Survey: Dev salaries up slightly

For many, developing games is the fulfillment of a childhood dream. Sadly, dreaming doesn't put food on the table, so it's important that would-be developers understand how much they can expect to make before they get into the industry.

According to a new study from Think Services' Game Developer Research, the average salary for American game developers rose marginally in 2007, up to $73,600 from 2006's average of $73,316. That slight increase is offset by inflation, as the 2006 salary--when adjusted into 2007 dollars--would equal around $75,388.

More than 4,860 developers participated in the survey, which was conducted over February and March. To prevent irregularities from skewing the results, salaries under $10,000 and greater than $202,500 were excluded from the averages. The stated margin of error is 1.7 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.

The study also breaks down average salaries by areas of development. Quality-assurance developers get the smallest slice of the pie, netting an average annual income of $39,063. That might have something to do with inexperience, as the largest percentage of QA testers have been on the job for less than three years. Those sticking with the discipline for six years or longer averaged $70,658 a year, according to the survey.

On the other end of the spectrum, business and marketing jobs command the highest compensation, averaging a salary of $101,848. Programming jobs were the next highest paying ($83,383), followed by production ($78,716), audio ($73,409), art and animation ($66,594), and game design ($63,649).

The full report is available for $2,995, although more highlights are available in the April issue of Think Services' Game Developer Magazine.