trickyhero
Member
They might get paid ok in some positions, but the job is tough and has insane hours and basicly no benifits in most places.
But why not use that salary difference for your benefit if you are a game studio? Give the grunt work to cheaper city and only pay premium for advanced algorithm programming, art direction etc. Globalization is real, like it or not, and ignoring it is usually bad for business.
Ehm, that's my point. The US is expensive compared to other countries, that's why AAA games from the US exploded in budget.
And hence why there is no B tier market. Why would i fund a B tier game if i'm paying AAA wages to keep it going?You're all over the map. I said B tier is about less people and resources. That's not about lowering the wage your average person makes. Your core salary will be approximately the same on a per person basis whether you're B tier or AAA tier. What makes a difference between the two tiers is the number of people, the amount of resources at your disposal, and the scope of the project.
Except you kind of did.I didn't say their salaries have zero basis. I said they aren't the most important reason studios are in trouble.
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Even though the largest share of game budget costs come from dev salaries
I'm sorry but this is a cop out. "it's always management fault" , but management can't change math. If they can't underbid for a contract or keep the payroll in check they are going belly up.Their salary would be fine for their skill sets if the hours and job uncertainty didn't suck so badly.
If a studio is running with razor thin profits that is either a consequence of management selecting to use such a strategy to compete with more lucrative teams or just being inept. Management knows for the skill sets of artists and programmers they have to compete with a labor market with other software and media companies.
at lower wages. Again this is already happening. Companies are failing and they are being replaced by smaller, nimbler indie companies that often pay a lower wage.Since most studios seem to be running on razor thin margins and its improbable most of them are being dumb then a good number of them are trying to work in a very competitive market that can't support as many different companies currently in it. They'll either have to consolidate (i.e. 38 Studios, Sigil Games being absorbed and Rockstar, Blizzard absorbing others) or go break up into indie teams with vastly lower budgets selling products at vastly lower prices.
Any claims of brain drain in the game industry I think are massively overblown. Are people leaving, yeah I'm sure some are, but considering how incredibly compeitive the job marketplace is right now for game programmers, and how many states and countries are offering tax breaks for studios, this does not concern me.Game industry is one of the lower paying software fields for programmers already, with talent often leaving because compensations aren't competitive(for people that don't mind doing other, less exciting jobs).
Will Smith made a lot of money on After Earth. More than these devs will make in their career.
well there are "lazy developers" according to gaffers.
Except you kind of did.
I'm sorry but this is a cop out. "it's always management fault" , but management can't change math. If they can't underbid for a contract or keep the payroll in check they are going belly up.
We are already seeing studios do various things to keep their wages costs down
at lower wages. Again this is already happening. Companies are failing and they are being replaced by smaller, nimbler indie companies that often pay a lower wage.
at lower wages. Again this is already happening. Companies are failing and they are being replaced by smaller, nimbler indie companies that often pay a lower wage.
Any claims of brain drain in the game industry I think are massively overblown. Are people leaving, yeah I'm sure some are, but considering how incredibly compeitive the job marketplace is right now for game programmers, and how many states and countries are offering tax breaks for studios, this does not concern me.
And from what i've seen, most people upset in the industry aren't angry over money. They are more concerned with overall quality of life.
Indie game developers make next to nothing yet have delivered some of the best games this generation.
Take off about 20% for taxes, more or less. Insurance depends on the plan, family or individual etc but could be up to $1,000/month or morejust curious: whats left after tax and insurence when you have an anual income of about 50.000 in the us?
Something like 40-45k after tax.just curious: whats left after tax and insurence when you have an anual income of about 50.000 in the us?
Take off about a third for taxes, more or less. Insurance depends on the plan, family or individual etc but could be up to $1,000/month or more
Something like 40-45k after tax.
Bet you have a PS3, Mr. Rockefella.I also like how the premise of his entire article is based off of what car the developer of a game drives, as if that is directly correlated to his income.
Would you like to have a conversation about people, specifically Americans, buying things they can't afford? I can show you my bank account. I can show you my credit card statements. I can show you my possessions.
It would probably make you laugh.
He's a bit more right than I was, I edited after googling thisthx, but
!?
http://interactive.taxfoundation.org/taxgraph/FAQ.htmlLets say youre a single person earning $50,000. If you have no other income and take the standard deduction, youll owe $6,250 in income tax, plus $2,825 in payroll taxes, for a federal tax burden of $9,075. If you divide $9,075 by $50,000, you get 18.15% - in other words, 18% of your income goes to the federal government, and your average tax burden is 18%.
From what I've heard, programmers often get pushed to the limit and it is a very consuming job.
He's also ignoring that clearly CliffyB's the exception, not the norm. There's debates to be had over his statements, but "all developers are paid too much" absolutely is not one of those.This guy is a moron. Seriously. It angers me that he believes these are justified statements.
He's a bit more right than I was, I edited after googling this
http://interactive.taxfoundation.org/taxgraph/FAQ.html
That's just Federal tax though, you have State and sometimes City income tax on top of that. So yeah, closer to 25-30% when all is said and done. $50,000 isn't a big salary for people with a family.
In other words, the average yearly earnings of a video game developer is about six figures!
He works on the player behavior team helping to discipline players on a free-to-play game which utilizes micro-transactions to earn revenue.
I have a $60,000 sports car. Am I earning too much? Should I ask my boss to pay me less?
This piece reads like a bad N4G blog post.
It is not enough for me to lean back on my comfy couch and play games, I need to know that somewhere someone worked 100 hours a week for minimum wage before I can get the most pleasure out of my purchase.
Pay should be higher for police officers, teachers, and those who work for aid organizations, but it really shouldn't come at the expense of game developers. That's an extremely weird correlation to draw.