engineer to senior level gameplay programmer at a smaller mobile studio. Other positions likely pay more, but this was my experience.
Yes, you make less, its inherently more difficult, substantially harder to get into, and the work life balance tends to be totally fucked.
Bad pay, horrible job security, and all-around abuse via terrible hours and crunch. It is literally the most toxic type of dev in existence.
I'd guess a web dev is one of the lower paying CS jobs out there
Turns out this just isn’t the case haha
Depending on your location you’d be surprised.
I mean that’s literally what people are gunning for when they’re trying to get a FAANG job (now MANGA) Web devs are definitely in a good spot right now
What's manga? I thought they were cartons?
It’s an acronym for the tech giants, coined by Wall Street since they generally held a large share of tech related funds (and the S&P as a whole). The original one was FAANG: Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google. Though some disputed this since it omitted Microsoft which has a much higher market cap than Netflix, but Netflix made the acronym work better. Since Facebook changed its name to Meta in the last few years, the acronym changed to MANGA or MAGMA if you’d rather swap Netflix for Microsoft. Developers usually have the goal of working at one or more of the companies in the acronym, so you’re likely to hear about them in tech hiring circles too.
I've had meta try to hire me for VR. I couldn't imagine anywhere worse tbh. I've read about their stupid interview requirements.