Re:Game developers sharing their salaries on Twitter
by Oddskar on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @07:15AM
(#27116622)
Anecdotally the way to achieve a high salary in the software industry in Sweden is to do solo consulting. Most companies seem to keep the salaries from inflating by getting seniors from consulting agencies or freelancing consultants; which comfortably segments the high earners from the internals.
Re:Game developers sharing their salaries on Twitter
by Agentlien on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @08:05AM
(#27117057)
This does match what I have seen as well. It's part of why I myself briefly considered a consulting gig.
I also know two people who, when we worked together at one studio, were unable to move from junior designer roles to producer roles. They quit and started a consulting agency together, and now get contracted as assistant producers.
The best salary I ever had was as a software engineer at a AAA studio, and I used to work outside the game industry and had offers from a consulting firm which I know offer competitive salaries.
I did end up leaving for a smaller studio who couldn't offer quite the same level of compensation, but the difference is still less than 20%.
I've thought about it a lot and even if the pay difference was much bigger I couldn't imagine leaving the game industry. Being surrounded by people who love games, getting to spend my days on serious technical challenges in the service of making something which brings joy to millions. It is an amazing feeling. I make enough that money isn't something I need to worry about and I love what I do in a deep and intense way. No regular frontend/web/dev ops/ whatever development job will ever be able to compete with that.